Before and After: 5 Patios That Celebrate Outdoor Living
See how landscape designers transform yards of all sizes and styles into stylish, hardworking patios
Many people are making the most of their homes today by finding ways to improve their outdoor living spaces — bringing loungeworthy seating, entertainment elements and cooking and dining into the fresh air. These five makeovers show how a patio can transform the look and feel of a yard. See if any of these projects inspire ideas for your outdoor living space.
After: To make the space appear larger — and allow the homeowners to admire the house when they sit in the garden — the design team pulled the new dining patio into the middle of the yard. “There is a tendency to keep functional spaces tight to the house. Whenever possible, we like to bring the functional spaces out into the garden so that the client is using the entire garden,” Fox-Whyte says.
The designers aimed to balance the home’s traditional architecture with a more contemporary backyard design. By placing some of the design elements along a central axis and using materials and patterns often seen in formal gardens, the designers were also able to incorporate contemporary elements, such as furniture and a water feature, without making the garden feel out of place.
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The designers aimed to balance the home’s traditional architecture with a more contemporary backyard design. By placing some of the design elements along a central axis and using materials and patterns often seen in formal gardens, the designers were also able to incorporate contemporary elements, such as furniture and a water feature, without making the garden feel out of place.
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The dining area at the back of the yard sits on locally quarried Algonquin limestone bricks, a material used throughout the design. “It is a nice neutral buff color,” Fox-Whyte says of the material. “We use it frequently because it has a warm undertone,” which she says can help warm up contemporary designs. The designers chose a herringbone pattern as a formal garden nod but used a longer, narrower brick to update it. The pavers are sandblasted for added traction.
Most of the paving sits on a concrete base. Closer to the honey locust tree, the bricks are dry laid and don’t have a framed edge. This protects the tree’s roots, which were much more extensive than the designers had anticipated, and also prevents any cracking or breakdown of the paving. It’s another move that makes the design feel less rigid and more contemporary.
Planting beds feature a mixture of plants that tolerate the shade cast by the honey locust tree and give the clients color during the year — especially in the “shoulder” seasons before and after summer.
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Most of the paving sits on a concrete base. Closer to the honey locust tree, the bricks are dry laid and don’t have a framed edge. This protects the tree’s roots, which were much more extensive than the designers had anticipated, and also prevents any cracking or breakdown of the paving. It’s another move that makes the design feel less rigid and more contemporary.
Planting beds feature a mixture of plants that tolerate the shade cast by the honey locust tree and give the clients color during the year — especially in the “shoulder” seasons before and after summer.
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2. Cottage Garden-Inspired Patio
Location: Hawthorn Woods, Illinois
Designer: Ginkgo Leaf Studio
Size: The patio is 750 square feet (70 square meters)
Before: “These homeowners had lived in this house for 20 years but had never had any sort of patio installed,” landscape designer James M. Drzewiecki says.
Though the designer was working with a blank slate, the homeowners had a few requests, including adding a lot of plants. “I loved working with someone who was so excited about plants,” the designer says. The clients had also purchased a fountain and a pergola they wanted to install over a dining area, and they wanted to make room for a portable fire pit.
Location: Hawthorn Woods, Illinois
Designer: Ginkgo Leaf Studio
Size: The patio is 750 square feet (70 square meters)
Before: “These homeowners had lived in this house for 20 years but had never had any sort of patio installed,” landscape designer James M. Drzewiecki says.
Though the designer was working with a blank slate, the homeowners had a few requests, including adding a lot of plants. “I loved working with someone who was so excited about plants,” the designer says. The clients had also purchased a fountain and a pergola they wanted to install over a dining area, and they wanted to make room for a portable fire pit.
After: New Lannon stone, a locally quarried stone that the designer says is “basically a limestone,” leads from the house down to the new patio.
The patio is paved with full-range bluestone, which features a mix of colors, and true red clay bricks. “Bluestone and brick is a classic combination that goes with my clients’ traditional farmhouse style. And the blue color of the bluestone worked well with the yellow siding on the house — blue and yellow are almost opposite on the color wheel,” Drzewiecki says.
A circle of chairs surrounding a low table sits straight out from the door, with a brick circle marking the spot. (The homeowners plan to replace the table with a fire pit.) A pergola frames the dining area to the left, with a secondary seating area and fountain to the right.
The patio is paved with full-range bluestone, which features a mix of colors, and true red clay bricks. “Bluestone and brick is a classic combination that goes with my clients’ traditional farmhouse style. And the blue color of the bluestone worked well with the yellow siding on the house — blue and yellow are almost opposite on the color wheel,” Drzewiecki says.
