Edie...Funny story...last summer, Sean had some buddies over for a swim. His friends know where Sean's plant collection is--grouped together near the house by the pool. One of the guys decided to be a smart a--, and grabbed one of the smaller cacti in a pot and yelled to another guy in the pool, "let's play keep away from Sean...". Now mind you, these were all baseball players with pretty good arms... One of the other 'new' guys said "hey..throw it here" (he was in the pool-not knowing what kind of plant it was). Sean just stood there shaking his head and told them I don't think you want to do that...the kid threw the plant to the other kid, and he caught it mid-air about 30 feet away---along with a handful of thorns!!! OUCH!!!! I'll never forget the scream! Sean said "they'll never touch my plants again!!!" Yes, boys will be boys...

My concept render has 3 chaise lounge chairs, two umbrellas, and a dining set, all represented by blue shapes. The furniture is blocking the view to the pool from inside. Move the dining set to the left of the slider where I have placed a blue box and a small cafe/bistro umbrella. I have placed 3 rectangles along the right pool line representing chaise loungers, plus another cafe umbrella. The pool steps are on that side so it makes sense.

Hi Yes we want light colored deck. We first looked at limestone because we love the crisp white tone but that will be too blinding we’re told. (We’re in Houston, TX). The Ivory travertine is still fairly light, and does not have a ton of variation, and should also not show first as much as the limestone. Another option we looked at was ceramic tile in 24” x 48”, but they become much hotter to walk on than the travertine. We love a clean, modern, minimalistic look, and we’ve worked on the inside of the home to reflect that. Outside, it’s still a typical 1998 subdivision brick/siding home.. so the material choices and colors for the pool area need to marry to two to some degree.

Agree w/spicebush. A desirable shrub I allow to grow on my lot on unmowed areas. They like shade.