33+ Outdoor Patio Ideas You Need to Try This Summer

The material that you use to create your outdoor patio depends partly on your tastes, but also partly on practical considerations. Most homeowners choose hard surfaces, such as the flagstone patioshown in this picture. But as we will see later, there are some instances where a hard surface is not necessarily the best option.

Herringbone Brick Pattern Adds Excitement

by Tom Merton/Getty Images

The “herringbone” is one of the brick patterns commonly used. It is a bit harder to lay than some of the others, partly because it will almost certainly involve some brick-cutting. The herringbone pattern has a frenzied look to it and will draw attention to a patio. If it is excitement that you seek (and you have some DIY experience), the herringbone may be for you.

Slow Things Down With a Running Bond

by YinYang/Getty Images

The “running bond” is another brick pattern used in outdoor patio construction. In spite of its athletic-sounding name, this pattern strikes the eye as being smoother and has more of a soothing effect on the psyche than does the herringbone (previous photo). That effect is perfect for the patio in this picture, a resting place in the middle of a garden.

Use the Basket-Weave Pattern to Avoid Making Cuts

Juliette Wade/Getty Images

Like the running bond, the basket-weave brick pattern is another that offers a soothing effect. Even more importantly, laying a brick patio in this pattern — under the right circumstances — can save beginners some work and some frustration. Why? And what are those circumstances?

Consider the landscape in the picture above. These homeowners had plenty of room to play in. They were not trying to shoe-horn a patio into a tight spot. Consequently, they could leave off laying bricks at whatever point they felt their patio was big enough, and no brick cutting was required due to space constraints. That is often a relief to beginners, who tend to dislike handling noisy, dangerous tools to slice through hardscape materials.

Easy Does It With Gravel Patios

by Clive Nichols/Getty Images

Here is another type of patio that has some give to it: a gravel patio. As with the sand of the Zen garden pictured in the prior slide, the gravel cannot “break” when tree roots attack it. As a result, you need to be less wary of growing trees around your patio than you do with hard-surface patios.

Here is another fact about gravel patios that should meet with your satisfaction: They are not high-maintenance, as are Zen gardens. This fact will only hold true, however, if you take the precaution of using landscape fabric as an underlayment to make it more difficult for weeds to invade the space.

Build a Small Patio in the Right Spot and Marvel at the Results

by Juliette Wade/Getty Images

A patio need not be enormous to serve its purpose. If the owners of this patio built it for the purpose of communing with nature, then they could not have asked for anything much better. For one thing, the location is superb: It is tucked into a hillside, forming something of an amphitheater. In spring, the daffodil flowers surrounding it are a great plus.

Plants and patios can complement each other. We will be looking at many examples of the marriage of plant and patio in upcoming slides. Beginning with spring, let’s examine how you can plan your patio in such a way as to make it enjoyable for all four seasons of the year. This will involve astute plant selection as well as creative solutions to some nagging seasonal problems.

Pick the Best of the Best for Late-Spring Plants and Include Them in Your Design

by Mark Turner/Getty Images

Early spring is magical, but a greater number of fantastic plants come into bloom later in spring.

Don’t Scrimp on the Annuals in Summer

by Jeremy Woodhouse/Getty Images

While a number of long-blooming perennials can see you through the summer if you are patient, there is nothing like annual flowers (such as the geraniums in this slide) for quick, inexpensive, constant color. Grow them in a flower bed within view of your patio and/or in pots right on the patio, according to your desires.

Enjoy Your Patio on Summer Evenings

by Hero Images/Getty Images

A little bit of light goes a long way toward making the patio a great destination on sultry summer nights. Your outdoor lighting need not be fancy. The simple string lights in this image work just fine. A trickier issue is dealing with mosquito pests, especially if you are a proponent of natural mosquito control. We will see one way of dealing with the problem in the next slide.

Beyond Fire Pits Have a Fireplace on Your Patio

by Chuck Schmidt/Getty Images

Let’s take the thought in the prior slide up to another level: Having a wonderful outdoor fireplace like this one on your patio would give you even more incentive to spend time on it in winter.

Design New Garden Area

source: clementsdesign.com

When considering how to design a patio, you must first map out what you aren’t able to change, like any established shrubs and trees. Rather than seeing these things as roadblocks to your patio design ideas, use these unmovable items as inspiration in the shaping or locating of your new garden area.

Fireplace Outdoor Patio

source: home-designing.com

Warm summer days can still bring chilly winter nights. If you want to sit out long into the cooler evenings, or entertain way into the small hours, then it’s a good idea to incorporate a roaring outdoor fireplace into your backyard patio design.

Contemporary Stepping Stone Slabs

source: ClementsDesign.com

Why stop at just one outdoor patio design if you have the space to enjoy several? This sprawling garden offers up multiple patio ideas. A sociable lounge, an al fresco dining area and a couple of decks at the sides are all connected by contemporary stepping stone slabs.

