Custom Patios

Many Houstonians have come to expect more than a simple concrete patio designed to accommodate seating around a swimming pool. More and more of our residents are looking to add custom patios to their landscapes in order to accommodate the special functions of entertainment, recreation, and relaxation that constitute the essence of true home entertainment.
Custom patios are normally built either behind a home or alongside of a home on larger estates, although some of the very large estates in neighborhoods like River Oaks may have them in the front yard as well. The exact location of the hardscape is not nearly as important as the ruling principle of the design itself. A custom patio is built that will reflect the function and nature of specific events, and its size, material build, and physical form is derived from than function in a manner that simultaneously compliments home architecture and surrounding landscape features.
Historically, patios have either been made out of stone, concrete, or wood and have been used as seating areas adjacent to a pool, garden, or outdoor cooking area. In custom design, though, the patio itself often becomes the center of activity. This is because it is built according to the specific space requirements and anticipated nature of all activities that it is intended to host in the future. Whenever Exterior Worlds works with a new client, we spend extensive time in consultation with our client, gathering as much information as possible on their lifestyle, and on what their intentions are for future home entertainment and outdoor events. We have to factor in such things as the number of guests, the nature of the gatherings themselves, and what structures the patio may ultimately surround or adjoin in order to determine what materials should be used to build it and what its final form will ultimately take.

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This systematic approach to custom design allows us to construct a patio either around or adjacent to virtually any area of significant interest in the yard. In many case studies, our clients want us to build special seating and gathering areas near custom, lighted fountains or custom gardens in order to let guests enjoy the aesthetic of these elements so that their ambience can help define the experience of the event. Other clients may ask us to build a custom patio in a remote area of the yard to function as their own personal, exclusive, and private retreat for early morning coffee and late afternoon reflections. Still other residents wish to create a festive atmosphere of outdoor revelry and extravaganza where the most sophisticated and ostentatious of outdoor structures are magnified even further by a surrounding custom hardscape that attracts and galvanizes the sensibilities of the crowd.
We do a great deal of custom patio construction around large, special outdoor structures that represent an inversion of indoor living into outdoor, expansive space. Outdoor fire places and fire pits are two excellent examples of such environments. Based upon the ancient ideals of hearth and home, these archetypal structures invoke both symbolic connotations of special space and also represent images of a warm, traditional, refined modern living room. By building these structures outdoors, and surrounding them with a custom patio based upon the subjective elements of the individual client’s lifestyle, we can unite the experiential, the symbolic, and the Natural all into a new organic/inorganic unity.
Custom patios can also be constructed in front of outdoor kitchens and arbors in order to provide extended space beyond the interiors of these structures. Again, our principle of letting function define form not only allows us to extend such space, but to also combine this space with other areas of interest. A custom patio can link the areas between a garden and an arbor, or a pool and an outdoor kitchen, providing a path to walk on, a floor to stand and mingle about, and a seating area to comfortably gather around for quite conversation—all rolled into one. Other locations where we often build custom patios include entrance gardens along the side walls of multi-story homes on larger estates, and around ornately lighted custom fountains that act as centerpieces and focal points for late night parties, formal and informal, festive and relaxed.
Landscape architects use only the finest and most durable materials when building a custom patio, and they take the time to ensure that the plans they develop for the hardscape ultimately mesh with the organic and architectural elements of the property. They also make absolutely certain that home architecture and all surrounding structural design elements are respected and complimented by the form, materials, and the size of the patio they build.

Paver Patios

Prized for their durability, affordability and strength, patio pavers—or concrete pavers—have become increasingly popular among U.S. homeowners. Because they come in many shapes, sizes, colors, patterns and designs, patio pavers bring versatility to your patio design. They can be used in small garden designs, outdoor rooms, formal and informal spaces, entryways, in your deck design and…well, wherever you can think of a landscaping idea. Patio pavers
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Flagstone Patios

Houston home. By enlarging your living space, patios make the house feel bigger and unite the interior and exterior spaces. Patios give us an opportunity to enjoy the out-of-doors, especially when they are dressed up as an outdoor room. And nothing enhances the look of a patio better than flagstone. A flagstone patio denotes hardiness, security, wherewithal and permanence. With its bluish coloring, flagstone also conveys a cool beauty, particularly
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Houston Patio Design

A patio is a transition space between the house and the yard. Depending on your preference, your patio design can run the gamut from an elegant open-air greenhouse to an outdoor living room. Regardless, a patio expands the living space of the house and creates a focal point out the window. By adding a personal touch to the overall property, your patio design affects the emotional and physical space by
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Patio Landscaping

A patio is a form of architecture that creates a special area of interest. Patio landscaping requires taking a number of essential considerations in mind when creating a new design. We pay close attention to the architecture of the home in order to ensure that that every patio we build compliments its size and form. Garden styles are another major influence on patio landscaping. Gardens are very often planted near
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Patio Design

A patio is a transition space between the house and the yard. Depending on your preference, your patio design can run the gamut from an elegant open-air greenhouse to an outdoor living room. Regardless, a patio expands the living space of the house and creates a focal point out the window. By adding a personal touch to the overall property, your patio design affects the emotional and physical space by
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Unique Patio Designs will be the Foundation of Your Outdoors

Patio designs should be customized on both functional and aesthetic levels that will support these activities. If parties are large, then the patio should be built furniture friendly so that people have a place to comfortably sit after standing for a period of time. Also, space must be dedicated to serving areas so that everyone gets what they want to eat and drink. Lighting must be adequate so people can
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Patio Landscaping Blends Architecture and Nature

Perhaps the greatest strength that patio landscaping offer lies in the fact that it can be done anywhere in a yard. Patios are used to provide hard surface areas for gatherings. They also connect areas of activity to softscape elements to cause those in attendance to feel the warmth and vibrancy of life. In many cases, a landscape element that would otherwise clash with the foliage of the landscape is
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Outdoor Stone Patios

An entire landscape master plan can be developed around outdoor stone patios. Stone has a special significance to us all, as it was the very first tool that man ever used, and it was the first building material of early civilizations. Stone can be used to create the most fantastic monuments, but it never loses its innately natural look. This makes it the perfect tool for bridging the gap between
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Houston Covered Patios

Many people are enjoying peace, tranquility and pure comfort this summer in spite of the high temperatures here in Houston. Covered patios are making it possible for homeowners to relax outside without feeling like the heat is sucking the life out of them. These special patios are often built as add-ons to the house and operate much like an outdoor room without walls. They can also be built as standalone
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Multi-Level Decks add Form and Vertical Impact

A multi-level deck often proves the ideal Houston landscaping element for specific types of property in our city. Narrow yards with a visible need to maximize space typically benefit from a deck design that uses more than one section to extend only a minimal distance into the lawn. An even greater benefit comes to those homes near Houston’s many bayous where the grade of the land may fall sharply
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