How to Choose the Best Spot in Your Yard for a Patio
Consider your site’s natural advantages, how you’d like to use a patio and more before laying your first stones
Lauren Dunec Hoang
January 29, 2019
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
Where to add a patio can be a pivotal decision in a landscape redesign, as it can affect how much you use the space and what the rest of the yard’s structure and circulation looks like. Before adding a new patio, ask yourself how you’d like to use it and if there are any aspects of your yard you’d like to highlight or avoid. Could it make sense to include multiple patios in your landscape?
As you navigate this decision process with the help of a design professional, use the following questions to help you determine where the best place to add a patio to your yard might be.
As you navigate this decision process with the help of a design professional, use the following questions to help you determine where the best place to add a patio to your yard might be.
Denman Construction
How Do You Want to Use Your Patio?
Determining how you mainly want to use your patio — whether for dining, entertaining, cooking or lounging around a fire pit — is the first step in deciding where it should be in your yard.
Patios located right next to the house are the most convenient for high-use activities — especially ones dealing with food, such as outdoor cooking and dining. You’ll be far more likely to enjoy an alfresco meal if you can carry plates from the kitchen to an outdoor patio just a few steps away, rather than across the lawn.
How Do You Want to Use Your Patio?
Determining how you mainly want to use your patio — whether for dining, entertaining, cooking or lounging around a fire pit — is the first step in deciding where it should be in your yard.
Patios located right next to the house are the most convenient for high-use activities — especially ones dealing with food, such as outdoor cooking and dining. You’ll be far more likely to enjoy an alfresco meal if you can carry plates from the kitchen to an outdoor patio just a few steps away, rather than across the lawn.
Nakamoto Forestry
If the patio’s primary uses are for lounging and relaxing, it can also make sense to locate it next to the house, or off a living room or bedroom, where it will feel like an extension of the living space.
That being said, patios that are set just a bit farther into a yard offer an allure all their own. They can be garden focal points, private seating areas or — with the addition of a fire pit — inviting evening destinations.
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If the patio’s primary uses are for lounging and relaxing, it can also make sense to locate it next to the house, or off a living room or bedroom, where it will feel like an extension of the living space.
That being said, patios that are set just a bit farther into a yard offer an allure all their own. They can be garden focal points, private seating areas or — with the addition of a fire pit — inviting evening destinations.
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This low-water garden by Grace Design Associates offers multiple patios for different uses. The gravel used as a ground cover throughout the backyard makes the space function basically as one giant patio, ready to serve multiple outdoor uses. Designer Margie Grace has included a seating area and fire pit on a flagstone patio close to the house, an outdoor dining table on gravel a few steps away and a smaller round table set farther out into the yard as a focal point under the oak tree.
Amanda Broughton Garden Design
Does Your Site Offer Natural Advantages?
After determining how you’d like to use your patio, next look around your yard. Do you have a beautiful vista or a mature tree that would provide natural shade for a seating area? Is there a flat area in your yard that would be easy to build on? If you’re lucky enough to have a view, a well-placed patio and chairs can provide a place for sitting back and enjoying it.
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Does Your Site Offer Natural Advantages?
After determining how you’d like to use your patio, next look around your yard. Do you have a beautiful vista or a mature tree that would provide natural shade for a seating area? Is there a flat area in your yard that would be easy to build on? If you’re lucky enough to have a view, a well-placed patio and chairs can provide a place for sitting back and enjoying it.
Shop for outdoor lounge chairs
How Will the Patio Look From Inside the House?
Sonoma, California, landscape designer Jake Moss recommends thinking about your patio’s location from another perspective. “Consider what the patio will look like from inside the house,” he says. For this front yard patio in Sonoma, Moss placed a central water feature in a position that allows it to be enjoyed both from the outdoor lounge chairs and from the home, through the large glass doors.
See more front yard seating ideas
Sonoma, California, landscape designer Jake Moss recommends thinking about your patio’s location from another perspective. “Consider what the patio will look like from inside the house,” he says. For this front yard patio in Sonoma, Moss placed a central water feature in a position that allows it to be enjoyed both from the outdoor lounge chairs and from the home, through the large glass doors.
See more front yard seating ideas
Brett Zamore Design
Do You Want a Shade Structure to Cover Your Patio?
If you want a shade structure, do you want one that is freestanding or attached to the house? This is a decision that is best made with the help of an experienced professional, as local regulations and climate can impact the type of shade structure you’ll want to add and where to install it in your yard.
Do You Want a Shade Structure to Cover Your Patio?
If you want a shade structure, do you want one that is freestanding or attached to the house? This is a decision that is best made with the help of an experienced professional, as local regulations and climate can impact the type of shade structure you’ll want to add and where to install it in your yard.
Do You Need to Run Utility Lines to Reach the Patio?
Patios with outdoor kitchens, gas-powered fire pits, hot tubs and outdoor lighting will likely require a hookup to utility lines. If you’re planning to include features that require gas, water or electrical lines, your patio’s distance from the house can impact the cost of extending the utility lines.
This outdoor kitchen in Tucson, Arizona, designed by Boxhill, is located close to the back door. This provides easy flow to and from the house and saved on the cost of running gas and electrical lines across the yard.
Patios with outdoor kitchens, gas-powered fire pits, hot tubs and outdoor lighting will likely require a hookup to utility lines. If you’re planning to include features that require gas, water or electrical lines, your patio’s distance from the house can impact the cost of extending the utility lines.
