29 Jun 6 Fantastic Design Ideas to Transform Your Outdoor Living Space!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying one of Austin’s NEW Modern Home Tours hosted by Modern Architecture + Design Society, the Outdoor Living Tour. Boy, was that an ingenious idea to focus on one aspect of modern homes,  enjoying life outdoors. Since outdoor living is a design trend that is here to stay, I’m excited to share with you five common themes I saw on the Tour.  I was inspired to the point that I’ve mapped out plans for our own backyard patios. See which ideas you can take and apply to your new home or remodel.

My friend Sandy (my annual tour mate) and I visited four homes out of the ten featured.  The focus of the Austin Outdoor Living Tour was to see and experience the outdoor landscape design and meet the designers who transformed these outdoor spaces.

6 OUTDOOR LIVING IDEAS

One thing that was perfectly clear on the Tour, was that it is no longer simply about having nice landscaping, or having your kitchen conveniently near your patio or deck.  It’s all about the “Outdoor Living Experience” and how to enjoy life, your family and friends, and entertaining all outdoors without having to go back and forth into your home.

Here’s what I noticed:

1. Pools reign supreme.
2. Full kitchens, even a beer tap, are on trend.
3. Multiple living areas and different seating options, with pops of color, are essential.
4. Black star gravel and white pavers are excellent modern choices.
5. Architectural planters and raised garden beds do wonders.
6. Fake grass is an option for shade, while rainwater tanks are an option for gardens.

 

Matthews Drive

WHITE PLANTERS

It was love-at-first-sight when I walked through the dramatic entrance to this corner home in an “Old Austin” neighborhood, Tarrytown. I saw a narrow lap pool that would fit perfectly in our backyard.  But that wasn’t all that captured my attention. Not only was the fence and door architecturally beautiful, the white planters really caught my eye. I had never seen one like this 3-legged planter above. What a statement piece! I’ve looked online and haven’t found anything like it.

NOTE-TO-SELF: Call Jeff Neal Design for white planter source.

I’ve never considered white pots and planters.  But, like a white kitchen, I found the planters to project a real fresh, modern look that I really liked. I’m going to consider introducing them to my backyard for sure.

POOLS

Wouldn’t you agree that pools have come a long way in design? The modern pools now built for both traditional and modern homes are a breath of fresh air, adding blue serenity to any landscape that really can’t be beat.

Jeff Neal Design did an excellent job making this tiny front lawn into a beautiful oasis of outdoor space to live and entertain.

Notice the varying shades of green in this image below. It was very striking outside the front fence to see these gigantic Agave succulent plants all lined up in a row amidst feather-like long grass.

Couldn’t resist a shoe photo to show you how relaxing it was to sit by the pool and rest my sprained ankle.  I sprained it during the Spring 2019 One Room Challenge where I designed a Blue & White Bedroom (you remember that, right?).

 

 

WHITE CONCRETE PAVERS

This was one of my favorite homes with a beautifully landscaped front lawn and an impressive backyard outdoor living area that anyone would enjoy!

I really liked the white concrete cement pavers that have been all the rage in landscaping design for many years now.  While sometimes I’ve felt they are hazardous due to spacing or being unlevel with the gravel, I found these pavers at this home to be a very safe and striking feature.

I love the clean lines Open Envelope Studio created by using such stark white paver stepping stones against the Black Star gravel for the front pathway.

BLACK STAR GRAVEL

I’ve learned, is a Texas product that is about 3/4-inch in size, a dark gray color, and turns black when wet. I saw it used at a couple of the homes on the Austin Outdoor Living Tour for walkways and lawns. It was also used, at this home below, in conjunction with raised bed planters and xeroscaping on the front lawn.  It achieves a more upscale and modern look which is probably why it has become increasingly popular.

And, as you can see below, on the pathway to the stunning backyard outdoor living space, they also used the pavers with natural limestone gravel.

MULTIPLE LIVING & SEATING OPTIONS

Now get ready, because this outdoor living space is incredibly desirable! As you see below, there are not only several different seating areas, but there’s a fabulous pool, incredible deck, outdoor kitchen and even fake grass.

