Patio Landscaping

I love the pure chic elegance of the patio landscaping in this Arizona home.  I think that it is a common misconception that the best patio landscaping designs always incorporate a ton of different colors and types of plants.  However, you can have a nice monochromatic palette of all greens and other natural tones that brings in just as much pizazz and style as a garden of brightly colored wild flowers.  The natural stone and stucco architectural details coordinate perfectly with the sandstone patio pavers to create a great neutral base for the greenery.  Then the deep green leaves of the manicured hedges, classic topiaries and ferns provides a nice contrast against the beige pieces. 

When my husband and I decided to take on our patio landscaping project ourselves instead of hiring a company, I thought that we may struggle to come up with a design concept and plan for how to implement the project.  Luckily our tech savvy neighbor told us about landscaping software that basically does all of the work for you (except actually planting haha).  We were able to create an exact replica of our property complete with a very detailed rendition of our home down to siding colors and architectural details.  Then we could play around will all of the landscaping and patio design ideas that we have been considering and see how they actually look in our yard.

Isn't this patio landscaping so fun?  It is the perfect entertaining spot for family barbecues, quiet evenings with a glass of wine, or even large parties.  The quaint string lights really set the mood, and the stone patio pavers with grass edging make it look very elegant and high end.  Between the gorgeous architectural detailing on the house and this lovely patio setup, you don't really need a lot of color or patter in the furniture.  This is why I love how they kept the decor simple alongside the more intricate backyard patio designs. It creates a nice balance that is not too much for an outdoor area.  You could easily bring in more color via throw pillows, a brightly colored umbrella or even a few vibrant blooms.

I have been looking for some patio landscaping inspiration for our backyard makeover and, let me tell you, this house is certainly it! Of course we do not have a large and lavish estate or sprawling decks like they do, but I would like to take different aspects of their outdoor patio designs and recreate them at our house.  For example, I really love the natural stone retaining wall that they used as the accent to the step-down pool deck.  It mimics the siding on their house (that we also have) as well as the decorative fencing around the driveway and lawn.  Then they used dark brown mulch alongside the stone walls as the perfect landscape edging to make the grey really pop against the deep green trees and hedges. 

I really like this simple yet elegant patio landscaping because it allows the gorgeous Spanish architecture of this home to shine.  Our house is certainly not as grand as this estate, but we are wanting to create a similar frontward look with walkway pavers to give the exterior a bit more curb appeal.  Right now we just have a simple cement path and very minimal landscaping, so I think that adding an elegant winding walkway and a few well placed pots and shrubberies would go along way to elevating the look of the space.  Ideally, we would like to use landscape pavers like this that we could also coordinate on our deck and retaining walls so that the entire yard is cohesive and beautiful.

I am loving our new patio landscaping so much that I wanted to share some photos in hopes that it may inspire the designs of others.  As you can see, our primary focus throughout the large entertaining area was incorporating mature landscaping trees that would not only add shade, but also provide some privacy from our neighbors.   Not only did this addition accomplish those two tasks, but it also gave a fantastic resort-style feel to the entire area -- you feel as though you are in the middle of a tropical forest.  I always was very pleased with the patio ideas that we decided to incorporate, including the fire pit, pool side cabana and large area for dining and lounge chairs.