Give your terrace a beautiful makeover

Your terrace is a great place to spend more time relaxing and making memories with friends and family. This is only possible if your terrace is well-designed and has a relaxing atmosphere. From a candle light dinner to a family get together, your terrace can be a good host to anything.

Treat your rooftop as an extension of your living room
 

This way, your terrace will have all the trappings and comforts of a living room, including plush furniture, wall art, and lighting. Consider your terrace as a room inside, and imagine how you would decorate it — likely more lavishly than a room outdoors.

While not all decor works outside, adding details like an outdoor rug, potted plants, a shade structure or umbrella, and lighting will make the space more inviting.

Soften the look
 

Arrange a scattering of brightly coloured weatherproof pillows and lay down outdoor rugs to soften the floor to make any rooftop appear more inviting. The relaxed atmosphere will encourage you to use the terrace as a summer hangout with your family or friends.

Make a green barrier
 

Invest in screens, fences, and planters, and grow vines and shrubs to block views of neighbouring buildings to make your rooftop feel more like a secluded garden retreat and less like a fishbowl.

Set up your plants 

Lush vines, leafy shrubs, swaying grasses, and vibrant flowers all contribute to transforming an urban terrace into a tranquil oasis. Plants need light exposure and adequate soil and water to thrive on a rooftop terrace—built-in purchase planters or large containers that will not dry out quickly. Install a drip irrigation system if possible.

Vines and tall, skinny plants like arborvitae and large ornamental grasses provide a lot of green for a small space.

Make space for your most important goals

Design your rooftop terrace to support how you'd like to use the space, whether your main goal is to create a spot for outdoor entertaining or a tranquil, private retreat (or both).

For example, it has several different seating areas, each with another purpose. A lounge chair would be ideal for solo relaxation on the upper level, while a trio of chairs could accommodate a small group.

Make an evening atmosphere

Install outdoor landscape lighting or hang a few crisscrossing strands of cafe lights to extend the hours of enjoyment on your terrace.