Home » Misc » Pool border ideas

Pool border ideas


11 Simple Pool Landscaping Ideas That Fit Your Budget

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably looking for pool landscaping ideas to give your swimming pool a new look. Maybe something more modern, or vibrant and futuristic. But the only thing is, pool landscaping is expensive right?

Not necessarily.

There are plenty of affordable and simple pool landscaping ideas that you can use. It’s all just a matter of how creative and resourceful you’re feeling.

Some of these pool landscaping ideas take advantage of what you already have lying around the house. Others come with a small cost upfront.

But no need to call the pros – these ideas are very DIY. They’re easy to do, take less than a day, and can be done on a budget.

So if you’re ready to create a fresh and gorgeous new space for you, your family, and friends, keep reading. In this post, we show 11 simple pool landscaping ideas that you can start using right now.

 

A few things to do before you start pool landscaping:

 

 

1.

Around the pool string lightingImage via Advantage DMS

While they look great inside,  they look even better in your backyard. String lights add just the right amount of brightness to any setting.

For decorating your backyard, choose white LED Christmas lights over large bulbs.

They’re lighter, easier to set up, and WAY more energy efficient. A winning combination for illuminating your patio with a beautiful, ambient glow year-round — without driving up your energy bill.

IMPORTANT: We recommend setting up lights against the walls of your pool enclosure or home, far away from the water. It’s safer, faster, and reduces most of the hazards that come with stringing lights over the pool (possible electric shock, knocking them down when cleaning).

 

2. Underwater LED pool lighting

Image via UltimatePoolGuide

Looking to brighten up the inside of your swimming pool? Consider LED pool lights. They come in a variety of colors, offer quick installation, and drastically lower your energy bill. Especially if you’re replacing halogen or incandescent bulbs.

LED pool lights emit a cooler, brighter, and more vivid range of lighting. Lighting that can adapt to the occasion – whether you’re sitting poolside on a summer night sipping a drink, or lounging by the water for brunch.

Some LED pool lights can even change color, which helps you get festive for the holidays, or set the mood for warm, peaceful midnight swims.

Related: 7 Cheap Ways To Heat Your Pool

 

3. Fireplace lighting

Image via PhotoMontana

Looking for a simpler, more natural lighting source for your pool? There’s nothing that beats a firepit. It’s an active, breathing source of light that doubles as a stunning accent piece.

It catches attention,  illuminates your backyard, and keeps everyone nearby warm.

Really, what better way is there to cozy up on a chilly night than by huddling around a fire? It’s relaxing, comfortable, and a tradition as old as history itself.

No matter what time of the year, a poolside firepit adds the perfect ambiance to your backyard pool.

 

4. Stone walkway to the pool

Image via Home and Garden Design Ideas

Need a better way to get to your pool other than walking over grass? Make a stone slab walkway.

You only need enough stones to reach from the door to your pool. And there’s really no limit to how creative you can get.

Choose different color slabs for an eye-catching mosaic look, or match the tone of your pool deck for a more subtle pathway. Stone slab walkways let you add a touch of rustic elegance to your backyard in just minutes.

Plus, they help keep your pool deck and water cleaner.

Related: 12 Useful DIY Pool Cleaning & Maintenance Tips

 

5. Rock garden

Image via DLCDMV

Not quite ready to put your green thumb to work? Need to fill a space around the pool?

Make your own river rock garden. It’s as easy and gathering a few bags of river rocks, and filling up a bed of dirt with them. The main strength of rock gardens is the quiet, yet impactful contrast they add to your backyard.

Choose a single spot for your rock garden, or create an accent border of river rocks around your pool deck.

Related: 33 Backyard Inground Pool Ideas For All Budgets

 

6. Recycled garden planters

Image via Lera Blog

In the mood to do some planting but don’t have any pots? Recycle your worn-out car tires – they’re the perfect substitute.

If you’re due for a new set of tires soon anyway, take advantage of this pool landscaping idea. It’s a great, eco-friendly alternative to throwing them in a landfill.

Grab a few tires, paint them, and stack them. From there all you need is dirt and plants. The rest is up to you.

 

7. Add some accent plants

Image via How To Landscaping

You might already have a plant or two sitting in your backyard. So why not add a few more to liven up your swimming pool?

Poolside plants add lush textures and vibrant splashes of color that give your pool a calming, peaceful feel — as if you were in your own private island.   But you don’t have to start big with a full garden, a few potted plants will do.

