Modern Suburban Backyard

This suburban small backyard was previously drab and uninspiring. Our client's hope for the yard was to create a more modern and inviting outdoor living space to share with their family and friends. Some of the challenges in making a more modern backyard included working with the awkward shaped pool as well as an unsightly culvert that ran the whole back length of the property.

In our design, one of our main goals was to add as much entertaining space as possible to really draw the family outside. Therefore, we started by adding a raised Azek deck on one side of the pool to add dimension and a designated place for a fire pit and cozy seating. Adding a deck here also allowed us to use the space over the culvert and extend the entertaining area right up to our new horizontal fence line. This really helped to make the space feel so much larger. For the remainder of the property we added gray pavers to complement the space where lounge chairs, a dining set and a BBQ could comfortably be placed. New pool coping, hot tub and pool tiling add a sparkle now to the pool and downplay the pools awkward shape. Raised modern planters with pittosporum ‘silver sheen’ were built and placed on one side of the property to provide future privacy for this backyard. In addition, soft plantings were placed throughout the yard to add color and seasonal interest. A specially made piece of wall art was also added to the wall near the dining area to give year-round color to this portion of the yard.

The entrance into this backyard is along clean bluestone stepping stones that lead around the house. An unused side yard now is occupied by four espalier fruit trees where our clients can harvest pomegranates, figs, pears and apples any time they like.