You’ve decided it’s time. You’re ready to turn your backyard into the paradise you’ve dreamed of. The first step is often laying out the patio design, which will also be the first piece in the landscaping puzzle to decide if you’d like other features. These might include in-ground ponds, pools, or even a garden!
Choosing a good patio design will mean picking a lasting layout that you’ll enjoy for years to come. This guide will explore all the various aspects of patio designs and how you can capitalize on each of them to make a beautiful patio.
Patio Design Ideas
As the name suggests, a patio is an outdoor living space where you will gather with family and friends to enjoy the outdoors. When designing your deck, be sure to take inspiration from some of the fantastic designs you can find online and evaluate your unique needs.
Think about how you already use your outdoor space, and then consider how you want to use it in the future, as well. For example: If you plan on having children, you will want a centrally located patio so you can watch over the entire backyard. However, for now, you also want an easy place to entertain your friends. In this case, having a rounded patio with multiple focus areas can maximize your available space for entertaining while maintaining the size of the lawn.
After considering your own needs, find a balancing point between what you need now and how your needs will grow in the future.
Making Outdoor Spaces for Entertainment
Take out that list of needs and discover features that can solve these desires. Would you prefer an outdoor kitchen or a large sitting area that can accommodate your whole family?
You can choose a simple plan to layout a gravel seating area with stone stools around a fire pit. Or you may decide on an outdoor living space that is an imitation of the indoors fully equipped with a sound system and a TV screen. If you have a passion for home BBQ, you can design the ultimate grillers outdoor kitchen.
Outdoor Kitchens
Your patio can be more than a sitting area. An outdoor kitchen is a significant investment that can raise the value of your home! Having a secondary kitchen outside lets you spend more time with your family during an outdoor gathering while preparing food and serving your guests.
Pizza Oven and Other Upgrades
Take your patio idea as far as you can. In an outdoor kitchen, it’s much easier to work with an open flame, like one used to fuel the wood stove of a pizza oven. If there are other features you’ve always wanted, consider how you can work them into your design.
Adding Flooring: Pavers, Flagstone, Gravel, and More!
There is not just one way to design a fantastic patio, but the place you start creating your space should be at the flooring type. There are many materials, colors, and finishes to get a potential patio space. They can include:
· Slate pavers
· Interlocking pavers
· Concrete in a myriad of colors and finishes
· Brick
· Flagstones
· Gravel
· And more!
Warmer Months
Having Plentiful Shade
Adding more shade to your sitting area will make it more comfortable at your dining table or lounge chairs during the day. If you choose to install a terrace or pergola, you may even grow flowering vines, like wisteria, across them to create a draw-dropping archway that could last as long as your house lasts.
Plus, the plant life will create a denser natural sun cover once it grows in. Terraces can also have shades installed above them to block out that intense midday light in the meanwhile.
Pergolas are more complete structures and are a great option if you want a more intimate setting for your seating or dining area. A pergola can also create a perfect frame for viewing your vegetable or flower garden while enjoying a cup of coffee.
Protect Your Furniture with Shades
Creating shade doesn’t just protect your skin from harsh sun rays; it also helps to preserve your furniture. If you live in a very sunny location, your outdoor furniture will fade quickly. Protect your furniture from the brunt of intense weather conditions and sun rays by storing them under a structure, like a pergola or an awning.
Add a Fire or Water Feature
A beautiful stone water feature can add the relaxing sound of a trickling creek to your backyard while attracting local birds to enjoy the water. The sound of running water can help block out minor neighborhood noises, so your backyard has a tranquil, quiet air to it. The more significant the water feature, the more amplified is the effect.
On the other hand, you may prefer a cozy fire for those late-night gatherings with loved ones. In that case, you can go with a complete brick fireplace or open fire pit as your central feature. An outdoor fireplace can be a great place to install a projector or a TV for added entertainment. Keep everyone warm, even as it begins to get cold, and enjoy some family time under the stars.
Colder Months
Outdoor Fireplace vs. Fire Pit
The advantage of a firepit is that it’s small, though you can choose to build a fire pit flame as large as you’d like. This multi-use ability can make it an excellent option for people who enjoy roasting or if you make a practice of having monthly get-togethers with family around a fire.
Bonfires and fire pits can create a cozy atmosphere, but they are also dangerous if flames get out of control.
On the other hand, a fireplace will be a free-standing structure that will safely contain the fire while heating the surrounding area well.
The disadvantage of a stone, brick, clay, or concrete fireplace is that it’s far more expensive to build than it is to use a firepit.
What is a Heat Shade?