Choose full sun plants that don’t shed a lot of leaves. They’re resilient, low maintenance, and produce the least debris.

Some of the best pool landscaping plants to include are:

Related: 36 Pool Friendly Plants | The Best Plants For Around The Pool

 

8. Ornamental grass borders

Image via Custom Lawn Scapes

Need something to balance out that river rock garden? Ornamental grass borders are a perfect choice.

They’re neutral, yet eye-catching, tough, and fit in pretty much anywhere.

Plant a few next to each other to form a wall, or use them sparingly as accent pieces across the pool deck.

 

9. Wooden pallet furniture

Image via Recycled Things

Want to add furniture to your backyard, but don’t have a big budget? Consider repurposing some old wooden pallets.

Yes, the same kind of pallets you see on the floors of warehouses, hardware stores, and shipping yards.

What’s great about pallet furniture is the amount of freedom it gives you. For starters, you don’t need a lot of tools to make it.

You can stack two together to make a table, cut one in half for a bench, or create a “deck” by lining them on the floor. From there, just add a splash of color, a few cushions, and your look is complete.

 

10. Wall of privacy hedges or plants

Image via The Decoist

Need a bit more privacy in your pool, but aren’t ready to call the fence-builders? Make a privacy wall of foliage instead.

A wall of trees or shrubs adds the perfect mix of décor and privacy.

Here are a few good trees, plants, and shrubs for privacy hedges:

 

11.

 Glowing flower beds with rope lightingImage via Pinterest

Already have a garden by the pool? Give it a charming glow by lining the inner edges of the borders with rope lights.

With this simple addition, your garden won’t only look more attractive, it’ll be more noticeable at night too. And that adds a whole new mood to your aquatic, backyard getaway.

 

12. Declutter, decrease

The easiest way to start landscaping around your pool is by reducing and decluttering. Or in other words, getting rid of all the stuff that doesn’t need to be there.

In the process of cleaning and clearing up junk, you’ll discover new opportunities for decorating the backyard. And you’ll probably even find a few things you can put to use.

So if you’re not quite sure where to start with your pool landscaping ideas, start by throwing away what you don’t need.

 

If you liked this post, you might also like:

15 Cheap Ways To Upgrade Your Swimming Pool

7 Best Ways To Lower Your Swimming Pool Bills

5 Surprising Reasons To Use a Pool Heat Pump In The Summer

Related posts:

Pool landscaping ideas: The best materials to use in and around a backyard pool

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Breegan Jane)

Good pool landscaping ideas need careful thought, planning and preparation. 

But worry not. We break down all you need to know about the different types of pool landscaping, from pool landscaping with rocks to pool ideas for privacy and shade.

The materials used – from paving, aggregates and decking, to decorative edging and the hard materials employed for in-ground pools – add texture and character to a backyard pool garden, marking out the structure and leading the eye through to the swimming pool and beyond.

The best time to undertake a pool landscape redesign is in winter, when the backyard is dormant. But the summer months are the time to analyze the ways in which you use the space and to understand what you need from your future design. 

These backyard ideas will help you find the best ways to landscape around a pool and explain what you need to consider before you begin.

Pool landscaping ideas

From putting greens to privacy, these landscaping ideas add major value (and fun) to your pool area.

1. Plant on an island

(Image credit: Brittany Farinas, House of One / Lifestyle Production Group)

Your pool landscaping ideas don't have to be relegated to the sides of the pool. For an original idea that evokes a tropical resort, bring the vegetation into the pool by stationing it on an island structure right in the middle of water, like at this Florida home by Brittany Farinas of House of One Interiors . Want to go full paradise vibes? Use palms. 

2. Use lighting to enhance the landscape

(Image credit: Designer: The Fox Group Photographer: Lindsay Salazar)

Lighting is the perfect complement to pool landscaping. It can emphasize certain features (try uplighting shrubs and trees) and enhance the overall ambience of a newly landscaped space.

String lights are a pool lighting idea that's more about form than function, but the ambience a set of bistro lights will add to your pool area is second to none.  

If you're lucky enough to have a pool house, use it as an anchor point for your string lights, and stretch them above the length of the pool, like The Fox Group did, above. No pool house? Try filling the bottom of whisky barrel planters with cement, then inserting a wooden post to create a semi-permanent anchor point for lights. Don't forget to finish off the planters with soil and your favorite annuals. 

