Patio Design Ideas

Arcadia Spanish Colonial | Courtyard
Arcadia Spanish Colonial | Courtyard
Greey PickettGreey Pickett
The landscape of this home honors the formality of Spanish Colonial / Santa Barbara Style early homes in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix. By re-grading the lot and allowing for terraced opportunities, we featured a variety of hardscape stone, brick, and decorative tiles that reinforce the eclectic Spanish Colonial feel. Cantera and La Negra volcanic stone, brick, natural field stone, and handcrafted Spanish decorative tiles are used to establish interest throughout the property. A front courtyard patio includes a hand painted tile fountain and sitting area near the outdoor fire place. This patio features formal Boxwood hedges, Hibiscus, and a rose garden set in pea gravel. The living room of the home opens to an outdoor living area which is raised three feet above the pool. This allowed for opportunity to feature handcrafted Spanish tiles and raised planters. The side courtyard, with stepping stones and Dichondra grass, surrounds a focal Crape Myrtle tree. One focal point of the back patio is a 24-foot hand-hammered wrought iron trellis, anchored with a stone wall water feature. We added a pizza oven and barbecue, bistro lights, and hanging flower baskets to complete the intimate outdoor dining space. Project Details: Landscape Architect: Greey|Pickett Architect: Higgins Architects Landscape Contractor: Premier Environments Photography: Scott Sandler
Desert Retreat at Silverleaf
Desert Retreat at Silverleaf
Drewett WorksDrewett Works
The genesis of design for this desert retreat was the informal dining area in which the clients, along with family and friends, would gather. Located in north Scottsdale’s prestigious Silverleaf, this ranch hacienda offers 6,500 square feet of gracious hospitality for family and friends. Focused around the informal dining area, the home’s living spaces, both indoor and outdoor, offer warmth of materials and proximity for expansion of the casual dining space that the owners envisioned for hosting gatherings to include their two grown children, parents, and many friends. The kitchen, adjacent to the informal dining, serves as the functioning heart of the home and is open to the great room, informal dining room, and office, and is mere steps away from the outdoor patio lounge and poolside guest casita. Additionally, the main house master suite enjoys spectacular vistas of the adjacent McDowell mountains and distant Phoenix city lights. The clients, who desired ample guest quarters for their visiting adult children, decided on a detached guest casita featuring two bedroom suites, a living area, and a small kitchen. The guest casita’s spectacular bedroom mountain views are surpassed only by the living area views of distant mountains seen beyond the spectacular pool and outdoor living spaces. Project Details | Desert Retreat, Silverleaf – Scottsdale, AZ Architect: C.P. Drewett, AIA, NCARB; Drewett Works, Scottsdale, AZ Builder: Sonora West Development, Scottsdale, AZ Photographer: Dino Tonn Featured in Phoenix Home and Garden, May 2015, “Sporting Style: Golf Enthusiast Christie Austin Earns Top Scores on the Home Front” See more of this project here: http://drewettworks.com/desert-retreat-at-silverleaf/
Carlsbad, California, Modern
Carlsbad, California, Modern
dRichards InteriorsdRichards Interiors
This project combines high end earthy elements with elegant, modern furnishings. We wanted to re invent the beach house concept and create an home which is not your typical coastal retreat. By combining stronger colors and textures, we gave the spaces a bolder and more permanent feel. Yet, as you travel through each room, you can't help but feel invited and at home.
Pool house
Pool house
Exterior Worlds Landscaping & DesignExterior Worlds Landscaping & Design
We were contacted by a family named Pesek who lived near Memorial Drive on the West side of Houston. They lived in a stately home built in the late 1950’s. Many years back, they had contracted a local pool company to install an old lagoon-style pool, which they had since grown tired of. When they initially called us, they wanted to know if we could build them an outdoor room at the far end of the swimming pool. We scheduled a free consultation at a time convenient to them, and we drove out to their residence to take a look at the property. After a quick survey of the back yard, rear of the home, and the swimming pool, we determined that building an outdoor room as an addition to their existing landscaping design would not bring them the results they expected. The pool was visibly dated with an early “70’s” look, which not only clashed with the late 50’s style of home architecture, but guaranteed an even greater clash with any modern-style outdoor room we constructed. Luckily for the Peseks, we offered an even better landscaping plan than the one they had hoped for. We proposed the construction of a new outdoor room and an entirely new swimming pool. Both of these new structures would be built around the classical geometry of proportional right angles. This would allow a very modern design to compliment