A heat shade, or patio heater, is a brilliant piece of electric equipment that can quickly heat a small area. If you need to be outside in the cold for some reason, but you don’t need to start a fire, then a heat lamp can provide the warmth you’ll need to get more comfortable.
Make Your Patio Stylish and Comfortable
Outdoor Furniture
In a seating area, picking suitable chairs is just as vital in an outdoor space as inside. Of the weather-resistant furniture options, select the style that works best for your style preferences and needs.
Weather-resistant furniture: A line of lounges facing east to west will be best for sunbathing on a pool patio, but you may want a good sitting area with double and single-seater chairs for more traditional entertaining spaces. You may wish to have oversized cushions or no seat cushions, but it is suggested that you have a few throw pillows around for those who prefer it.
Wrought iron, wicker, plastic, and more: Outdoor furniture comes in so many styles. Pick a choice that can withstand your lifestyle and weather conditions. Furniture that wears too quickly under freezing temperatures or storms will be maintained and eventually replaced more frequently.
Pick sturdy furniture that you’ll be able to use and love for years to come.
Waterproof throw pillows: Make sure that any throw pillows you do use outdoors are waterproof. If the cushions get left outside, you won’t have to worry about gathering mold and mildew because the fabric will be resistant and easy to clean.
Soft finishes: Consider how an outdoor rug can pull the space together.
Tables
Ensure you have enough tables, whether you choose to have a seating area, dining area, or a mixture of both. Often, especially in more vast spaces, one big table is not large enough to be convenient to reach for everyone.
Consider the benefits of having multiple side tables. You can display potted pots on them, and everyone can have an easy-to-reach place to set down their drinks or plates during a party.
Lighting
Having mood lighting is essential if you want to make a functional entertaining space, where the party can last long after the sunsets. String lights hanging above the dining or sitting area are perfect for creating a cozy space that invites deep conversations over great food.
While a fire pit can make a great light source, having electrical alternatives will ensure that you have more subtle light options available if you don’t feel like lighting a fire. Plus, these lights can help you frame your beautiful outdoor entertaining space, even when you’re not using it.
Install bug zappers on your property that turn on at sunset to keep bugs away from the lights. The zappers are more attractive to the bugs around, and they will keep their populations down so you can enjoy a summer BBQ without worrying about gnats and moths.
Lounge vs. Dining Area: Understanding Function
You always want to mix style and function in whatever home project you take on. Ask yourself one essential question. What do you use your backyard for?
Is it a training or play space for kids and family? Is it mainly for entertainment? Do you center your mind in your garden each day after work?
These thoughts should always be with you, even as you do simple things like choosing the shapes of your new patio and outdoor kitchen designs. Consider combining your dining and living needs.
If you like to eat outside, make sure the dining table is closer to the backdoor, so delivering food from inside to outside is accessible no matter where you cooked.
Landscaping: Designing with Plants
Good landscaping for garden keeping will take your patio design above and beyond. Choosing the right flowers and shrubs to line the walkway will create a more intimate space that feels separate from the rest of the lawn.
Plus, it will make your view more picturesque.
Keeping it Low Maintenance
Avoid Big Trees
Keeping the plants around your patio in mind will help lower the amount of maintenance you’ll need to do on your deck. Avoid building a patio under a large deciduous tree, which will shed its leaves in the fall. Or consider making a small pergola here to block some of the debris that will fall from your tree from hitting your furniture.
Ground Cover
Like clover or caladiums, plant low-level ground cover around bushes and resilient flowers. By planting them together, you’ll limit the number of weeds growing in between them. This same effect can be achieved with mulch, though it will need to be replaced after each winter season. Certain ground cover species are annuals and will grow back year after year.
Pick a Suitable Tree Size
If you buy a tree, look at the packaging to see a diagram that will describe how large a full-grown tree will be. And, when you’re ready to plant your tree, don’t plant it too close to your house or walkway.
Some trees don’t grow past a specific size, like some breeds of Japanese maple, and these make great decorative trees that won’t overgrow your backyard or courtyard.
If you plant any tree too close to the walkway or your house, the roots could grow and shift the stones that keep your patio level or damage your foundation.
Bring Your Patio Ideas to Life
Having a beautiful patio can elevate a bare backyard from good to great. But a good patio can make an already wonderful garden turn into the best place to hang out in the neighborhood. With other assets like a water feature, terrace, or pergola, surrounded by earth’s bountiful greenery, you’ll never want to leave!
Using suitable materials and being mindful about your design will keep patio maintenance lower and help you enjoy it all year round.