3. Use planters to add personal style

(Image credit: Thomas Guy Interiors / Haylei Smith)

Both your planters and the plants you put in them are a chance to add your personal style to your pool patio ideas.

'We like to include banana leaf trees and orchids to add a touch of nature, and high-design planters can be a creative way to show off one’s own personal style,' says Lance Thomas of Louisiana-based Thomas Guy Interiors . Above, Thomas chose organic planters and unstructured ferns to complement the contemporary, minimalist pool design. 

4.

Include a putting green

(Image credit: Breegan Jane)

Your pool landscaping ideas can offer more than just beauty and a bit of shade. Add recreation to the list by installing a putting green adjacent to your pool patio, like interior designer Breegan Jane did at her client's Southern California home, where the goal of the outdoor space was to 'surprise and delight.'

5.  Use landscaping for privacy

(Image credit: Brittany Farinas, House of One Interiors / Lifestyle Production Group)

Looking for a pool fence idea that adds privacy and beauty? Your landscaping can do the job if you plant high trees or bushy shrubs around the perimeter of your pool or property, a la this Florida property. 

Another idea we love from this photo? The cabana. When you're brainstorming your landscaping and pool area ideas, don't forget to include a shady spot to retreat to when you're tired of sunbathing. 

6. Invest in LED lighting around a pool

(Image credit: Future / Mark Bolton )

When considering pool landscaping, smart pool lighting ideas certainly have their part to play. A well-planned lighting scheme can do wonders for your backyard pool and shouldn't be an afterthought.

'For small cascades and fountains, direct underwater spotlights onto the plinth of flowing water, or run a color-changing LED strip along the rill from which the water emerges,' suggests Sally Storey, lighting director at John Cullen. 

An impressive backyard pool is hugely enhanced when illuminated at night. Underwater lights can be halogen, LED or fiber optic, but they must be encased in waterproof, IP-rated fixtures. 

Alternatively, solar garden lighting ideas, such as bulbs hidden in between evergreens or in containers create a soft glow.

7. Pick the perfect pool deck landscaping

(Image credit: Future / Mark Bolton Photography)

Poolside deck ideas provide versatile and cost-effective ways to extend your living area into the outdoors. What's more, decking creates the perfect focal point for a low-maintenance yard, and is cheaper and easier to use than paving.

At its best, a sturdy, water-resistant timber deck is a handsome, hard-wearing pool area idea that complements most backyard pool settings.

But decks don’t only look good: other advantages include being relatively lightweight in comparison to stone, quick and easy to install and forgiving. Plus, timber can be cut to size to fit perfectly round awkward corners – perfect if you don't have a rectangular pool.

8. Add shade and privacy with ivy

(Image credit: Future / Armelle Habib)

In an ideal world our pool areas would be private sanctuaries where we could swim, entertain and relax away from prying eyes. 

Yet, for many pool owners, the reality is quite different. Spending time outdoors can be like living in a goldfish bowl because there is nothing to screen their backyard pool from neighboring windows. 

Smart garden shade ideas are great if you want to shield your pool area from the neighborhood and create shady coverage at the same time. A good place to start is with your pool fence or property boundary.

If you have an existing fence or trellis, plant ivy near the base to create a living privacy wall. No fence? Plant a deciduous hedge, or trail ivy up a wall using a trellis.

9. Landscape with rocks, trees and overgrown grasses

(Image credit: Future / © Roy Westwood)

If you are not one for a traditional pool area, then consider a more natural landscape for your outdoor swim. 

Today’s natural pools – or swimming ponds as they are often known – are welcomed into the border garden, whether in a formal setting of lawns, surrounded by flowers and grasses, or even made to look like a natural garden pond. 

For a rugged appearance, take inspiration from creative rock garden ideas and lay down plenty of misshapen rocks, pebbles and limestone. The main highlight of a rock garden is the quiet, zen-like aesthetic they add to your backyard. 

10. Highlight a rectangular pool with flower beds and borders

(Image credit: Future / Alistair Nicholls)

Whether you like raised garden bed ideas or you prefer planting straight into the ground, flower beds can make exceptional dividers for a garden path around a backyard pool.  

This is especially the case when you bring tall, architectural plants into the mix. This smart garden path idea is a beautiful way to establish the boundary of a walkway and to zone off your pool area from the rest of the garden. 

What's more, it will continue to offer color and structure throughout the seasons, even when the pool is not in use.

