3 Landscaping Ideas to Turn Your Backyard into an Elegant Retreat

June 20, 2019

Designing and building your own custom home gives you the chance to create your dream home from the ground up. You get to pick every detail and design a home that truly suits your tastes, style, lifestyle, and needs. It’s also a great time to determine the landscaping in your backyard. You can always improve your backyard after you’ve moved in, but it certainly makes it much easier to get the look and feel you want if you tackle it during the design phase. Here are a few landscaping ideas to turn your backyard into an elegant retreat:

1. Create Your Own Spa Area

A spa getaway is often considered the epitome of luxury and relaxation. What if you could get a spa experience whenever you wanted it without having to leave your home? By creating a spa area in your own backyard, you can.

Start by thinking about what types of experiences are the most relaxing for you. If you’ve had past spa experiences you really enjoyed, take inspiration from them as you create a personalized spa experience in your own backyard. If a hot tub is something you would love to have in your backyard, add one.

Using a hot tub, sauna, and/or pool is a great way to relax, whether it’s after a long day, in the morning, or at another time. If you go with a sauna, implement some home sauna design tips to make it as useful as possible. You can also install an outdoor shower that allows you to rinse off before and after a swim or a soak in privacy while also enjoying nature.

In addition to those larger items, or just on its own, you can also create a sense of relaxation and elegance with your outdoor furniture. Lounges with ridiculously comfortable cushions and pillows allow you to sink back and relax in style. Strategically-placed plants and ferns can help you create your own backyard paradise. These are all fun summer landscaping ideas that can help you create a relaxing backyard retreat.

2. Add a Pergola or Gazebo

Adding a pergola as a cover for your backyard patio can create an elegant atmosphere. The slatted roof provides some shade while still allowing for air to flow. Plus, it instantly upgrades the look and feel of your patio by adding structure as well as a unique design element.

Another option is to add a gazebo out in the yard. This can create a beautiful escape in your backyard, especially if you are also planning to create a few gardens and pathways. While immersed in your backyard gazebo, you can have a tea party, simply enjoy some time with guests, or use it for some time by yourself to read, meditate, draw, etc.

Both of these options are versatile and can be used in a variety of ways to help create the atmosphere you want in your backyard. The best part is that you don’t have to choose between them if you don’t want to. A pergola is usually used as a cover or roofing option for a patio that is attached to the house while a gazebo is usually placed out in the yard away from the house. Granted, with a custom home, you’re not limited to “the usual”, but you also don’t have to choose between options if you want both.

3. Get the Right Lighting

There are plenty of outdoor lighting options available, so there is a multitude of ways to get the lighting you need in your backyard. Whether it’s lighting for a patio or lighting in other places, the right lighting can help take your elegant backyard retreat to the next level.

If you’ll have pathways winding through gardens in your backyard, stake lights, rope lights, or recessed lights can be a great way to illuminate them. If you’re going for a touch of fantasy in your garden, you can add lanterns or post lights on poles to add elegance while also adding an otherworldly fantasy design element. You can even go with solar-powered versions so you don’t have to worry about planning electrical access throughout your backyard.

Hanging lights, draped light strands, or small lanterns can make a pergola or gazebo stand out and also add to a fantasy-type atmosphere. Recessed lights are especially useful around areas like a hot tub, swimming pool, sauna, or outdoor shower. Rest assured, whatever space you need to illuminate, there is a lighting option and style available to get the look, feel, and function you want.

These are just a few landscaping ideas to turn your backyard into an elegant retreat, but there are a lot of details to consider when it comes to designing your custom home. Sometimes, it can be difficult to figure out all the pieces you need in a space and bring them together in a way that works.

That’s where a custom home builder with an in-house design/build process can help. They’ll work with you to figure out your style and tastes and then help you translate that to home layout, design, and decor in order to create the home of your dreams.

If you’re ready to bring your custom dream home to life, contact Custom Home Group at 717-284-4090!