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Outdoor Trees Design Photos and Ideas

The terrace is a favorite gathering place. The house is positioned facing south to get the most sun exposure.
Outdoor furniture from Frontgate sits on the dining terrace off the kitchen, whose sliders enable gatherings to move indoors and out.
Living in between the woods
The Douglas fir deck that extends from the front facade of one of the cabins features a sunken tub that lets users feel as if they're floating above the clouds while bathing.
The house is divided into three sections connected by a series of outdoor galleries. “When I walk from one room to another, I have to go outdoors and feel the weather and nature—rain, cold, and sun,” says Sævik. Instead of emphasizing the expansive panorama of oak, pine, and aspen trees, the house frames select views—a move inspired by Japanese design.
On the outskirts of Grândola—a small Alentejan town in the Setúbal district of Portugal—a dramatic architectural form sits in the vast, arid landscape amidst cork trees and herds of cows. The whitewashed guesthouse is known as Casa da Volta, which translates as "Home of the Return,
Situated on a gentle slope, the tiny home features a gable roof, a rectangular silhouette, and an expansive wood deck that extends from the front facade.
The expansive grassy lawns features several ponds, fountains, native greenery, and even a tea house.
Alloi's design solution for the exterior envelope included exterior rigid insulation to reduce solar heat gain, and recycled newspaper blown-in cellulose insulation at interior and exterior walls, creating an energy efficient and peacefully quiet home.
Eisler Landscapes provided plants for the yard.
Perforated steel screens provide shading and privacy to the interior living spaces. The garden extends from the inner courtyard to the rear yard with open, connected spaces.
A white gravel allée leads to Onur and Alix Kece’s weekend retreat an hour outside Paris. The couple, a pair of creatives, oversaw the renovation of the long-neglected 1892 structure themselves, with Onur designing the living spaces and built-ins and Alix responsible for everything else. “We were looking for something that was in bad shape, a place we could completely tear apart and renovate from scratch,” says Onur.
Another side of the home opens up onto a large lawn.
“Watching the sunrise and moonrise from the living room is gobsmacking,” says James.
When Zuzana Kovar and Nicholas Skepper set to work updating an aging Queenslander cottage for a young family in Brisbane, the first challenge was the home’s orientation. “We wanted to connect the interior of the house with its garden—a vital space for the family and their children, and one that the cottage previously turned its back on,” says Kovar. Now, an updated layout sets the kitchen, dining, and living room adjacent to the verdant garden, and sight lines through the house connect the indoor and outdoor areas.
“The pool house was something I always wanted to build,” Robert says. The bar is the main attraction. And next to it, a lime tree is within reach to make fresh gin and tonics.
The exterior is constructed from cypress pine wood and lightweight polycarbonate.
The fire pit area displays a 48-inch concrete fire bowl, woven chairs, and upcycled tree stumps for kid-friendly-seating.
Furniture designer Tom Deacon teamed up with pal and architect Andrew Jones to renovate his Toronto townhouse. “Architects tend to think of the building first, the interiors second, and last, the furniture. Our approach was the opposite,” Jones says.
Weekend House, Schroeder, MN, 2009.
Guy (holding Pickles the cat) and Mark transformed the backyard, adding a pool and planting sycamore trees and native grasses. A custom dining table by Angel City Lumber is paired with vintage chairs from Amsterdam Modern.
A section of the facade—a cross between a shoji screen and a barn door—slides open. Planter boxes contain edible varieties that fuel Mary’s culinary explorations.
Oriented to absorb the afternoon sun, floor-to-ceiling doors comprise two-thirds of the home’s west-facing walls, which open to an elevated deck overlooking Island Bay. Combined with extra-thick building insulation, this passive element provides sufficient heating for the home, even during winter months—a true feat given the region’s cold seasonal winds.
Barragán designed Casa Gilardi, in Mexico City, around this single jacaranda tree.
The green roof is accessible via ladder. "This type of insertion on the plot demanded care and attention with the design of the rooftop, which is the fifth facade of the building," adds the architects.
The deck, fashioned from ipe, was built around one of the property’s many granite outcroppings. An earthen roof was planted with the same varieties of sedum that were added to the front of the cottage.
The homes were designed to maximize the indoor/outdoor experience. “On long weekends, we sit in the garden, invite friends, and make a barbecue. It’s like we’ve gone on holiday without leaving home,” says resident Luca Pagnan.
In Bangkok, this family residence by Looklen Architects features four different courtyards with trees that stretch beyond its double-height interiors.
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.
Taking inspiration from the popular Japanese film <i>My Neighbor Totoro</i>, Sydney firm CplusC Architectural Workshop renovated a four-bedroom family residence to celebrate the importance of human relationships and a connection with the natural world. A rear extension with a spacious, open-plan living area connects to an outdoor deck and landscaped backyard.
Melbourne firm Splinter Society’s main goal for the Bungalow 8 renovation and expansion was to create "a more modern, free-flowing series of connected living spaces,
The tree from the entrance can be seen through a large window.
Primary outdoor porch.
Planters full of green lead the way to a small patio.
Lofted amid eucalyptus and oak trees, Graham Paarman’s house is a glassed-in, steel-frame structure with a veil of vertical slats. Excluding outdoor areas, it measures about 720 square feet.
The rundown barn sat on twenty-five acres of countryside in Devon.
Just inside the living room’s sliding glass door is a Parentesi lamp by Achille Castiglioni, an object Marc has admired since childhood. Below, the pool deck displays a pair of Eos side chairs, lounge chairs, and a square dining table by Matthew Hilton.
“The roof overhang extends the living space,” says Boyer, so the deck becomes a spot to entertain visiting friends and family. The couple have been working to restore the surrounding land, as well.
The Smiths’ new cabin, designed by Risa Boyer Architecture and completed in 2020, sits in the same spot as their previous home, on five acres on Mount Veeder, in Northern California. Somehow, the red chicken coop, which is constructed of wood, survived the fire with the chickens still alive inside.
One of the second-level bedrooms looks down to the ground-level courtyard.
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