11. Set up a seating area around the pool

(Image credit: Future / Mark Bolton)

When considering pool patio ideas and other hard landscaping materials for a pool, your first priority will be to establish the functional spaces, from terraces and patios, to paths and borders around the swimming pool. 

The expanse of an area and its use will dictate which materials are most suitable.

For instance, a hard standing for a table and chairs needs to be flat and stable, and you might want to keep granular aggregates, such as gravel or bark, away from the pool so they are not carried into the water. 

12.

Install a non-slip surface 

(Image credit: Future / Polly Eltes)

While a pebble-dashed floor isn't entirely non-slip, it is certainly a less slippery option in comparison to stone slabs, pavers and decking. 

Opt for an entirely smooth surface to avoid any nasty cuts on the feet and if your pool is indoors, be sure to include a professional drainage system. 

Proper drainage will ensure that the water in your in-ground pool remains clean and protects your surrounding yard, deck, patio, landscaping, and home from possible water damage, erosion, and debris. 

Plus, no one wants to be constantly mopping up water. 

13. Landscape around a pool with grass

(Image credit: Kimberley Harrison / Kathryn MacDonald)

Your lawn serves as a huge source of air conditioning for your garden and also releases oxygen and simultaneously captures dust, keeping you and your family healthy, so it's a perfect option for near a pool area. 

To reap the many benefits to the full, keep your lawn as healthy as possible and your lawn pays you back for all the work you put into it.  

What’s more, your lawn needs plenty of water to encourage the roots to grow deep into the ground, and the best way to achieve this is to water deep. Try to water heavily, on an infrequent basis. 

Plus, you’ll want to make sure the chlorine from the pool doesn’t sit on top for too long. 

14. Use concrete as a modern alternative to stone slabs

(Image credit: Future / Matthew Williams)

Lusting after a modern industrial landscape? Durable, easy to clean and heat-retaining, there’s a lot to love about concrete flooring in a modern backyard. 

Perfect for nailing the urban trend, it works best in contemporary spaces, but can also be mixed with plenty of greenery and colored foliage for a striking contrast.   

While the use of concrete has become commonplace, it was once seen as an inferior material in comparison to stone. But if we can forget about it as a cheap substitute we discover that it has its own intrinsic qualities, as interesting as natural materials and very much more versatile.  

Concrete is quite simply a blend of aggregates – sand and gravel or crushed stone – bonded together in a dense, stone-like mass by hardened cement. 

This material has made possible incredible structures and surfaces. It is the cement that gives concrete its dull-gray appearance, and so the secret with in-situ garden paving is to remove the cement from the surface before it sets. 

15. Mix materials around a pool

(Image credit: Belgard)

Large patio pavers have been gaining popularity in California in recent years, and it is easy to see why. 

If you're wondering how to make your garden feel more modern without embarking on an overly expensive redesign, then you should seriously consider employing oversized patio pavers for the landscaping around your pool. 

As far as backyard landscaping ideas go, large pavers are the opposite of discreet and that's exactly why we're seeing more of them in outdoor paving designs. 

Bold and immediately noticeable, oversized paving slabs create an instant indoor-outdoor effect, because they emit the luxury look of indoor tiles – just outdoors.

What is best to put around a pool?

(Image credit: Future / Jody Stewart)

Paving slabs are one of the most common garden materials for landscaping around a pool. Paving or pavers are readily available as individual blocks, in a wide range of shapes, colors and sizes that can be laid in several pattern configurations. You can also buy specialist kits, such as circles, for patios. 

Mostly made from pre-cast concrete or reconstituted stone, pavers can also be used for garden paths, terraces, steps and patios. They are also ideal for adding a large expanse in the same color/material. A matching path and patio area can be used to lead the eye through the garden or to an adjacent pool house. 

What's more, pavers are mostly affordable, readily available and fairly straightforward to lay. Small pavers can be teased into curves, tight corners and organic shapes, and there are a good selection of edgings and borders available to complete the look. 

Be aware that large pavers will need cutting. Tailor your design to limit the number of cuts at planning stage, and hire a slab and walling block splitter to ensure a neat job.

Jennifer is the Digital Editor at Homes & Gardens. Having worked in the interiors industry for a number of years, spanning many publications, she now hones her digital prowess on the 'best interiors website' in the world. Multi-skilled, Jennifer has worked in PR and marketing, and the occasional dabble in the social media, commercial and e-commerce space. Over the years, she has written about every area of the home, from compiling design houses from some of the best interior designers in the world to sourcing celebrity homes, reviewing appliances and even the odd news story or two.

