How to incorporate the Exterior Design with your home

When choosing location of features for your exterior design, first find the places that they will be most viewed from within the home. Also consider views that you may want to block or dead spaces that never get used or that are just plain boring. When possible, find exterior flooring that goes with the interior flooring. This will create a flow from the inside to the outside of the house, making them feel as one, and giving an expansive feeling to the home.

Using the footprint of the home is a great way to bring the exterior design and house together. In this picture, the walkway to the main entrance was boring and the footprint of this part of the house had no purpose. Now it has been transformed into a koi pond with spilling urns, planted palms and bromeliads in the pond, along with a custom wooden bridge to cross over the pond for the front entrance.

Terrain and Architecture: Two main aspects that Influence Design

There are two main aspects that will influence your Outdoor Design:

Terrain & Architecture



Terrain

What I am best known for is my ability to create a Lagoon that feels as if it has always been on the property and the house was built around it. In nature, waterfalls occur as water travels down a mountain, which then collects in lakes or pools of water in the stream. Waterfalls are always surrounded by thriving vegetation because of the moisture it produces and positive ions. These natural facts are crucial to pay attention to when creating a natural environment inspired by nature. So many lagoon style pools use fake rock with little to no vegetation and chlorinated water giving a very sterile and artificial look. It is important to use berms or elevated planters behind the waterfall to replicate the mountain that the water has collected on and is falling from. Using ionization to keep the water clean is not only healthier for you, it also makes the plantings around the waterfall thrive as they would in nature. Using additional berms around the landscape also helps tie the rest of the yard into the natural Lagoon area.



Architecture

Perhaps natural is not your thing and a more architectural look is what you want. In this case finding architectural details from the house can be a great inspiration to the pool design. In this picture the traditional keyhole shaped archways of the Moorish designed house was reflected in the elevated pools and spa. The pool also encompasses some of the columns of the house to bring the two together as one seamless design. Travertine, in a golden tone, was used outside the home as well as inside and to complement the Florida sunsets viewed nightly.

If you decide to go for a natural look, it is always a great addition to the design to add other natural elements to the architecture of the house. This can be done using stone veneer on inside or outside walls, veneering outdoor kitchens, creating a small water feature by the entrance of the home, or additional stone walkways or patios.