Outdoor living spaces are an essential part of American homes, ranking high on wishlists for buyers and homeowners. Nearly 75% of home architects named patios, decks, and outdoor rooms as a top design trend, compared to just 25% for green backyards. How do you create a patio that makes your family happy, fits your design vision, and elevates your home’s value?
How To Build a Patio
Over 60% of new homes have a patio, especially high-end and luxury homes. This outdoor design element is one of the best investments you can make, so it’s worth doing things right.
1. Do Your Homework
The best patios integrate seamlessly with the rest of the home. They feel like a natural extension of indoor spaces and transition smoothly into your lawn and landscaping.
Achieving this is no accident. Before you design the shape and layout of your dream patio, you need to take several factors into account:
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Drainage patterns: How should rainwater flow away from the home?
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Airflow: How can you keep your outdoor kitchen and grill areas cool?
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Local regulations: What is the minimum distance between fire features and covered structures in your area?
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Building professionals: Are you planning a DIY project or hiring outdoor design experts?
Different patio configurations and design materials add complexity to the project, so it’s important to know the answer to these questions before breaking ground.
2. Select Your Materials
The material you choose for your patio has a huge impact on how the space looks and feels. Some popular options include:
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Concrete pavers: Versatile and available in countless styles, colors, and shapes
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Porcelain pavers: Bright and elegant, with a Mediterranean feel and outstanding durability
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Flagstone: Authentic, expressive, and rustic, with light and dark options in sandstone, bluestone, and limestone
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Cut stone: Exclusive and luxurious, with eye-catching options such as marble, granite, slate, and phyllite.
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Bricks: Vintage and refined, ranging from deep reds to light and dark neutrals
Patios with pavers, tiles, and bricks are relatively easy to install by hand. Wood decks and poured concrete patios are generally a job for a third-party contractor.
3. Prepare and Level the Site
Use a garden hose or mason line to mark out the shape of your patio. Starting from the edges, remove six to eight inches of dirt from the area.
Follow the yard’s natural slope. Angle the surface by 1/8 inch per foot moving away from the house.
Lay down a layer of landscaping fabric. This material helps to prevent weed growth and minimize moisture.
4. Create the Patio Base
Add a thick layer of gravel over the landscaping fabric, usually four to six inches. Compact this layer evenly with the hand tamper or plate compactor.
Next, add one to two inches of builder’s sand. Level this smooth with a two-by-four.
5. Install the Patio Surface
Set each stone or paver by hand, using the rubber mallet to gently tap it into position. Use your level to create an even surface. Keep some sand nearby for any adjustments, and fill the gaps with polymeric jointing sand.
How To Create the Perfect Patio for Your Family
There’s more to designing a patio than browsing images online. You need to consider ambience, personality, functionality, and customization, too.
6. Plan the Space
Visualize how you want your complete outdoor space to feel. Design a patio that complements your backyard’s trees, landscaping, hardscaping, water features, and fire features.
Structures like outdoor kitchens, open-air bedrooms, pergolas, and brick ovens should feel connected to the patio. Every outdoor living space needs some shaded areas.
7. Embrace Your Unique Lifestyle
The perfect patio revolves around your family’s lifestyle, the things you like and love to do together. For some couples, that means relaxing around a patio fire pit with a glass of wine in the evening. Other families like to enjoy breakfast on a bistro-style table.
How often you entertain — and who you usually invite — also plays a part in the design decisions you make. Patio furniture for laid-back get-togethers with friends and family is very different than pieces designed for black-tie events and afternoon cocktails.
8. Create Zones
Modern patios can be as large as your space allows. This lets you create different zones for the ways you use your patio:
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Outdoor dining areas: Dining tables, bistro tables, covered rooms, and pergolas
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Outdoor kitchens: Covered and open-air kitchens, bars, prep spaces and cabinets, grills, range hoods, and appliances
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Lounging spaces: Relaxed seating, sectionals, coffee tables, side tables, and fire pits
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Green areas: Gardens, planters, vines, and potted plants
Outdoor zones have the same benefits as defined areas in an open-concept living room. They add visual interest, create distinct focal points, and give each space a unique feel that matches its purpose.
9. Set the Tone With Anchor Pieces
Each zone of the patio depends on one or two items to set the overall theme. In a lounge area, your seating and coffee table are the style anchors.
In a covered patio, the dining table is the main design element. Outdoor tables also stand out in garden areas.
What about your outdoor kitchen? The kitchen island, range hood, and cabinets/countertop materials hold center stage.
How To Design a Patio That Fits Your Style
Home interiors give you clues to your favorite design styles, but you’re not locked into a specific color palette or theme. Try to coordinate transition areas (e.g., indoor and outdoor kitchens), but focus mainly on your vision for outdoor living.
Outdoor decorating favors the bold. Choose expressive materials, vibrant colors, and attention-grabbing materials.
Is your perfect patio a marble terrace overlooking the ocean? Use gleaming brass for outdoor range hoods and sinks. Hand-hammered copper adds elegance and warmth to vintage Italian, French, and Mediterranean styles.
Don’t underestimate the power of lighting to create unforgettable moods and moments. There’s nothing like fire pits and string lights to celebrate life like famiglia in Tuscany.
Create the Patio of Your Dreams
Creating a patio requires planning, designing, building, and decorating, but the time and effort are worth it. A beautiful patio helps you enjoy the things that matter most in life. Bring yours to life with custom metal accents. Contact World CopperSmith today.