Inspiration #40
WELCOME BACK! The last 4.5 months have been a whirlwind of work, conferences, home project planning, and demolition. There will be an L² Design Lab progress post in the next two weeks over on the blog, but suffice to say – a lot of decisions have been made and a lot of work has been done! There’s still a lot more to do, but I thought today we’d cover an aspect of the backyard that had a decision change based on some zoning requirements, general logic, and budgetary factors. If you’d like to catch up on the backyard inspiration to date, we’ve covered fencing, layout and integrated steps.
This is the latest in a weekly post of residential architecture inspiration. If you want to see past weeks, you can go here. If you want to see them curated on my pinterest (sometimes before they even hit the blog), go here.
As mentioned in the layout inspiration post, the backyard at L² HQ has some significant grade change, so the new back deck will have some stepped features. I originally thought I would integrate seating into the steps somehow and step down from the main deck level (just below interior floor level) to a secondary deck level just above the yard. This would’ve made the openness ratio requirement tight, but doable. As I thought about it more, I realized it didn’t seem logical to build out a second, lower deck from (expensive) ipe….just to put a fire pit on it. So…onto the scene arrives the idea of a modern patio paver system with rock separation. Time to research new, pretty things!
This first patio paver system has almost everything I love (and ended up going with) in it. Modern sectionals. Modern concrete pavers. Wood side tables. Metal fire pit. Rock accent. Love it all.
Another great modern patio paver system…though these pieces are big enough to warrant in-place concrete pours…and the respective rebar to help keep it together. I love the grass edging, but I’m a low-maintenance gal. I’d much prefer to take it all down to dirt, do a modern paver with rock infill, and not worry about trimming or weeding. I do LOVE the high color contrast between the concrete and grass, though.
Which means the reality will be more like this. Still a patio paver system large enough to warrant an in-place pour, but the rock edging looks wonderfully minimal – with a beautiful texture transition.
I can’t quite tell from this image whether this poured patio paver system has sand built-into the edging or is simply beveled. I love the mid-century look, though, and the fact that the fire/coffee table base is a void in the layout.
Another gorgeous patio paver system with rock edging. This backyard design makes use of two rock types- one for the space between pavers, and one to edge the entire space.
A great patio paver system with rock edging AND a built-in wood seating element. The cast-in-place firepit is gorgeous, too – with the added benefit of retaining heat without burning a user like metal will.
