Design Ideas for Your Outdoor Living Space

As the winter season nears, you may be thinking wistfully of summer evenings enjoying your backyard. Or, you may be remembering how difficult that was because you did not have the right outdoor living space! If you have been considering creating the relaxing and entertaining spot of your dreams, now is the time to start planning.

There are so many options and opportunities for creativity when it comes to backyard design. The Eagleson Meadows Team has built many kinds of outdoor living spaces, each unique to the homeowner and their needs or desires. Some of our clients wanted a large patio to entertain; others were looking for a small, cozy place to relax, read a book, or enjoy a small fire. Below we offer some inspiration for your perfect backyard retreat through several of our projects:

Outdoor Living Room:

For those who love to throw parties and host family gatherings, an outdoor living room, complete with seating and even a TV, may be the option you are looking for. For our clients who wanted a large space to entertain next to their pool, we built a patio, and substantial pergola and a fireplace out of sturdy travertine. The addition of outdoor heaters makes this space perfect for fall football games and movie nights too.

Upgraded Patio Details:

A patio can be far from looking like a flat square. Steps, walls, pillars and a little imaginative paver-laying can all be components that create the look and use you desire. For the project pictured below, our client was creating a gorgeous period-style backyard will pillars, sculptures and many other interesting features. We built her patio according to the symmetrical style she was putting together.

The entryway to and from a house and patio can be much more than the builder-grade concrete slabs. For this project pictured below, we added custom steps with travertine stone risers up to our client’s door. The attention to detail we put into this patio element was our way of adding more interest and flair to the entryway while also creating a safer transition.

You may have a great patio, but if the surrounding landscape is bland, you may still not enjoy it much. One of our clients not only wanted us to build her a patio, but she also asked us to create a beautiful landscape that would go along with it. We already knew the look she was going for, so it was easy for us to incorporate a landscape design that would complement her hardscape and make quite the view for her patio. Check out the results below!

A completely unique patio is very possible. All it takes is a knowledgeable designer and the right contractor. Pictured below is a truly custom patio we built for a design-savvy client. Our collaborattion with her created an intricate, stunning outdoor space.

Patio walls are often built to hold in sloped backyards or to carve out space outside of a lower level. However, we often create them to double as extra seating. They offer more space for people, especially if you have a smaller patio, and they have the added benefit of creating a more intimate feel.

Paths to Outdoor Living Spaces:

Getting to your outdoor living space can be an opportunity for beautiful deign too! One of our favorite ways to design walkways is to make them look like a natural part of the scenery. The pathway show below was made out of natural cut stones placed within a flat, mulched bed. It’s still a mudfree way to get from the front yard to the back, and it adds a feel of natural beauty to the suburbs.