Get Inspired: Photos of Pools & Outdoor Living Spaces
By Lisa Hallett Taylor, About.com Guide to Pool & Patio
Sometimes you have no clue what you want to do with your outdoor space until you see a photo. Then it jumps out at you: that's it! While outdoor living spaces and their components are tangible, the look, mood and feeling are harder to nail down.
These galleries are here to inspire: some have projects or ideas that are achievable, while others -- like vintage shots of movie stars' swimming pools -- are here as enjoyable eye candy, an historical perspective, or to spark an idea or two. Hopefully, you'll be motivated to open your eyes and start noticing outdoor design ideas in even the most unexpected places.
- Swimming Pools
- Hardscaping: Design, Spaces & Structures
- Outdoor Privacy Screens
- Outdoor Furnishings & Accessories
- Outdoor Seasonal & Holiday Decorating Ideas
Swimming Pools
You can find them above ground, inground, with vanishing edges. In all kinds of sizes and shapes and for all sorts of purposes -- from swimming laps to entertaining to existing simply as something to intrigue the senses and admire.
- Pool Shapes Galleries
- Luxurious Hotel Swimming Pools
- Swimming Pools, Movie Stars
- The Best Plants for Poolside Landscaping
- Above-Ground Pool Designs, Shapes & Styles
Hardscaping: Design, Spaces & Structures
Hardscaping is so much more than a slab of concrete. It encompasses everything in your outdoor space that is not actual growing plantlife, although both garden and hardscape design are integral to landscape design. Simply put, you can't have one without the other. Examples of hardscaping: gazebos, river rock, decomposed granite, patio roofs, fences, porches and trellises.
- Paving Materials
- Path Materials in Water Conservation Design
- Water Conservation Landscape Design: Garden Art
- Dwell on Design Show Highlights
- CA Boom West: Designs for Outdoor Living
Outdoor Privacy Screens
Part of enjoying your outdoor living space is using it as an extension of your home. And you don't necessarily want the neighbors or passers-by watching as you dine with your family or take a nap, would you? Thus the need for outdoor privacy screening, which can be anything from a fence to a row of closely planted hedges to a Japanese shoji screen. The possibilities are limitless, as you will see.
- Living Privacy Screens: Trees, Shrubs & Other Plants
- Fences, Walls & Structural Screens
- Bamboo Privacy Screens
Outdoor Furnishings & Accessories
You can have just as much fun, if not more, furnishing your outdoor rooms. Just being outside makes everything less formal, and it's in your yard where you can let your creativity run free. You can go with a theme or style, like tropical or Morroccan, or mix things up for an eclectic atmosphere. Go ahead and express yourself!
- Flea Market Finds: Vintage Outdoor Furnishings
- Michael Jackson's' Neverland Estate: Garden Statuary & Patio Furniture
Outdoor Seasonal & Holiday Decorating Ideas
Outdoor decorations and ornamentation are every home or apartment dweller's way of joining in on seasonal celebrations. It's how you establish a theme and carry out the festivities for occasions like birthdays, family get-togethers or the Fourth of July. Some people are so into holiday yard decorating that they work on their "props" all year. Others celebrate in more subtle ways, with a container on the porch filled with seasonal flowers. It's party time!