With contributions from

Photoshoot: Reflecting pools - 35 vivid examples

These water paintings do not need canvases and brushes - but you need a pond in which, like in a mirror, the surrounding landscape is reflected. Such a reservoir is called a reflecting pool. Playing with the reflections of the landscape, the house and the sky, he enhances the sense of the beauty of nature and architecture.

R DESIGN Landscape Architecture P.C.

1. "Liquid Mirror "
The image you want to capture can range from the silhouette of a luxury villa to a decked bathhouse. The reflection in the water brings out the best aspects of the house, ennobling the look of any building. To get an interesting image, it is not necessary to have a grandiose architectural object. But it is important to correctly calculate the size and choose the shape of the pool so that the displayed object falls into the “liquid mirror frame” with accuracy.

The reflecting pool in the photo above is next to the small New York airport. The calm surface of the water brings to the fore the “photograph” of the sky with floating clouds and aircraft gaining altitude.

Hendel Homes

2. Enhanced Beauty
A classic rectangular pool in Minneapolis captures the image of a sophisticated homestead. To better highlight the architectural features of the building, the floor of the pool was tiled with dark blue tiles.

PAD studio

3 . Reflection of features
The natural body of water in this photo helps draw attention to one of the main advantages of a wooden house in Hampshire - vertical cladding made of planks of various shades. The pond exists without chemistry: there is only one concession to technology - a pump, which is sometimes used to clean the pond from leaves.

RELATED…
Natural pools: More beauty and no chemicals

AR Design Studio Ltd

4. Three-dimensional "wrap"
An image can be made three-dimensional, three-dimensional if the pool is "wrapped" around the house. This is exactly what they did with a two-story house in Hampshire. A simple pool framing the terrace helped in this.

Audrey Matlock Architects

5. The Right Size
Consider the view you want to capture: a pool that is too small may not fit, and a pool that is too large may reflect what is not needed.

Pictured is Catskill Mountain House. The pool reflects the sky, clouds, tree branches and architecture.

Bianchi Design

6. « Mirror » for Tree
This pool in the Old Central garden in American Phoenix was created to reflect the magnificent 90-year-old tree - Melia acedara, which is called the Indian lilac (China berry tree). ). The pool, in the form of a wide sweeping arc, exactly matched the shape and size of the tree and emphasizes its charm and strength.

7. Natural picture
The surface of water can not only “photograph” reality, but also beautifully frame it. And planning and thinking about a reflecting pool can turn into an exciting job of creating a natural picture, where still water - is the "canvas" on which a natural painting arose.

Selective Designs by Shane LeBlanc

8. And gra to infinity
Another natural scene is created by this "infinity" pool, which reproduces the color of the sunset sky at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

Note: In infinity pools (without a visible edge), the water overflows over one or more edges, giving the impression that the water surface has no boundary. An optical illusion of the vastness of the water surface is created when the edge of such a pool merges with the landscape, sea or sky, so an artificial reservoir is often placed on top of a slope. Pools with optical illusions, as a rule, are difficult to construct and expensive to implement.

Lewis Aquatech

9. At the edge of the forest
However, to create a beautiful view, it is not necessary to build infinity pools on steep cliffs, creating an endless perspective. A small difference in relief is enough - for example, on the border with a forest. Moreover, the infinity pool can be placed even on a flat area.

RELATED…
More infinity pools in our selection of photos

Selective Designs by Shane LeBlanc

10. Movable viewpoint
Depending on the position from which you look at the pool, the fixed view also changes (more than in the case of a mirror). So plan your vantage point depending on the picture you want to see. And one more thing: a look at the water level - it is this approach to creating a meditation zone that has become the trend of this year.

Please note: The infinity pool pictured above connects a forest and home garden in Atlanta. By moving the chairs in the meditation area, you can change the viewpoint of the garden and the surface of the water.

Wagner Hodgson

11. Multiplied space

Fact: Water visually expands the space, and the number of plants on the shore "increases" twice.

This is the effect used by the creators of the pool in Vermont (pictured above). Ornamental grasses are lined up along the pool - this is how graphic plants look especially expressive.

