Patios for all occasions
Given the right amenities, a good patio can become a travel-free substitute for a weekend getaway – the swimming pool supplanting a crowded beach, or the built-in barbecue taking over the picnic in the park.
Typically, the size and shape of the site will have a greater effect on the patio’s end result than anything else. It can provide opportunities for creative solutions to challenging conditions.
An outdoor area has to respond to the lay of the land, but it should also balance the amount of sun and shade. Structures such as trees and shrubbery, trellises, or privacy walls can increase outdoor comfort by moderating the sun, shielding the area from prevailing winds, and screening out unwanted sights and sounds.
A successful patio remains in scale with the house and the surrounding landscape. A small outdoor area usually looks better with a simple, uncluttered design. By contrast, a big yard may call for a large outdoor area to keep things in proportion, but the overall space can be divided or sectioned with a change in levels, contrasting materials, or garden accents.
Let’s Start with Pavers
Pavers are one of the techniques that can work with any patio design. With any number of patterns and endless color variations, pavers can be made to fit a variety of patio ideas in resembling materials such as new and used brick, formal slate, random-laid flagstone, terracotta tile, cobblestones, hardwood, and much more.
As a patio is built, pavers are also an affordable way to give outdoor living areas a more natural look and bypass the time-consuming and sometimes costly process of selecting and laying individual bricks or stones for all patio projects.
Since it is a very durable product, this material can be used in areas that receive heavy traffic, such as walkways. It’s also an ideal choice for pool surrounds since its textured surface is slip-resistant when wet.
Mixing it Up
While contrasting materials are often used to create dramatic effects, they can also be mixed and matched just to add a little visual interest to an outdoor living area and patios. The combinations depend on your patio ideas and can be as straightforward as brick and paver block laid in sand or wood strips neatly edging a gravel walkway.
Materials might contrast in texture but wear colors bearing a close resemblance to each other; or they might differ in color but carry a similar size, shape, and surface. The emphasis might be on blending materials into a pattern. Simple patterns such as a grid or checkerboard lend themselves to casual patio styles and can be easily accomplished with any square or rectangular paving material for your patio design.
Whether mixing materials for informal looks or to create a more striking patio, it’s wise to gather a small assortment of the pavings in advance and lay out a sample section of the area to be certain that they blend together in functional and visually pleasing ways and we can help you with that by comparing your options before you need to purchase.
There are thousands of combinations for planning and building the perfect patio.
Call us at 703-634-4426 or get an estimate for your perfect patio. From the design to the build, we’ve got you covered. We use brands like Hanover, Cambridge, Techo Block, EP Henry, Belgard, and natural travertine pavers.
