Image from Christmas Stock Images

It's less than a week until Christmas, and you've probably had your decorations up for at least a couple of weeks now. Sparkly tinsel wrapped around the banister; festive shapes hanging from the ceiling; the colourful cards from old friends; and, of course, a beautiful Christmas tree, decked out with dazzling decorations.

But while every home in the country is currently glowing with festive cheer, the gardens of Britain look decidedly less merry. Very few people bother with the garden when they're doing their Christmas decorating, and since December is a pretty cruel month for outdoor spaces anyway, your back yard probably doesn't look all that inviting right now.

So why not give it a makeover? A little decorative elbow grease will do wonders for your barren winter garden, turning into a cosy Christmas wonderland in no time.

Don't worry - you don't have to go to such topiarific lengths as this!

The festive period is very much in full swing, and there's still plenty of time left for you to decorate the garden and enjoy the results. Here are a few tips for the perfect Yuletide outdoor space...

Use tinsel, and lots of it!
Tinsel is perhaps the ultimate Christmas decoration, and its versatility makes it ideal for doing up the garden. Strew it anywhere it will stay - on branches, in between poles, wrapped around tree trunks, in amongst flowers...

Any tree can be a Christmas tree!
Very few UK gardens will contain a genuine pine or fir, but who says that they're the only trees that can be Christmas trees? If you've got a little sapling in your back garden, there's no reason why you can't decorate it with baubles and other ornaments.

Light it up!
Nothing will give your garden that warm glow like a set of fairy lights. If you can't find anywhere to plug them in, you can get battery-powered fairy lights that are much more versatile.

No matter how you decorate your home and garden this December, we hope you have a very merry Christmas indeed!

That was how the classic Cliff Richard carol went, right? Since before the dawn of time, citizens of planet Earth have commonly associated the Christmas holidays with porcelain paving tiles. Okay, so perhaps that isn’t strictly true, but it should be! For what better gift to give your loved one this Christmas than a present which won’t age, which will remain stylish and beautiful for many years to come, which won’t stain or scratch, which will be the envy of their peers and which will transform their home into a personal haven?

We would like to assure readers that giving the gift of porcelain tiles for inside the home, outside the home, or both if you’re feeling particularly festive, will fill the recipient’s heart with joy…and that even applies if you give this gift to yourself!

Our stunning Italian porcelain tiles come in a gorgeous variety of natural colours which will provide a foundation for any decorative plans inside or outside the home. No matter which colour scheme or theme you’re going for, we have a porcelain tile or slab which will compliment your ideas perfectly.

Nothing spells Christmas quite like making your neighbours jealous of your beautiful home, so give the gift of eternal bragging rights along with a beautiful porcelain floor this December. Our personal favourites are:

1. For inside the home: Limestone Vanilla – because this creamy colour adds a spacious and light atmosphere to any room.

2. For outside the home: Onyx – because these gorgeous black paving slabs are sleek and modern, transforming your garden into a sophisticated outdoor space.

So what are you waiting for, gift-givers? Spread the festive cheer by offering your loved one the home of their dreams with a little help from Refin this Christmas. The only possible downside to this plan is that the fail-safe option of socks and a mug will never be acceptable again.

Request your Refin sample pack today to begin the transformation of your home ASAP. If you need any help or advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 029 2037 1584. Merry Christmas!

Fit for the Job

If your tiles were made out of porcelain, you would soon start to see that porcelain was quite simply made to tile! Our houses are full of assigned materials that fit their function so perfectly: our tables are made from wood, our pipes from copper, and our windows from glass.

You see a material's look, properties, and performance define its place in our home, and although porcelain is still not entirely a household name when it comes to tiles, we are confident that as soon as people start to see it in action, it will be!

Porcelain Trumps Stone, Every Time

Here at Refin, we want our glorious porcelain tiles to be the first thing you think of when it comes to tiling your floor – we realise this won’t be a quick or easy task, but our confidence that it is doable lies in the sheer quality and superiority of our product. We want porcelain to overtake natural stone as the primary flooring tile surface, as it’s a much more competent material for the job!

Inside & Outside

Our porcelain tiles come in two sizes – In.Out 1.0 and OUT 2.0 – intended for both indoor and outdoor use. Whichever size or application you choose porcelain for you will be guaranteed a wonder material! Every avenue in which natural stone falls short, porcelain performs effortlessly better.

A Matter of Facts

Porcelain resists scratches, stains, and slippages, not to mention it being an incredibly hard-wearing material. If you choose natural stone to tile your floor with, you will have to dedicate labour every year to sealing and treating it just to keep it intact! You never have to worry about any maintenance with porcelain, and instead you can concentrate on relishing your exquisitely tiled floor!

Looking Good

Don’t think you have to compromise on aesthetics either, as porcelain is manufactured to mirror the finest of natural stones such as quartz, as well as invent its own striking and innovative shades such as Bluestone and Driftwood. We even offer a free courtesy sample of our tiles, just so you can be reassured of its striking appearance and resounding appeal.

If you have been considering any other material to tile your floor with, then we at Refin urge you to reconsider! All it takes is a quick look at the facts to realise that porcelain is the ultimate flooring tile.

All of our porcelain paving products are sourced from an Italian company called Refin, and the people who run Refin are absolutely committed to producing green paving.

No, we’re not talking about slabs the colour of emeralds – we’ve got plenty of colours in our arsenal, but that sadly isn’t one of them. ‘Green paving’ in this instance means paving slabs that are produced in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner so as to minimise their effect on the environment.

There’s plenty of information on our new Sustainable Paving page, but here are the basics:

• Our porcelain paving collections are made to European Ecolabel standards, meaning that every stage of the product’s lifespan is handled in an environmentally-friendly way.
  
  
• Use of our products can help a building to achieve BREAM or LEED certification. These standards signify that the building in question is very green indeed!
  
  
• The manufacturers at Refin are very serious about recycling and saving energy, so the process behind your stunning porcelain patio is as sustainable as can be!

Porcelain Paving unsurprisingly specialises in supplying beautiful porcelain paving slabs to transform your home both inside and out, but we understand that occasionally people might like to take their designs that extra step to complete the look. Though our beautiful range of Out 2.0 porcelain tiles are the perfect finishing touch to both outdoor and indoor areas of the home, we strive to offer all we can to help our customers achieve their dream home.

 One of our additional decorative products is the option to insert a stunning Glass Balustrade System on to your patio. A balustrade is a series of reinforced glass panels connected by sleek stainless steel posts. When added to your porcelain paved patio, a glass balustrade can provide a stunning finish and air of sophistication to your home. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, a glass balustrade also doubles as a safety measure by fencing your patio or roof terrace in, which is so important if you have young children or simply wish to protect your home, in style of course!

Glass balustrades sit along the edge of your balcony, roof terrace or patio and frame the space in a chic and modern way. It can provide a stunning division between the grass and tiled area of your garden and offers a unique look to your garden.

At Porcelain Paving we can provide the perfect glass balustrade for your outdoor design and can even include a handrail with your glass balustrade system. Our glass panels are made with ultra-strong 10mm glass and corrosion-resistant stainless steel, so your stunning balustrade system will never lose its gorgeous appearance. Combined with your stain-resistant and scratch-resistant porcelain paving tiles, your outdoor space will be transformed into a haven of timeless beauty.

If you’d like more information about glass balustrade systems, our team are on hand to answer any questions on 029 2080 3756 or via email at info@primaporcelain.co.uk.