Pool Ideas

My husband and I have been on the hunt for pool ideas that won't make our backyard instantly resemble our local park.   I really like when homeowners create beautiful pools that act as a decorative accent to their property rather than a stark and institutional rectangle plopped into their backyard yard.  This design in particular caught my eye because we have a similar contemporary ranch house.  Modern pool designs like this would be pretty inexpensive to install because the clean geometric designs are easy and cheap to create.  Then you can use the money saved on more luxurious finishes like mosaic tile, awesome underwater lighting and a high end deck to finish off the upscale look. 

I scoured this site for pool ideas before installing this awesome design in our backyard, so I wanted to return the favor and share some of our pictures in hopes that our property can inspire others.  We had been debating back and forth on whether we should go with some of the fancier above ground pool ideas I have seen lately (they have actually come a long way with those things!) or if we should make the investment in an inground unit.  Ultimately we opted for an inground pool because we felt that it would improve the resale value of our house (which it has).  We wanted to be sure we incorporated cool backyard pool ideas like water fountains, awesome lighting, and a pretty blue tiled design so that it would improve the look of our landscape rather than becoming an eye sore. 

I know that most peoples top pool ideas generally do not include a waterfall, hot tub, and lagoon style liner to create the look of a tropical oasis, but I adore the concept.  Pool design ideas can step outside of the box (literally) of those bright aqua blue rectangles you see in most backyards. I much prefer to look out over a gorgeous landscaped feature like this in my backyard, rather than a rudimentary and "blah" design.  Although inground pool ideas like this look expensive and complicated, I bet you could recreate a similar look mostly on your own by planting lush vegetation and selecting materials for your deck and liner that look more like a natural element.

In my opinion, the only pool ideas that you should consider are those that make your backyard look like a resort.  Why install a costly and high maintenance feature like this if it doesn't enhance the look of your property dramatically.  The best pool ideas have unique features like water fountains or falls like this awesome home, as well as a deck and liner design that blend well with the architectural style of the house.  When they home and pool deck coordinate seamlessly, it gives the look of one of these high end homes.  I also think that good lighting is an absolute much for inground pool designs because it transforms the space into an awesome decorative feature in the evening. 

In my quest to find unconventional pool ideas I stumbled upon this futuristic set up. Swimming pool ideas tend to fall into one of two categories -- boring and rectangular or ultra tropical with boulders and water falls everywhere.  We really didn't want our space to fall into either of those categories, but we still were striving to bring unforgettable and high end style to the landscape.  We are so happy we re-hired our interior designer to help us plan out our swimming pool design because she came up with this epic space that basically checked all of the boxes of things that we wanted.

This designer used some awesome pool ideas to make this backyard look like a mixture between a classic traditional style landscape and a tropical escape.  My favorite pool designs are ones like this that make you feel like you are on vacation in your own backyard.  I hate when homeowners add a bland rectangular bright blue pool into an otherwise beautiful landscape.  Features like this tend to have a negative impact on the overall look of the space rather than giving more value to the home.  If I ever install one in our yard, I am going to plan out the pool landscaping ideas very carefully so that it blends in seamlessly with our current vegetation, and improves the look of the space rather than takes away from it.