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All Photos/outdoor/landscapes : shrubs/landscapes : grass

675 Outdoor Shrubs Grass Design Photos And Ideas

Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.
There are plenty of opportunities for guests to engage with the surrounding landscape, from cosy fire pits to hammocks strung between trees.
"Hosting this way kind of forces you out on the limb of human trust, and it’s always amazing to me to see how others receive what we are giving, with such kindness and respect," says Tarah. "One of our favorite quotes came from a guest who said, ‘Is it possible to be homesick for an Airbnb?’ That sentiment was so sweet to us, and has rung true for so many other guests as they have commented on the warmth and welcome they have felt while staying at The Lofthouse."
Lush plantings surround one of the two bungalows on the property that the couple converted into art studios.
The ceiling of the exterior patio and soffits is crafted from inexpensive sheets of plywood cut into smaller pieces, assembled in a custom pattern, and stained.
The expansive, covered patio that extends from the living space features an outdoor kitchen and adjoining pizza oven. “My favorite aspect of the project was that the clients embraced the idea that home can be more than just shelter,” says architect Cavin Costello. “It can be a place that incentivizes you to socialize, think, eat, work, create, and play differently.”
“The intention of the landscape design was to create a tranquil refuge in a vibrant neighborhood for the family to entertain, play, and spend quality time together outdoors,” says the team at The Green Room Landscape Architecture. “The architecture produced multiple lines of sight that penetrate through the home, connecting the front and back yards with similar plant materials, creating a feeling that the house was planted in a scenic Sonoran meadow.”
The pool and fire pit in the courtyard are at the heart of the home. The olive trees and native Ironwood trees planted around these spaces soften the rectilinear architecture.
Before the home was built, the lot was almost entirely grass—however now the landscape is composed of desert and native vegetation. It also includes productive gardens of numerous types, including herb and vegetable plantings and citrus and stone fruit groves. These, in combination with the chicken eggs, provide a healthy, local food source.
Photo: Willem-Dirk du Toit
The decorative screen casts playful shadows across the front terrace.
The new front door, offset by a stained wood surround, leads into an entry vestibule that connects the guest wing with the rest of the house.
Now, decorative screens "provide dappled western shade and frame the view of the monumental chimney from the street," says the firm.
New front steps lead up to a front terrace.
"The site itself has a generous slope, and the access from the street happens at the lower part," says Manzi. "This was the major challenge—to make the house accessible without disfiguring the site with a road."
The living and dining areas open to a concrete deck overlooking the garden through minimalistic openings in the corrugated-sheet cladding. The expansive decks and verandas at both the front and rear of the home essentially double the living space.
Verandas at both the front and back of the home create spaces to engage with the landscape and for "outside contemplation."
Ben and Luis sit by a fire in their side yard surrounded by a flourishing garden.
Architect Ben Koush’s home blends into the neighborhood—but walk inside, and you’ll discover how he played with space in the design.
Before tackling the house, the couple converted the garage into a separate work space with a long, linear window that echoes that in the main house.
The couple planned out all of the exterior landscaping themselves. "[It was] painstaking, the time spent measuring," says Emily.
The house was opened up as much as the budget allowed, with oversized windows and patio doors leading to a terraced deck with a series of seating areas cascading down to the landscaped path.
The second shipping container in the garden is a multipurpose space. In the planting season, for example, it acts as a greenhouse. The family also intends to use it as a creative art/welding studio as the children get older.
"One of Steph’s goals for the project was to connect the interior to the backyard, both visually, and functionally—she is an avid grill master," says Davis. The grill and a fire pit are centerpieces the family uses regularly.
“For the owner, it was important that the exterior require as minimal maintenance as possible,” says architect Hunter Gundersen. “We clad the exterior in metal accordion-panel siding, as it will require little maintenance over many decades. The shadows cast by the panels’ W shape change dramatically with the position of the sun, indicating the time and season by the play of shadow and light.”
The oversized sliding glass wall that leads to the courtyard is one of the defining features of the retreat. “We love how when it’s open, the line between interior and exterior disappears and the house goes from 2,100 square feet to 2,100 acres,” says architect Hunter Gundersen.