Furniture Outdoor Patio

source barensfeld.com

Once you have your patio garden design, you can have fun selecting outdoor furniture to complement it. This stunning patio has been kitted out with the Bellini Style White Outdoor Dining Chair.

Pool Behind Glass Balustrades

source home-designing.com

A sun patio tops this multi-level garden, nestled under a pergola. It is accessed by concrete steps via a dining deck. Another set of steps lead down to a plunge pool behind glass balustrades.

Panton S Style Outdoor Chair

source home-designing.com

This enclosed patio design is achieved with heavy planting overhead, and sheer voiles hung like banners to form a flowing wall. The voiles are knotted at their base to give them a little weight in the breeze. A romantic chandelier lights the outdoor dining table and Panton S Style chairs, as does a set of twinkling storm lanterns and table tealights.

Simple Pendant Light

source home-designing.com

A half covered pergola provides areas of both light and shade around this quaint outdoor dining spot. A simple pendant light hangs at its centre.

Outdoor Room

source home-designing.com

Built-in seating can be constructed in solid concrete and dressed with cushions that are to be stowed away in winter months. The permanent seating structures can be used to create the perimeter of an outdoor room.

Covered Patio Design

source oldbrandnew.com

This covered patio design features a hanging swing seat ina natural cane finish. The flooring is a stunning geometric tile in a joyful blue colourway; orange cushions on the outdoor sofa provide a stripe of warm contrast. The fence constructed around the seating has been stained ebony black for added drama. Two decorative plates hang on the fence to make it appear like a traditional room.

Hot Tub Patio Design Incorporates

source Elysianlandscapes.com

This hot tub patio design incorporates two stunning tile patterns to make it a stand out space. Also note how the concrete walls have been painted a beautiful shade of blue to complement the tile colour. Pale blue pillows on the outdoor chaise add a finishing touch to the scheme.

Party-Ready Porch

By Brian Woodcock

Get your porch ready for summer parties, last-minute get-togethers, or casual hangouts with rocking chairs, ample storage, and a long table to display food and small bites. Then, set the scene by adding green garland and comfy floor pillows. Be sure to have a cooler ready to go (a wheel barrow also works!) and your favorite sangria recipe on hand.

Al Fresco Dining

By David Stay

An umbrella from a French flea market, lush greenery, and a rustic farm table help the patio of this charming California home feels like it’s in the French countryside.

Seasonal Touches

By David A. Land

Round zinc baskets from Terrain are lined with sheet moss, then filled with soil and dried angel vine, which, like a flower frog, helps hold things in place. From there, anything goes on this Connecticut home’s porch.

Wall of Windows

By Gridley and Graves

In the far corner of this porch, battered windows portion off a seating area and provide respite from the lakeside wind.

Picture-Perfect Porch

By Buff Stricland

With ceiling fans, rocking chairs, symmetrical planters, and a loyal dog, this Texas home’s porch couldn’t be prettier.

Warm Welcome

By Annie Schlecter

This Tennessee home’s porch draws you in the moment you drive up.

Solids and Stripes

By Tarra Donne

All this renovated New York home’s expansive porch needed to take it from scary to airy was new flooring and a fresh coat of paint. Inspired by a superstition that a light blue ceiling would repel bees, the owner painted it a soft blue-green shade.

Industrial Finishes

By Brian Woodcock

The screened-porch at this Alabama homeembodies modern country charm with its practical galvanized roof, concrete floors, and cinderblock fireplace covered in a sand wash. Huge concrete boxes let the owners store firewood year-round, and cushioned wicker chairs make this room even more cozy.

Bring on the Blues

By Annie Schlechter

In the Gullah culture of South Carolina, a watery-green shade of paint was said to keep evil spirits, known as haints, from invading the home. These days, “haint blue” ceilings can be found in and beyond the Lowcountry, but you can try your luck with smaller doses of the shade. Here, the ceiling is painted Yarmouth Blue by Benjamin Moore.

Multifunctional Porch

by Max-Kimbe

Meet the hardest working porch in Georgia: It’s a sitting room, a mudroom, a potting station, and a breakfast nook rolled into one—the perfect way to take advantage of a yearly average temperature of 62 degrees.

Mission Style

by Max Kim-Bee

A vine-wrapped pergola and boxy gray wicker seating offers contrasting shape, color, and texture in this backyard of this California bungalow. Glazed pots filled with low-maintenance succulents create a layered look that mimics the home’s interior.

Firepit

By Hellen Norman

Situated on a narrow peninsula, this South Carolina lake house boasts three-sided lake views best taken in from the patio surrounding the property’s stone-encased fire pit. The cranberry Adirondack rockers echo the trim on the home’s exterior.

Simple Porch

By Jammes Merrell

The homeowners of this lakeside Vermont bungalow hired regional contractors and cabinetmakers, and relied on natural materials sourced nearby to renovate their home.