Society of Garden Designers (SGD)

12. Serenity effect
The stillness and reflections in the water make these pools mesmerizing, bringing peace to a garden or natural setting that they complement. A scaffold or a bridge floating over the water is a place where you want to sit in the evening, hiding from the hustle and bustle, watching the reflections of the clouds and birds flying over the water.

Blasen Landscape Architecture

13. Correct place
Reflecting pools have come a long way from large urban pools requiring investment and constant attention to compact modern ponds. In fact, the ideal reflecting pool does not have to be expensive and costly. Even in a small patio or garden, there is a place for a reflective pond that can “charge” the space with energy or, conversely, fill it with peace and serenity.

An example is the small infinity pool in San Francisco (pictured above), which serves as a meditation site on a steep mountainside. Due to the location, the reservoir does not allow the eye to “fall down” and increases the stunning perspective.

Enroot Landscape Planning and Design

14. Compact size
The mirror surface of a small pond in Toronto reflects the blue sky, treetops and creamy white tulips. And adds depth and mystery to the garden.

RELATED…
Private Beach: How to Design Your Pool Area

Broadhurst + Associates

15. Water or Rock
Reflective pools can be as small as birdbaths. Even a shallow "saucer" filled with water will reflect everything around. Didn't manage to place the pool? - It doesn't matter: polished stone also has good reflectivity.

Selective Designs by Shane LeBlanc

16. Smaller is better
Reflecting pools should be much smaller than normal pools. Deep water requires more investment and funds, while the reflection may not always be ideal.

Selective Designs by Shane LeBlanc

17. Calm, only calm
For the best reflection, the water in the pool should be as calm as possible. The "glass" surface should not be disturbed by either bursts of fountain jets or seething waterfalls. Of course, sloping water features are needed to fill the landscape with liveliness, brilliance, sparkle, energy and pleasant sound. But only a pool of still water will turn the reflection of the sky and the trees around into a living work of art.

Broadhurst + Associates

18. Ideal Design
Typically, the edge of a reflecting pool is deeper than the center. This design restrains the formation of waves and creates a fixed surface.

C.O.S Design

19. Correct color
The color of the interior of the reservoir depends on what color the water is to be obtained.

Fact: The darker the water looks, the better it reflects. That is why the lining of the pool or the base of the pond is often made dark so that the bottom is not visible. Such a pool looks mysterious and seems deeper than it actually is. The size and shape of the pool does not matter.

Pictured: Melbourne spa's black mosaic swimming pool for a beautiful reflection effect, light turquoise for the perfect accent color

Elithus i Stockholm AB

20. Blue for daytime skies
The blue color of the water enhances the mirror effect when the sky is reflected. Moreover, the degree of blueness of the water surface depends not only on reflection, but also on the finish of the pool. To make the color of the water look deep blue, a dark blue finish is used for lining artificial ponds and reservoirs.

The concrete pool in the photo above is built on a hill surrounded by forest. The blue cladding of the reservoir surfaces and larch paving are very suitable for the Swedish forest landscape. Therefore, swimming in the pool, the owners feel like they are floating among the crowns of trees.

Aloha Pools Pty Ltd

21. Dark for sunsets and sunrises
This modern swimming pool in Melbourne echoes the color of the sky and iridescent shades in the clouds. Dark tiles were chosen to cover the pool, which conveys the state of nature at certain times of the year. The dark pool contrasts with the lighter stone paving and wooden rafters of the pavilion.

Pence Hathorn Silver

22. A Space Odyssey
Regular reflecting pools are shallow. Therefore, right in them you can organize a place to relax in sun loungers. Fantastic feeling! Either you soar above the water surface, or you bask on soft clouds on the way to interstellar space.

WA Design Architects

23. Fashionable geometry
Pools with strict geometric shapes are in trend now: rectangular or L-shaped. Options with smoothly curving edges also have a right to exist. Such reservoirs, made in a natural style, are especially good when framed by stones.

Please note: The raised pool in the photo bisects the minimalistic space of the garden, being both a pond and a sculpture.

Golightly Landscape Architecture

24. Swimming pool as part of the architecture of the house
The exterior of this Birmingham house is closely related to the interior. The living room continues with access to the terrace - an open room with a reflecting pool and boxwood hedge.

RELATED…
Photoshoot: 79 ways to find a place for a pool on six acres

C.O.S Design

In this case, it is built close to the building. Often owners of small plots prefer small L-shaped ponds around the house.

