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 Exterior
Worlds combines patio construction and masonry to create custom courtyard
designs that are intensely personalized to the individual’s favorite
activities. We build a patio made from a hard surface such as
stone, decorative concrete, brick, or gravel stone mixtures. Some
courtyards like morning gardens combine stone, gravel, and grass to create an
organic floor within the structure that is stable, easy to drain, and safe to
walk on.
As far as the walls
around the patio go, there is no hard set rule as to how thick or how high they
have to be. By varying the height of courtyard walls, we can make it as
inviting or as private as you want it to be. Low walls suggest
openness and freedom. High walls suggest enclosure, privacy, and
contemplative isolation. Walls can be built of stone, brick, or even
decorative concrete and decorated with both organic and inorganic
forms.
If
you like to host dinner parties, a custom courtyard
design can be created that will provide you with plenty of room for a
cooking area, a table, and chairs. The specifics of this design will
depend on what type of cooking you plan to do. If you are grilling, then
you only need space for a grill located off to the side away from the general
gathering area. If you want to prepare full course meals, then we can
build the courtyard as a patio extending out from the interior of your outdoor
kitchen. This turns your outdoor kitchen into a combination indoor-outdoor
dining area equal to any restaurant in town.

If you like to throw cocktail parties at your home, consider a custom
courtyard design centered on a lighted pool with a swim up bar. Not
everyone will want to swim through a lighted pool to get a drink. However,
this is such a bar design that it makes for a superb conversation piece in its
own right. There are plenty of ways, including building a separate
standing bar on your patio, to serve drinks to your guests who want to stay
dry.
This is a great way
to save money on nightlife, avoid crowds, and avoid the risk of drinking and
driving provided there are designated drivers for your guests or overnight
accommodations for those who have a bit too much fun.
If
you want a place for special family occasions, invest in a special custom
courtyard design that combines shelter, woodwork, greenery, and beautiful
stonework. These are the things we always want to see anytime we
celebrate a shower, birthday, or wedding outdoors. You probably know
enough people just off the top of your head that you could have several events a
year if you had just one place in your yard that would function as a
multipurpose setting for all of the events named above.
This custom
courtyard design could feature mid-level planter walls where flowering plants
tip the stones with color. Gardens can be integrated into the stonework by
removing blocks of stone and replacing them with hedges, flowering plants,
grasses, and trees. A fountain
can be built into patio itself, and statuary could adorn its
perimeter.
Shelter can take
the form of a garden pergola or gazebo that rises gracefully up from the patio
floor. Not only does this provide something of a center stage
for the guest of honor, but it is one of the best ways to add curb appeal to
your house through the use of complimentary architecture.
Outdoor
lighting is always an integral part of any custom
courtyard design we create. General lighting is always necessary to
clearly mark transit areas in and out of the structure. Feature lights can
highlight your stonework, steps, vegetation, and courtyard walls with multiple
layers of light. Overhead tree lights cast a moonlight glow over the patio
to add ambience from an unseen source.
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