Hi Terracing on a slope can be done to give different useful areas. Here is one of the projects we did with the lower level being a firepit area and the upper level being synthetic lawn. With the last photo being the before. There are ways to make the walls look more natural by using a different type of block or growing plant material on them. From the plant material it looks like you live in california. (I see a bougnavillea). If you are in Los Angeles area and would like to talk about a project feel free to look at my profile and give me a call.

Then you should explain YOUR vision as best you can and see if we can help develop it further. What would help immensely is if you have any thoughts about the layout, that you show them in PLAN view (like bird's eye view) keeping it VERY simple with only the essentials shown ... no plants now except existing tree trunk locations. You need to give us someplace to start in our thinking or we would be lost and floundering. Start a drawing by enlarging the plot plan that came with your home at closing, or by measuring, or by tracing an enlargement of a Google Earth/maps print. Also, if your thoughts extend to views that surround you, I think you'll need to show what you see now. It is not helpful to see random individual pictures looking in various directions. Stand at the center of the outdoor living area, aim the camera outward and take SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING shots that PAN from far left to far right of your view .... so we see the WHOLE space CONNECTED. Post the individual shots in order so they'll make sense. Don't try to substitute a computer generated panorama as it distorts and severely shrinks, eliminating too much detail. It's obvious if you follow those directions that much of your view will be obstructed by tree foliage. Ignore that fact for now. Additional pictures may be required later from a different viewpoint. We have to start somewhere.

I don't know where you live, but really think hard about what you want to do outside. Where I live, our time outside is limited to before "M" hour (mosquito) and never during big mosquito hatch-outs. So not that often. For hanging out in the warmer months, we use our screened in porch. The three things we do outside occasionally are have a campfire, grill, and I have a lounge chair in the front where one of us can sit and watch the other putter in the front yard. At my last house, I did invest in a staged redo of my back yard, and I never regretted it. The hours and hours of pleasure I spent out there added up fast. But we didn't have mosquitoes at the old place so were outside for dinner many, many nights. Plus, I designed a pleasure garden for viewing from an outdoor swing, and we often just sat out there at night and watched the garden. It had lots of white flowers that looked good at night, and lights and a fountain. The reason I am saying all this is if you are going to spend the money, really think about what you are likely to do out there. Maybe you need an expanded outdoor cooking space? If so, I'd be more likely to create an additional screened in area. Also, if you want to sit out more, like around a campfire or something like that, plan your landscaping around the views you want from the seating areas. Finding a good landscape designer is not easy. Mine was pretty bad. I could have done better myself and just taken some ideas to the installation contractors, which is what the designer did anyway.

Nice home and setting... a nice patio with trellis, built-in fire pit with some seating around and landscaping to dress it up around the patio will definitely bring everything out.