Note how nice smooth paving without a rim looks when the stone continues over the water (pictured above). The dark blue tiles support the mood of a warm summer evening: the deep blue water attracts like the sky and gives comfort.

Chris Briffa Architects

26. Water is an extension of the house
The reflecting pool in this photo is made as an extension of a modern home in Malta. Behind three glass walls and a concrete slab base, the dining room lines up and floats above a 12-meter pool surrounded by olive trees.

Alterstudio

27. Through the house, as if on water
An actual technique is the entrance to the house through the deck above the water.

Please note: X The owners of the house in the photo are also accompanied by water inside the building. A small reflecting pool that connects the interior and exterior of a modern house in Austin, USA, is built flush with the floor and accompanies the owners crossing the house, filling them with a sense of peace. The sun's rays, reflected from the water, fall into the house and form colorful reflections on the floor. The smooth pebbles at the bottom of the pool darken the water, contrasting with the white stucco in the house.

Wagner Hodgson

28. Bridge or porch
A reflecting pool connects a wooden house in Burlington (USA) with a garden. Flooring above the water - a lilac-colored sandstone slab - leads to the entrance to the house. At night, the "bridge" is beautifully illuminated with LEDs. Wooden poles are built into the pool and create the illusion that the house has emerged from the water. The pool collects rainwater flowing down a chain from the roof.

Gregory Phillips Architects

29. Expansion by reflection
Innovative expansion of space - the reflection of the glass facade visually increases the area of ​​​​the house.

blazemakoidarchitecture

30. Painting in a window frame
In the lobby of this laconic house in New York, the landscape and pool outside the window are framed by a window frame to create a three-dimensional picture - a landscape with unusually shaped trees.

Landscape Design by James Brunton-Smith Limited

31. Swimming pool as an element of landscape design
In this British garden, The Howard garden, created by James Brunton-Smith, a small pool is hidden between the path and plantings - it is not striking . Thanks to the shape and color, the pool fits perfectly into the composition of the garden, matches it in style and forms a single whole with the rest of the elements.

Black_Wall

32. In the spirit of the Russian forest
A small pond in a natural style on a private plot near St. Petersburg repeats the features of the Russian nature of this strip: instead of borders, it has local boulders.

ABOUT THE PROJECT WITH PHOTO…
Houzz tour: Russian traditions in an English interior

ARCHDUET&DA

33. Reflections in the floor
Through the glass floor and the transparent tabletop, the water with goldfish is perfectly visible. And the transparent floor of the gazebo is reflected in the pond.

Lewis Aquatech

34. « Can of paint »
In this photo, an infinity pool looms over a river, merges into the forest, and answers the question of what it would feel like to jump into a can of paint. The fact is that a colored LED-backlight is mounted in the pool, which scatters light in the water column. The glowing bright blue pool, and even surrounded by illuminated trees, looks fantastic.

RELATED…
8 ways to improve your pool if you’re tired of just swimming

Supon Phornirunlit / Naked Decor

35. Romance of the Southeast
On the terrace of this Washington home, a collection of difficult-to-care plants has been replaced with a shallow reflecting pool, inspired by the swimming pool in the lobby of a Thai hotel. Having collected inexpensive umbrellas, chairs and figurines of elephants, the author of the project created an atmosphere of the East here. The glow of globes and candles makes this place especially romantic in the evening.

YOUR TURN…
Do you have a reflecting pool on site? Or are you just planning to do it? Tell us about your experience and show footage of garden ponds and pools with interesting reflections.

10 Western examples that will impress you

When water is the main decoration of the site.

Publication date: 03/27/2020

Material prepared: Vera Rogatko

During the construction of country houses, Russian customers often invest in indoor pools and spas than in outdoor water areas - the harsh climate dictates its own rules.

A well-designed outdoor pool is more than just a pool of water for swimming. We have collected Western examples, where the water zone near the house became a key element in the landscape design of the site and continued the architecture of the house.


1. Under a common roof with a house


Where: Indonesia, Bali
Designed by: Alexis Dornier

The Uluwatu project is three surf villas built using local materials: limestone . Each villa has a unique design, but this one, called Carbon House, is the most spectacular.

The roof of the villa ends with a triangular pergola, under the canopy of which there is also a pentagonal pool. The pergola shades the water area on a sunny day and visually combines it with the entrance group. The architect shaped the pergola and pool structures to resemble the structure of a diamond, hence the reference to carbon.