This outdoor kitchen in Tucson, Arizona, designed by Boxhill, is located close to the back door. This provides easy flow to and from the house and saved on the cost of running gas and electrical lines across the yard.
How Private Do You Want Your Patio to Be?
Backyards and tucked-away side yards are almost always the most private spots for patios, but if you’re looking for the opportunity to connect with your community, a front yard location may be your best bet.
For this lakeside property with a view of Lake Harriet in southwest Minneapolis, a front yard patio allows the homeowners to sit back and enjoy the view while they chat with neighbors. Arborvitae hedges line the sides of the patio to provide some privacy, while the front has a low boxwood hedge to suggest enclosure.
“My clients enjoy being part of the action without being right out in the flow,” says landscape designer Mike Porwoll of Bachman’s Landscaping, who designed this garden. “Many times these patios are designed with the intent of inviting others from the street to join you for casual conversation.”
Backyards and tucked-away side yards are almost always the most private spots for patios, but if you’re looking for the opportunity to connect with your community, a front yard location may be your best bet.
For this lakeside property with a view of Lake Harriet in southwest Minneapolis, a front yard patio allows the homeowners to sit back and enjoy the view while they chat with neighbors. Arborvitae hedges line the sides of the patio to provide some privacy, while the front has a low boxwood hedge to suggest enclosure.
“My clients enjoy being part of the action without being right out in the flow,” says landscape designer Mike Porwoll of Bachman’s Landscaping, who designed this garden. “Many times these patios are designed with the intent of inviting others from the street to join you for casual conversation.”
Are You Working With a Tight Space?
If you have a small yard, you may end up using the whole outdoor area as a patio. At this row house by Jon Hensley Architects, in Washington, D.C., the entire backyard is devoted to outdoor living space, including room for a large built-in planter behind the outdoor sofa and a few potted plants to break up the expanse of hardscape.
Get more patio inspiration
If you have a small yard, you may end up using the whole outdoor area as a patio. At this row house by Jon Hensley Architects, in Washington, D.C., the entire backyard is devoted to outdoor living space, including room for a large built-in planter behind the outdoor sofa and a few potted plants to break up the expanse of hardscape.
Get more patio inspiration
This side yard in Philadelphia was once a pinch point in the pathway connecting two garden areas. Landscape designer Bill Dear, of Dear Garden Associates, proposed opening up the space to form a patio, using the same flagstones from the pathway. Now the seating area acts as a quiet retreat away from the pool and busier areas of the garden.
“The side yard of a home is often overlooked, abandoned in favor of the heavily used front and back yards, but that is what is so great about them — they have the perfect potential to become quiet getaways within a home’s landscape,” Dear says.
“The side yard of a home is often overlooked, abandoned in favor of the heavily used front and back yards, but that is what is so great about them — they have the perfect potential to become quiet getaways within a home’s landscape,” Dear says.
GardenArt Group
More Considerations for Adding a Patio
Permitting. Not all patios require a building permit, but many of them do. Building departments will often require a permit for patios that require grading as part of installation, patios that border a slope and those that are made of impermeable materials, such as poured concrete.
Keep in mind that if your patio is bordering even a slight drop, you may also need to install railings. The landscape design professional you’re working with will be able to help you navigate the permitting process if necessary.
More Considerations for Adding a Patio
Permitting. Not all patios require a building permit, but many of them do. Building departments will often require a permit for patios that require grading as part of installation, patios that border a slope and those that are made of impermeable materials, such as poured concrete.
Keep in mind that if your patio is bordering even a slight drop, you may also need to install railings. The landscape design professional you’re working with will be able to help you navigate the permitting process if necessary.
Mom’s Design Build
Working with a professional. While working with a landscape design professional can help ensure the best results for any patio project, it’s essential that you work with a professional for any patio project that requires grading, masonry or drainage work. A landscape contractor, landscape designer or landscape architect can also help guide the design process and help you choose where to place your patio.
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Working with a professional. While working with a landscape design professional can help ensure the best results for any patio project, it’s essential that you work with a professional for any patio project that requires grading, masonry or drainage work. A landscape contractor, landscape designer or landscape architect can also help guide the design process and help you choose where to place your patio.
More on Houzz
Your Guide to 10 Popular Landscape Paving Materials
Find a landscape designer near you
See more outdoor products
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Your points on site advantages, basic function and privacy are insightful. Those come into play on every back yard environment we are involved with. How each space is developed for individual clients varies widely based on those factors and the others you listed.
Here is a small space urban environment versus a larger space suburban environment, contrasting how designs vary from project to project based on needs and available space.
A must read! All of these factors must be considered before crafting a unique landscape design.
In the southwest we all want a patio. This is a great article as it points out a lot of practicalities such as electrical, sources, drainage, coverings. I'm in a small city and have a small yard and there weren't that many choices about it. But mine is right off the kitchen-practical for alfresco dining. It has one power outlet. You are generally going to need rain and moisture protection for that outlet or face expensive re-dos. Experience speaking here. Power also allows you to plug in a fan as well as a lamp. It has a canvas awning cover which is attractive and cool. Another advantage of having it right by the back door is as a staging area for bringing the groceries in, using the table as a potting bench, bringing the Chromebook out to read the N Y Times in the fresh air, paying bills ditto. My family and friends have spent many happy hours there. With a full covering-awning as opposed to lattice , children can still be outdoors in the rain. I find I do not so much need a mudroom either as shoes can be removed out there when need be. A remote patio is nice if you are on a ranch under the stars but most of us don't have the acreage. All of the pictures were pretty.