I am a home interior and exterior designer. Backyard, patio designs. Anybody care to share design thoughts/ideas?

Hi Sam. For a back yard at least 40' by 40' starts with a wide back door, sliding or by folding, with a dock like path/deck to a deck, flowing to a lower level patio of large stones with fire pit in the center, barbeque grills on outer perimeter, surrounded by trees, bushes, shrubs and flowers.

Agree

I have owned 15 houses and one thing I always try
to remember is..something I read years ago..always
leave the land/house better than you found it,
what you do might last for years so give
it a good think ;-)

Then..avoid fads in decorating, they need redoing
too fast.

Useful things can also be beautiful ;-)

Beautiful, yet functional design.
there is nothing worse when either one trumps the other. A coffee table or bar cart with clever storage, but makes a statement. "Conversation" pieces are especially delightful when hosting dinner parties.
🥂

P.S. failed emoji: two champagne glasses
Lol.

I've only been interested in single floor houses. I don't need guest bedrooms. I'm thinking of a lot of windows. A big bookroom/sitting room and movie room. Good kitchen.

Personally, I'm a practicologist.
My design 'decorating' experience usually involved truck shops, garages and basements.

I never really went for a 'pretty' look. I needed my spaces to be highly functional and adaptable to the needs of the tasks being perfomed in that space.

Speaking of space, I needed designs which optimized limited spaces for storage and useability.

I set up the shops with 'work stations' specifically tailored to minimal travel while completing a task.

For instance, the electrical stations were equiped with a bench or two with small vices, a small grinder, a 12v power source, wire, wire terminals, machine screws, conduit, electrical tape, a soldering iron with solder and flux and at least one meter. I also put at least one magnifying glass at the station.
The bench had a steel rule across the front edge and an under-cabinet light with a mirror on the back wall (to reflect as much light as possible on the work). Each station (most shops only needed one) had a stool to sit on.
The mechanic would sit at the station and rebuild their components or would use the station to gather up wire, plastic conduit and terminals to take on a job.

I also created hose stations, had a hardware bins station and even a paperwork room which doubled as a lunch room.

At home, My garage was lined with shelving both high and low along with a back wall of bench with storage and accessory racks. Plenty of lighting with old mirrors to reflect it.

My basement also had work benches with extra lighting. Lots of storage using optimal spaces.
Her washer/dryer laundry room floor was elevated so she could reach everything easily. I even included a deep sink.

I have an organized mind. Not only do I design for organization I organize paperwork.
I restructured the repair order trail to optimize my mechanic's task flow. I optimized data processing to decrease confusion (my supervisor team needed to crunch trip data and oil analysis in maintaining our trucks.
Much of this 'office' design also included redesigning and creating different station or 'areas' to process different data.

At home, my home office is set up in much the same way.
My kitchen is also set up in such a way as to optimize it for specific tasking.

To me, something which works good is more important than something which looks good.

A pretty paint job with lots of chrome might look good on your car but if it won't run right, its not worth driving.

Your date might look pretty but if they have a crappy personality ya won't want to be with them.

Great design for backyard and patio. How about an outdoor aquarium?

Can you share some idea of a nice garden?

What do you think about smart coffee tables? For lazy people or is it cool?

You must have a lot of DIY ?

What is a 'smart coffee table'?

What do you think of outdoor aquariums in the garden?

There are many garden ponds and waterfall designs which include live fish and plexiglass viewing panes.
The main problem with outdoor aquariums is the maintenance to keep it looking good.

At one house, we built a waterfall & holding pond (small) on the slope in the front yard.
At first it looked awesome but as time passed, it became harder and harder to maintain its beauty.
Eventually we scrapped the water idea and went with rocks.

The X had an indoor waterfall collection. She was a water sign and loved the sound of running water (it soothed her).

A few pictures for ideas of garden aquariums at pinterest...







Some ideas for backyard waterfalls at pinterest...









Ideas for waterfalls w/ fish ponds at pinterest...







Once you look at plenty of designs you can create working designs based on the features you really like and create something new and different.

There's also plenty of sites on the web which can tell you what does and doesn't work.
Moving water is less likely to get algea and mold but some moss can be appealing.

Also, you must pick your fish and aquatic creatures wisely for the area and the habitat.
Living creatures need a sustainable environment or they get sick & die. Ya gotta do some research.

Thanks for the information. Have you got a page? Instagram? Fb? Can you share some of your DIY ?

Meh, I would never use it...

hello