2. At the intersection with residential areas

Where: Singapore

Project authors: HYLA Architects

on open air. Lined up along the kitchen-living room, the swimming area helps to blur the boundaries between home and yard, and makes the interior even more spectacular.



Dwek Architectes The layout of the building is deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, opening a bewitching view of Kefalonia - and why not complement the solution with a panoramic infinity pool?

Transparent walls and precise viewing angles create the illusion of a single water surface with the sea and develop the architects' idea to focus on the colors of the water area and the sky.




4. On the roof


Where: Miami, USA

Designed by: Bolin Zivinski Jackson

The creators of the San Marino residence also liked the idea of ​​maintaining the traditions of the architecture of the place. The prototype of a modernist house typical of Miami with a rectangular plan, a flat roof on piles and an abundance of glass, was updated according to modern trends and supplemented with a swimming pool - it was placed on piles at the level of the second floor. Walking along the through corridor, which was formed under the water tank, you can watch the bathers from an unexpected angle.

5. In mono finish


Where: Spain

Project authors: Rubén Muedra Estudio de Arquitectura

The pool of the Spanish villa Dune house is located in the southern part of the building, despite the presence of walls roofs. The openings in the walls are not hollow, as it might seem at first glance, but lined with glass to protect the space from winds and sand, without breaking the connection with the landscape.

The pool is designed flush with the floor and finished in limestone like the rest of the house. This helped to enhance the perfectionist geometry of the water area and make the reflections of the walls and the sky in the water as clear as possible for the effect of a clean, mirror-like surface of the water.

6. With an emphasis on the geometry of lines

Where: Italy, Lido

Project authors: JM Architecture

Lido Pool. But unlike the water area in Dune house, where the view of the sea literally serves as the fourth wall of the space, and therefore does not require any decor, the pool area in this project is complemented by contrasting dark lines that enhance the strict geometry of the solution, and an abundance of greenery.


7. As the compositional center of the site


Where: USA, Palm Springs

Designed by: o2 Architecture

A house built in the fifties was located on the site of the Ridge Vista villa. Working on a new project, the architects had to take into account the elements of the old layout of the site - for example, the presence of a picturesque pond. Next to it, a place was laid out for two pools: a large one for swimming, a small one with jets for hydromassage and other SPA gadgets. The house itself was designed to envelop a large-scale water zone.

By the way, inside the house the theme of water was also played up by including turquoise tiles of the backsplash in the kitchen, a couple of poufs and paintings in blue and blue tones.

8.

Through the plot

Where: Costa Rica

Authors of the project: Joan Puigcorbé

Here the principle is reversed: a long water area passes through the plot of the INOUT Villa residential area windows. The abundance of transparent glass, glossy surfaces in the interior and the installation of the tank flush with the floor help to enhance the effect of water penetrating the space.

9. Close to natural waters

Where: Bangladesh

Project authors: River & Rain


Atypical pool green water in the outdoor swimming area of ​​the Himchori Residence can definitely knock you off: ? In fact, it is possible, the main thing is not to confuse a pool with a pond with floating plants in the neighborhood: the boundaries separating the two reservoirs are almost conditional.

The reflections of the dense greenery overhanging the pool give a green tint to the water, while inside it is lined with blue mosaics.

10. In concrete and stone


Where: USA, California

Project authors: Oller & Pejic Architecture

Black desert house was built according to rather contradictory principles. On the one hand, it is in contrast to nature, as Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe liked to build, on the other hand, it is integrated into it (the approach of Frank Lloyd Wright).

The swimming pool at the house is the same. Consonant with the landscape with its broken, sharp shape, the pool was lined with concrete slabs of a cold gray hue to beautifully contrast the water area with sun-bleached desert landscapes.

Advertising on SALON. ru

You may like these articles:

What is important to consider in building a house

Construction of a private house is a thorough process. It requires a thoughtful approach and attention to every detail, so as not to be disappointed with the result and not to repair or rebuild. We learned from architects what are the main points to consider during construction.

#Special projects

How to create a fabulous interior: 5 tricks and 13 things

Before the New Year, you really want a fairy tale! We tell you how to create it in the interior.

#Where to buy

An astronomer's dream: Lasvit novelties

Bohemian glass designer lighting factory produces new models of "star" lamps.

#News

Is it worth it to combine the entrance hall with the living room: 5 opinions of designers

Pros explain in which cases this decision is justified, and give advice on how to create a harmonious and functional space.

Learn more