an older home, because basic geometric patterns are universal in many architectural designs used throughout history. In this case, both the swimming pool and the outdoor rooms were designed as interrelated quadrilateral forms with proportional right angles that created the illusion of lengthened distance and a sense of Classical elegance. This proved a perfect complement to a house that had originally been built as a symbolic emblem of a simpler, more rugged and absolute era. Though reminiscent of classical design and complimentary to the conservative design of the home, the interior of the outdoor room was ultra-modern in its array of comfort and convenience. The Peseks felt this would be a great place to hold birthday parties for their child. With this new outdoor room, the Peseks could take the party outside at any time of day or night, and at any time of year. We also built the structure to be fully functional as an outdoor kitchen as well as an outdoor entertainment area. There was a smoker, a refrigerator, an ice maker, and a water heater—all intended to eliminate any need to return to the house once the party began. Seating and entertainment systems were also added to provide state of the art fun for adults and children alike. We installed a flat-screen plasma TV, and we wired it for cable. The swimming pool was built between the outdoor room and the rear entrance to the house. We got rid of the old lagoon-pool design which geometrically clashed with the right angles of the house and outdoor room. We then had a completely new pool built, in the shape of a rectangle, with a rather innovative coping design. We showcased the pool with a coping that rose perpendicular to the ground out of the stone patio surface. This reinforced our blend of contemporary look with classical right angles. We saved the client an enormous amount of money on travertine by setting the coping so that it does not overhang with the tile. Because the ground between the house and the outdoor room gradually dropped in grade, we used the natural slope of the ground to create another perpendicular right angle at the end of the pool. Here, we installed a waterfall which spilled over into a heated spa. Although the spa was fed from within itself, it was built to look as though water was coming from within the pool. The ultimate result of all of this is a new sense of visual “ebb and flow,” so to speak. When Mr. Pesek sits in his couch facing his house, the earth appears to rise up first into an illuminated pool which leads the way up the steps to his home. When he sits in his spa facing the other direction, the earth rises up like a doorway to his outdoor room, where he can comfortably relax in the water while he watches TV. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.
Pool Pavilion
Pool Pavilion
Gregory Thomas, Architect, AKBD, CG&S Design-BuildGregory Thomas, Architect, AKBD, CG&S Design-Build
Pavilion at night. At center is a wood-burning fire pit with a custom copper hood. An internal fan in the flue pulls smoke up and out of the pavilion. Octagonal fire pit and spa are on axis with the home's octagonal dining table up the slope and inside the house. At right is the bathroom, at left is the outdoor kitchen. I designed this outdoor living project when at CG&S, and it was beautifully built by their team. Photo: Paul Finkel 2012
Forever Home
Forever Home
Hursthouse Landscape Architects and ContractorsHursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors
Several lighting techniques combine to illuminate the garden after hours. Laminated pergola beams span 24’ over the water garden, while a mortared step and grade beam marks the existing elevations preserved to protect existing trees.
Moorish-Inspired Hacienda Courtyard
Moorish-Inspired Hacienda Courtyard
Clemens & Associates Inc.Clemens & Associates Inc.
Entrance to a Mediterranean style courtyard with Moorish influence. Rustic wood antique gates open into a lush, brick-paved courtyard with plush outdoor furnishing and a carved fountain with hand-painted tiles. Photo Credit: Kirk Gittings
Hardscape Projects
Hardscape Projects
Affordable Hardscapes of VirginiaAffordable Hardscapes of Virginia
At Affordable Hardscapes of Virginia we view ourselves as "Exterior Designers" taking outdoor areas and making them functional, beautiful and pleasurable. Our exciting new approaches to traditional landscaping challenges result in outdoor living areas your family can cherish forever. Affordable Hardscapes of Virginia is a Design-Build company specializing in unique hardscape design and construction. Our Paver Patios, Retaining Walls, Outdoor Kitchens, Outdoor Fireplaces and Fire Pits add value to your property and bring your quality of life to a new level. We are the preeminent outdoor living space contractor in our area. Proudly serving clients in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, and the surrounding Hampton Roads.
Outdoor Kitchen
Outdoor Kitchen
Fratantoni Interior DesignersFratantoni Interior Designers
Covered patio featuring an outdoor kitchen with built-in BBQ and an exterior fireplace.

Patio Design Ideas

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