A circle of chairs surrounding a low table sits straight out from the door, with a brick circle marking the spot. (The homeowners plan to replace the table with a fire pit.) A pergola frames the dining area to the left, with a secondary seating area and fountain to the right.
Brick circles interspersed throughout the patio break up the stone expanse and help to create smaller, cozy seating areas within the larger space. The circle’s edges also gave the designer more creativity within the space. “These edges allowed us to create more interesting, nonlinear beds around the patio,” he says.
Colorful cottage garden-inspired beds surround the patio, offering continuous blooms spring through fall. Beyond the patio, deciduous shrubs and ornamental trees create a colorful garden backdrop. Evergreens like ‘Green Velvet’ boxwood (Buxus ‘Green Velvet’) and grasses like tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Bronzeschleier’) add winter interest.
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Colorful cottage garden-inspired beds surround the patio, offering continuous blooms spring through fall. Beyond the patio, deciduous shrubs and ornamental trees create a colorful garden backdrop. Evergreens like ‘Green Velvet’ boxwood (Buxus ‘Green Velvet’) and grasses like tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Bronzeschleier’) add winter interest.
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3. Walled Terrace Garden
Location: North London
Designer: Joanne Bernstein Garden Design
Size: Backyard is about 56 feet (17 meters) long and 49 feet (15 meters) wide
Before: Over 25 years, plants had grown to consume a couple’s walled backyard in Belsize Park. When the couple added a ground-floor extension to their home, which involved losing half of their existing patio, they hired landscape designer Joanne Bernstein to not only revamp their garden but also connect the newly remodeled home with the rest of the yard.
In this view you can see the existing backyard with part of the new addition in place.
Location: North London
Designer: Joanne Bernstein Garden Design
Size: Backyard is about 56 feet (17 meters) long and 49 feet (15 meters) wide
Before: Over 25 years, plants had grown to consume a couple’s walled backyard in Belsize Park. When the couple added a ground-floor extension to their home, which involved losing half of their existing patio, they hired landscape designer Joanne Bernstein to not only revamp their garden but also connect the newly remodeled home with the rest of the yard.
In this view you can see the existing backyard with part of the new addition in place.
After: A new terrace and set of stairs bring the house and patio up to the level of the garden while also preserving views from inside the house. The porcelain tiles on the patio and stairs were also used inside the house, creating a smooth indoor-outdoor transition.
A large built-in planter breaks up the steps from the patio, adding greenery to the paved area. Two small trees, a maple (Acer sp.) and a camellia, grow in pots on the patio. Folding cafe chairs and a table give the owners a place to sit close to the house and enjoy the garden.
A large built-in planter breaks up the steps from the patio, adding greenery to the paved area. Two small trees, a maple (Acer sp.) and a camellia, grow in pots on the patio. Folding cafe chairs and a table give the owners a place to sit close to the house and enjoy the garden.
From the terrace, the view to the rest of the garden opens up beautifully.
Lush layers of green frame the patio, with a clear expanse of lawn opening up to tidy, trimmed hedges in the background. Bernstein used these hedges to create various outdoor rooms within the garden. “It can be difficult working with a square space, and the rooms were a way of creating discrete spaces within that,” she says.
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Lush layers of green frame the patio, with a clear expanse of lawn opening up to tidy, trimmed hedges in the background. Bernstein used these hedges to create various outdoor rooms within the garden. “It can be difficult working with a square space, and the rooms were a way of creating discrete spaces within that,” she says.
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4. Casual Gathering Space on a Sloped Lot
Location: Piedmont, California
Designer and builder: Rock Paper Scissors Landscape Design Build
Size: The patio is 192 square feet (18 square meters)
Before: The back of this San Francisco Bay Area home featured a two-level deck. Stairs connected the original lower deck to a patio off the lower family room area. The staircase hugged the side of the house, encroaching on the doorway to the family room and restricting access under the deck. The patio itself was sloping and cracked.
Location: Piedmont, California
Designer and builder: Rock Paper Scissors Landscape Design Build
Size: The patio is 192 square feet (18 square meters)
Before: The back of this San Francisco Bay Area home featured a two-level deck. Stairs connected the original lower deck to a patio off the lower family room area. The staircase hugged the side of the house, encroaching on the doorway to the family room and restricting access under the deck. The patio itself was sloping and cracked.
