Residential Patio Design
While working at an insurance company immediately after college, a co-worker asked me to take a look at her patio and draw up a plan to show her contractor what she wanted. The existing patio was a wooden deck built off the back of the house. It was worn and showing it's age. She wanted something fresh and modern to entertain family and friends in the warmer months.
This is the "before" shot. The old wooden deck was too small to comfortably fit the grill and table and chairs. There was only one way off the deck (via the wooden stairs on the right side).
The client wanted to tear down the deck and replace it with a large stone or concrete patio. She was also toying with the idea of removing the large window on left of this picture and replacing it with a sliding glass door. She wanted to have plenty of space for a nice outdoor dining table and chairs, plus extra seating options, room for a grill, and an outdoor fireplace or fire pit.
The existing deck was surrounded by perennials, mostly echinacea, rudbeckia and hemerocallis, which she wanted to keep.
The client wanted to tear down the deck and replace it with a large stone or concrete patio. She was also toying with the idea of removing the large window on left of this picture and replacing it with a sliding glass door. She wanted to have plenty of space for a nice outdoor dining table and chairs, plus extra seating options, room for a grill, and an outdoor fireplace or fire pit.
The existing deck was surrounded by perennials, mostly echinacea, rudbeckia and hemerocallis, which she wanted to keep.
I drew the plan as if the windows had been replaced with a sliding door. I suggested that if she decided not to go with that option, then she could move the dining table to that area of the patio, or simply place more seating there, like chaise lounges or a bench seat.
The planting boxes would give her a place to transplant the perennials and would also function as extra seating.
I drew the plan roughly to scale, as she was going to hire a contractor to do the work and he would be able to measure more accurately. Because pretty much everything was rectangular, the lengths of the planters could be adjusted as needed.
The planting boxes would give her a place to transplant the perennials and would also function as extra seating.
I drew the plan roughly to scale, as she was going to hire a contractor to do the work and he would be able to measure more accurately. Because pretty much everything was rectangular, the lengths of the planters could be adjusted as needed.
Design suggestions. As with the above plan, I wanted to give her control over specific design features. The above image was to give her visuals for how the stairs and stone seating/planter walls could look.