The Hourglass Corral is a four-bedroom, 3000-square-foot home that derives its tessellated form from the architects’ application of the Voronoi diagram.
The entire property consists of 90,000 square meters, or about 22 acres, on the island of Milos in Greece. Each of the five corrals are defined in the landscape by a white border.
A couple transform their backyard into a botanical children’s playland and an ideal entertaining spot.
Aidlin Darling Design recasts an unremarkable midcentury home as a multigenerational retreat crowned by a living roof.
Design, Bitches turns a typical Atwater Village home into a lush hideaway with a new, cedar-clad guesthouse.
Close to Sugarbush’s Mount Ellen and the Mad River Glen ski area, Fayston, Vermont, is the prime setting for Little Black House. Giving the retreat its name, Elizabeth Herrmann Architecture + Design only had 1,120 square feet to work with. Sitting just below the top of a hill, the black-stained cabin flaunts a classic gable structure with a stripped-down interior melding white walls and pale wood floors.
Even as the square footage of this cottage in Fayston, Vermont, shrank in response to budget constraints, architect Elizabeth Herrmann remained focused on making the space feel warm and functional for a family of four and their dog and cat. "I think the trick to making small spaces feel much larger is to design the experience of being there,
The roof is clad in natural cedar with a copper trim.
An exterior look at Yanki and Yael Meridan Schori’s weekend retreat in Dutchess County, New York, which was designed by their son, Tal Schori of GRT Architects.
Hilary Severson and her sons play outside their home, designed by architect Solomon Berg. Set amid mature maples on three acres south of Portland, Oregon, the house has a gabled, standing-seam metal roof and rough-sawn and smooth cedar siding.
Turning a shipping container into a home is rarely as simple as it sounds, but design studio LOT-EK set out to prove that these vessels could become the raw material for an efficient prefab construction process with a house in upstate New York. Victoria Masters, Dave Sutton, and their daughter, Bowie, live in the six merged containers.
The flat roof, which is accessible from the first floor, has been planted with native vegetation, which will help to provide insulation as it grows.
“We took some pains to save the tree,” says Humble of the mature cherry tree that was preserved in the redevelopment. “We used it to focus all of our new openings.”
Windows open directly from the kitchen to the breezeway between the main building and the screened porch, making alfresco dining easy. When the sun shines on the breezeway, the family simply moves the table and chairs to the north patio.
Diane chose a metal cladding due to the risk of fire in the Ponderosa forest. As a result, the insurance costs for the cabin are very low compared to the neighboring cabins.
The main house is a white stucco block—really, it couldn’t be more different from this modernist box. “Well, they both have flat roofs,” laughs Zünkeler.
The outdoor seating area features Fireclay tile, St. Frank pillows, and a Huxley pendant from Hudson Valley Lighting.
The backyard fire pit is handmade by Fire Pits of Atlanta with chairs by Room & Board.
The intimate back patio features an antique wicker chair from Maine along with a zinc table from Arteriors and outdoor dining chairs from David Sutherland.
A Texas mountain laurel and an oak leaf hydrangea catch the sun on a corner of the front porch. The wind chime was purchased on the couple’s honeymoon in Big Sur.
The Bogarts’ home on Lakemont Drive welcomes with its front porch, featuring mixed materials like natural wood, zinc, and brick.
After a years-long search for viable land, Eugene and his wife, Claire Ko, bought an old dairy farm with good soil that could be rehabbed into an organic fruit and vegetable operation.
The rear patio was refreshed with new concrete pavers. A strip of grass accents the perimeter of the pool and hot tub. The boulders by the hedge are all that remain of a previous owner’s rock grotto, which Steve disassembled.
The wispy landscaping, also inspired by Hallová’s Florida roots, is by Lango Hansen.
"We wanted the pavilion to be freestanding and to have minimal columns, so using CLT, which can span a long distance without support, made sense,” explains resident Anyeley Hallová.
Tiered plantings embellish a courtyard that encloses a sunken portion of the front facade.
Inside the enclosed front courtyard, a deck extends off main entrance. The exterior is covered in dark gray stucco, which contrasts with the deck cladding.
An outdoor area extends off the rear of the home.
“The project was about peeling back layers. From there, we had to be creative and utilize what the house was giving to us,” adds Levitt Halsey.
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Whether it's a backyard patio, an infinity pool, or a rooftop terrace, these modern outdoor spaces add to the richness of daily life. Escape into nature, or get lost in city views. Wherever you are, let these outdoor photos take you somewhere new with inspirational ideas for yards, gardens, outdoor tubs and showers, patios, porches, and decks.

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