A patio pergola may seem like such a simple afterthought to an outdoor design but I've got to tell you that this little covered kitchen has become one of the most used (and loved) areas of our home. I cannot take credit for these pergola plans as they were here already when we built the home -- we did add the vines over top to give it a more rustic "vineyard" feel and to give us some added coverage from the rain. Now every evening we have neighbors over for a happy hour drink at the bar and Jim will usually grill some gourmet meal for us. Believe me when I say that a backyard pergola will drastically increase your quality of life and may even make you the most popular house in the neighborhood!
A patio pergola does not have to be a grand affair that takes up your entire backyard, you can certainly build miniature varieties that subtly shade pathways while providing fantastic architectural flare. This is exactly what we sought to achieve when we designed this outdoor pergola for some of our favorite clients. They wanted a small area that they could pull pool lounge chairs underneath if they needed a bit of shade, but nothing that would obstruct the sun or the design of the backyard. The pool is narrow enough as it is so we had to be careful to to overshadow it. As you can see from these pergola pictures, it is only about 3 feet wide but certainly does the job and blends quite nicely with the modern lines of the building.
This is such a fun twist on the ordinary patio pergola designs that I have been seeing on repeat in these outdoor home design galleries. I had never thought to put a full pergola on deck before (I always thought they had to go on stone pavers or cement) let alone section off an outdoor bar and kitchen area with the design. Apparently I am late to the party, because this is such a fantastic way to make your outdoor living areas much more functional, especially for somebody who loves to entertain as much as I do. My DIY list just got that much longer now that I have added these pergola ideas onto my upcoming projects. This one will end up moving to the top of the list though because I want to be able to use it as soon as possible!
Just looking at this patio pergola I can almost feel the ocean breeze and hear the sound of the waves! I wish that I could transport myself to this lovely spot right this instant and enjoy soaking up those last rays of summer sun. Unfortunately, since I don't have a sprawling beach house like these lucky home owners, I will simply have to settle for recreating these patio pergola ideas in our backyard. Minus the drool-worthy ocean view, I think that my handy husband and I could plan and build a pretty similar design on our own pretty easily. Taking into consideration the other diy pergola designs that I have seen floating around, this seems to be a pretty straight forward one, especially since the wood is left to weather rather than upkeep the paint and stain. Just need to find some cozy love seats and fun pillows like these and we will be all good to go.
Our patio pergola (pictured here) is without a doubt our favorite spot in the entire home. It may not be a huge area, but we find it so relaxing to sit out there in the evenings with a romantic fire burning in the fire pit, the rope lights twinkling, and a lovely glass of wine. I don't think that most people realize that pergola designs like this (especially with a fabric shade layer like we have) can actually create basically a full outdoor room without all of the money and hassle of building an actual covered porch. We hired a contractor because we are old and not very handy, and he had this up in just a few days. We showed him photos of covered patio ideas that we liked and then he came up with this design on his own.
I have to take a moment to brag about my husband and son, because they built this entire patio pergola themselves in just a few days. For years now we have been dreaming up plans to improve this little outdoor living area that we created off of our kitchen and backyard pergola ideas seemed like a great next step. A couple of years ago we had this awesome hearth built in and that made us utilize the space even more than before. Lately we have been noticing that we have to go inside often during hot summer days because of the sun beating down. We didn't want to completely cover the area so we started designing this modern pergola that would provide some shade while still allowing you to see the sky above.