After: The reimagined deck connects to a new lower patio area. The design team pulled the staircase away from the house, opening up access to the underdeck area (now used for storage and a potting station) and improving the usability of the deck.
The yard continues down to a lower gravel area with a built-in bluestone bench. “If I can, I want to work with the landscape to some degree,” landscape designer Barry Sacher says. “We don’t live in an area that’s flat.” A veggie garden and lawn where the dog can play and the kids can practice lacrosse sit to the right side of the area in this photo.
Billowy ‘Sugar Plum’ cranesbill (Geranium ‘Sugar Plum’) frames the bench, with orange New Zealand sedge (Carex testacea) growing behind.
The yard continues down to a lower gravel area with a built-in bluestone bench. “If I can, I want to work with the landscape to some degree,” landscape designer Barry Sacher says. “We don’t live in an area that’s flat.” A veggie garden and lawn where the dog can play and the kids can practice lacrosse sit to the right side of the area in this photo.
Billowy ‘Sugar Plum’ cranesbill (Geranium ‘Sugar Plum’) frames the bench, with orange New Zealand sedge (Carex testacea) growing behind.
This view from the deck shows the new lower patio area with its “full-range” bluestone pavers. It took some time for the homeowners to choose the paver color, but they made sure not to rush the process. “We had a bunch of samples out there for a while,” Sacher says.
A freestanding gas fire pit anchors the corner and invites the family out from the house. Overhead string lights encourage nighttime lingering, with path lights next to the stairs guiding the way.
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A freestanding gas fire pit anchors the corner and invites the family out from the house. Overhead string lights encourage nighttime lingering, with path lights next to the stairs guiding the way.
See more of this patio makeover
5. Contemporary Courtyard Retreat
Location: Uptown neighborhood of Dallas
Designer: DDLA Design Landscape Architecture
Size: The courtyard is just under 1,000 square feet (93 square meters)
Before: A couple’s desire to have a stylish, modern outdoor living space that would allow them to enjoy their home and garden year-round drove the renovation of this walled patio in Dallas. “When they moved in, the space was very uninviting and not in great shape,” designer Lance Dickinson says. There was nowhere to sit, eat or grill, and the yard also had drainage issues.
With the exception of the brick exterior wall, which was required by the homeowners association, the team redid the entire yard. “It was truly transformed into an updated, modern outdoor garden and living area that fit the lifestyle of the owner and blended with the modern style of the building,” Dickinson says.
Location: Uptown neighborhood of Dallas
Designer: DDLA Design Landscape Architecture
Size: The courtyard is just under 1,000 square feet (93 square meters)
Before: A couple’s desire to have a stylish, modern outdoor living space that would allow them to enjoy their home and garden year-round drove the renovation of this walled patio in Dallas. “When they moved in, the space was very uninviting and not in great shape,” designer Lance Dickinson says. There was nowhere to sit, eat or grill, and the yard also had drainage issues.
With the exception of the brick exterior wall, which was required by the homeowners association, the team redid the entire yard. “It was truly transformed into an updated, modern outdoor garden and living area that fit the lifestyle of the owner and blended with the modern style of the building,” Dickinson says.
After: Now an L-shaped sofa and fire feature anchor a corner of the yard designed for lounging. An outdoor kitchen and a dining area encourage outdoor eating. Living walls and new plantings soften hard edges and add privacy, while a new water feature reduces any sounds the homeowners might otherwise have heard from the street.
The design team used large concrete pavers with an acid-wash finish for the paving. Synthetic grass strips break up the expanse of concrete and add some green to the ground. The pavers “were shaped and sized to try to accommodate each of the seating areas and walkways and provide an underlying geometry and pattern that reads better from the upper window views,” Dickinson says.
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See more of this patio makeover
More on Houzz
Before and After: 4 Patio Setups to Inspire Outdoor Lounging
Browse thousands of patio photos
Work with a landscape designer
Shop for your outdoor space
Location: The Annex neighborhood of Toronto
Designer: Fox Whyte Landscape Architecture & Design
Size: Yard is 988 square feet (92 square meters)
Before: The backyard of this Toronto home hadn’t been updated in more than 30 years. “The old garden was probably quite nice when it was originally done,” landscape architect Kate Fox-Whyte says. “It was just tired and overgrown.” A mature honey locust tree, a central element to the yard, had outgrown its planting bed and had caused the brick patio to heave.
The homeowners wanted a backyard where they could read, entertain and work outside. With their window-filled house overlooking the yard, it was important that they would also be able to enjoy the design from inside. “It’s a visual focal point for the house,” Fox-Whyte says.