 

GREEN ARTIFICIAL TURF LAWN

This is THE first time I have ever seen artificial turf used for a home’s lawn.  I had to look it up to see why it is so popular now.  This is basically synthetic grass and here are it’s benefits according to Ideal Turf.

• Looks great
• Dogs like it and don’t dig holes
• Low maintenance
• Shade doesn’t effect it
• Conserves water, and
• Has 10 year life expectancy

 

These images below demonstrate how brilliantly green and natural this fake grass looks. In fact, I didn’t even know I was standing on artificial turf, and it was pretty soft to the touch too. I’m not sure of the cost, but we have NO grass in our backyard because of our beautiful large oak tree, and I love the color green so much, that I was dreaming of this solution for our backyard.

 

The outdoor living designed by Austin Outdoor Design at this home was equally impressive.  As their flier states, and I couldn’t agree more, “This backyard oasis is a shining example of Austin’s continuous love of outdoor living.”  THAT is an understatement!

OUTDOOR KITCHENS 

With a complete outdoor kitchen and ample storage, plus plenty of seating for “al fresco dining”, the Ipe wood deck with its delicate water features spilling into the stunning pool and hot tub is simply breathtaking.  This kitchen had refrigerators, storage space, a grill, a bar and even it’s own beer tap. Now imagine how gorgeous having a party in this outdoor space would look on a beautiful Austin evening!

The pop of colorful orange throughout was the perfect color to complement the entire outdoor living design. The orange looked incredibly inviting on the Leuders Limestone bench cushions below. Even simply having bright orange and white towels in a basket, for the pool and hot tub, added the perfect touch of fun color to this outdoor living space.

 

Euclid Avenue

This backyard,  titled “Bouldin Creek Retreat”, designed by Native Edge Landscape, impressed me for two reasons. It’s simplicity and the fact that it was for a modest stone bungalow. So I could really envision taking cues from this outdoor living space to design our own backyard and patio areas. For these reasons, this outdoor living space was very inspiring.

RAINWATER STORAGE TANK

I’ve always wanted to install rainwater storage tanks to have water available to reuse for watering our garden.  It just seems, especially in Texas, the right thing to do for the environment.  I was very impressed with this Texas Metal Tank above. It not only collected the rainwater so the homeowner could water her plants and not have to install an irrigation system, but it was positioned in a way that it provided privacy to the backyard.

In this landscape design they used a combination of the Black Star gravel and white pavers, and a lot of different colored plants with varying textures that added visual interest. They also used galvanized steel raised beds for the owner’s herb garden,  in addition to the rust color edging that was common in many of the outdoor living spaces.

SOUTH AUSTIN OUTDOOR LIVING 

One thing all the outdoor living spaces had in common, and we’ve tried to do in our own backyard, is have several different living areas and seating options.  While this space did not have a pool, deck or outdoor kitchen, it had some very fun south Austin features that felt like home to me because we live in south Austin.

I loved the corner with a hammock, the cozy sitting area with a terra-cotta clay Chiminea and a dart board, as well as another comfortable seating area and covered picnic table.

And best of all, I learned about the perfect bright green plant that grows in the shade, Fox Tail!

Whether or not a pool or outdoor kitchen is in your budget, all of these homes have so many wonderful outdoor living features that I hope you’ve come away as inspired as I have.  I can’t wait to start working on our own backyard.  Maybe this time next year I’ll have a few Before & After photos to share.

Please take a look at all the outdoor living spaces on the 2019 Austin Outdoor Living Tour’s website for more ideas and keep an eye out for the fall 2019 Modern Home Tour schedule coming out in a few weeks.

If you love Outdoor Living as much as I do, please Pin this image on Pinterest to inspire others to enjoy Outdoor Living Design!

Happy Summer to all and have a wonderful 4th of July holiday week.  I know I plan to because we’re getting a case of Texas peaches….yum! Till next time, you’ll find me in the kitchen baking (and eating!) peach cobbler very soon. XO PG

NOTE: Thank you to Modern Architecture + Design Society for complimentary tickets to enjoy this first Austin Outdoor Living Tour. All images and opinions are my own.