A rattan hanging chair is a high-style riff on a kids’ swing. For an inexpensive coffee table inspired by a designer piece, the couple who own this house took an Ikea tabletop and drilled in three sturdy white terra-cotta planters for the base.
Found Space
Mix and Match Styles
Let the Outside In
Double-Duty Patio
Tread Lightly
Jungle Room
Looks Good, Feels Good
A Solid Base
Lush slate patio
Welcoming winter patio
Open to the garden on two sides, this patio in Woodland Hills, California, has all the comforts of an indoor room. Owners Marla and Chuck O'Connell use it all year. "We gather friends and surfing buddies for wine and good conversation," Chuck says. Adds Marla, "We're outdoor people, living our fantasy."
A fireplace is the patio's focal point. The prefab box is framed in wood and capped with stone veneer.
Earthly sophistication
"I like clean lines balanced by earth-toned materials and organic shapes," says landscape designer Jared Vermeil. The father of a toddler, Vermeil loves creating contemporary yet family-friendly gardens. As he says, "Modern can feel warm and comfortable too."
More: One patio, 3 looks
Affordable backyard Bali
Brooke Dietrich, owner of Green … Landscapes to Envy in Costa Mesa, CA looked to bargain sources to outfit her own patio. “Ikea and Pier 1 are my kind of stores,” she says.
More: Design and affordable backyard Bali
Hearth patio
The area rug in this outdoor living room is actually brick inlay. Farm touches like the Dutch door in the kitchen make this a cozy space.
More: Southwest Idea House
Easy brick patio
This patio measures only 7 feet across. And, with the right tools, you can easily build it in a weekend.
Think of the possible uses for this circle of bricks. You can tuck it into a perennial border. Or place it in a remote corner of your garden, where you can linger at day's end over a glass of wine, or on Sunday morning with your coffee and magazines.
The perfect room
Add a mirror for the illusion of space. This one gives the patio a living room look, yet it stands up to sun and rain.
Easy cabana
With our checklist of tools and materials, some PVC pipe, and a little elbow grease, you can transform your outdoor space into an instant retreat ― all for about $300. This DIY backyard lounge serves as both a casual spot for year-round entertaining and a private refuge with resort style.
More: Step-by-step DIY cabana
Colorful patio
Recycled materials
Large and small aluminum letters, set between irregular chunks of black slate, gives this 8-foot-wide patio in Alameda, California, contemporary flavor.
Info: Shirley Alexandra Watts, Alameda, CA (510/521-5223)
Cobbles and rock
Rectangular chunks of tumbled Connecticut bluestone, set on a bed of decomposed granite and sand, form a 12-foot-diameter dining patio in a wooded Berkeley backyard.
Info: Vanessa Kuemmerle, Vee Horticulture, Berkeley, CA (510/653-7667); BlueJay Feldman, Blue Ridge Landscape Co., Orinda, CA (925/258-9233)
Mediterranean accent
Rustic patio
This open-air dining room features reclaimed redwood siding salvaged from an abandoned water tower that once served a local stage coach station.
Small seating area
Waterfall and moat
Suspended over a koi pond, a circular redwood deck in Gardnerville, NV, is both a viewing platform and shade structure for fish.
The nine piers of steel-reinforced concrete that support it were poured in place as an integral part of the pond bottom, as were the steps that appear to float across the water’s surface. Both the steps and piers were finished below the waterline with rough-textured black plaster.
Info: James Rowley, Naturally Beautiful Gardens, Minden, NV (775/267-5234)
Art Patio
Patio entry
Outdoor sofa
The rammed-earth "couch" around the firepit appears to grow out of its setting.
More: Ultimate Sierra retreat
Small space patios
Small lots don't easily accommodate separate outdoor living areas. But Dean Shibuya and Jeffrey Molloy's 600-square-foot San Francisco backyard uses every square inch to contain several garden rooms comfortably.
More: Small garden secrets
Tiny urban gem
Dry-laid flagstones, tightly spaced, cover the upper patio as well as the main walkway leading to it, while an arc-shaped path of natural steppingstones connects the upper patio to a smaller one that is nearer the house and overlooks a pond.
Super simple patio
For a perfect patio, all you need is about $200, some lemonade, and the seven elements pictured here.
