Outdoor Living Space Ideas & Design Inspiration

Installing a fireplace or fire pit will not only add warmth and light to your patio during the evenings, but create a focal point in your design. A fire feature is the perfect centerpiece to gather with friends and family, whether it be a quaint social event or to roast marshmallows over an open fire. Choose from pre-built elements, or have a professional contractor custom build one with our unique wall products.

Your backyard is a place to unwind and relax after a long day. The soothing sound of falling water from an outdoor water feature can provide ultimate relaxation to your backyard oasis, and also serve as a great focal point in your design. If you have a preexisting fire feature, consider pairing with a water feature to create eye-popping visual interest.

Landscape lighting is a wonderful way to add ambiance to any outdoor design. When planning your outdoor living space, pay attention to dark areas or key pathways that need illumination. Adding landscape lighting along pathways or around the perimeter of a pool not only creates a dynamic effect but also enhances safety by providing guests with a clear path. You can also incorporate landscape lighting into seat walls, pillars, steps, and paver borders to cast charming silhouettes at night.

The front of your home is the first thing people see when they approach or pass by, so you’ll want to design it to leave a lasting impression. Between your driveway and front steps, you have the chance to create a unique gathering space that feels like an extension of your backyard patio. When designing your courtyard area, take visual cues from your home’s existing architecture, and choose products, colors, and textures that complement those features. Create a comfortable seating area with couches and chairs, or incorporate a seat wall and outdoor coffee table for a cozy spot to watch the morning sun.

A sunken outdoor seating area creates a sense of comfort and intimacy in outdoor living spaces. This concept can be further enhanced with the addition of an eye-catching focal point, like a fire pit or fire table, to create a unique gathering space that can be enjoyed day or night. Sunken seating areas can be created by assessing the slope in your yard and integrating surrounding retaining or garden walls to hold back the native soil. Remember, any walls exceeding 3 feet in height must be properly engineered by a civil engineer.

With an outdoor kitchen, you can look forward to summer cookouts and BBQs, and what better way to combine these two pleasures of the season than by keeping your outdoor kitchen close to your pool? A poolside outdoor kitchen allows the chef to enjoy being a part of the poolside fun while ensuring that adult supervision is always available for younger kids. To protect your poolside kitchen against splashing, consider building a low wall or backsplash, kept a suitable distance away from the pool edge, or placed at a higher level than the rest of the pool deck.