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453 Outdoor Wood Patio, Porch, Deck Back Yard Design Photos And Ideas

"The architecture enhances and reinforces this weaving together of inside and outside," says the firm. "The large lift and slide doors open to allow a single corner column to feel outside."
Ample patio space provides the perfect background for entertaining—both for the homeowners and their children. Large overhangs with built-in lighting shade wood-clad patios with comfortable lounge chairs.
"The patios, yard, and pool were all designed to support an active social life for the homeowners’ children and friends and to make the place a hub of activity," Epstein says.
The added porch is a centerpiece of the home’s inside/outside concept.
Architect and surfer Kenichiro Iwakiri renovates a beach house for himself in Shonan, a region of Japan known for its surf spots.
Ipe wood decking and a built-in bench were combined with a vertical cedar slat screen, which "obscures the neighboring houses at the precise height of their rooflines, while allowing sunlight to filter through," says Wittman. A custom-designed, live-edge table has Lucite legs.
The cedar privacy screen that wraps the deck will patina to a natural silver color over time.
"Since we're completely off grid we operate off of hauled water, so we have three 1,800 gallon tanks that get filled up every other week. But for those same reasons, people off the grid don't really have pools because they're hard to maintain, but we did it anyway."
Glass sliders lead to a 200-square-foot cedar deck that overlooks the Straight of Georgia.
In addition to the wood screening, the house is finished in smooth-trowel stucco with black-framed openings to maintain the high contrast palette inside and out.
The wood screen continues at the back of the house. The spacing on the slats was very carefully thought out so as to disguise the sheen of the waterproofing membrane beneath it.
Vallely and Craig take in the sun on the raised deck in the backyard.
Artist Cori Creed sits at the center of the vacation home in rural British Columbia that she and her husband, Craig Cameron, built with their friend and architect, Kevin Vallely. Dubbed WingSpan House, the split structure opens up to a large courtyard and stunning views of Skaha Lake. “It’s almost like an embrace,” says Vallely. “It’s like the two wings are capturing the heart of the home.”
Seeking fewer distractions, work-at-home architect Oliver Dang, founder of Six Five Four A, turned to his Toronto backyard and built this cozy studio with cedar panels and a vast storage system. Sunlight gleams through the angled skylight, warming the birch plywood interior.
The Plus House—named for the perpendicular trajectories of light and air that pass through on the top and bottom floors—is one in a series of architect-designed homes commissioned by Arkitekthus, a development company founded five years ago with a pledge to improve the quality of prefab architecture. The spruce panels that coat the second-floor exterior will fade in tandem with the zinc-coated steel that rims the glazed windows and doors. "They will go gray like we do," says architect Claesson Koivisto Rune.
A view from the meadow shows the home’s balcony and south-facing glazed walls.
Interior ceiling beams continue externally to give sense of extended living spaces inside to outside. Timber battens to cement sheet add texture to the exterior light weight walls
The all-black exterior fades into its natural setting.
The two structures are connect with a smoked ash terrace with an integrated hot tub.
The backyard BBQ area includes a sunken dining table.
A fully glazed wall—which incorporates both louvres and sliding doors—connects the dining room and kitchen to the deck and garden. The natural slope of the site replaces the need for a fence between the garden and the beach.
Luciano Kruk perforates a concrete volume with glass walls to fashion a simple yet elegant vacation home in the province of Buenos Aires. On a quiet lot populated with aged pinewood, Luciano Kruk designed a modest vacation home for three sisters and their families. The 807-square-foot, two-level home is ensconced in its forest setting. The firm employed board-formed concrete inside and out to connect the building with its environment. "Pine planks were used to set the formwork so that the partitions, as well as the slabs, would preserve the texture of the wood veins in an attempt to establish a harmonious dialogue with the bark of the local trees," said the firm.
The addition carves out a cozy seating area with a natural sight line to lake views. The custom railing is steel.
A new rear addition at both levels added much-needed space to the master suite (above) and created an extra bedroom/office with deck access (below).
The timber deck extends the living space outside to create an indoor/outdoor living environment.
Designed by Sydney-based practice Akin Atelier, this Bondi Beach abode is comprised of two volumes connected by a central courtyard that draws in natural light. The orientation of the 2,010-square-foot home allows for a playful rhythm of light, shadow, and air that gives it its atmospheric name, Cloud House.
Distinct outdoor zones, such as this wood deck adjacent to the pool, are just as integral to the home as the indoor living spaces.
Minarc’s Plus Hus is a tiny energy-efficient prefab marketed towards homeowners seeking to add an accessory dwelling unit to their property. The 320-square-foot structure is prefabricated in downtown Los Angeles, and it can be shipped flatpack to anywhere in the U.S. with prices starting at $37,000.
The new rear, two-story addition adds over 2,000 square feet of living space without sacrificing the backyard. The repetition of the curved elements, such as the tall, cement-rendered columns that band the exterior, are a subtle reference to the scale and proportions of the Victorian style.
The curves of the deck follow the contour of the land.
On a recent phone call, the firm caught up with the homeowner while she was opening a bottle of champagne. “What are you celebrating?” Campos remembers asking her. “She said, ‘Every few months I buy a bottle of champagne, and I open it up, and I celebrate that I live in this house.’”
Add/Subtract House by Matt Fajkus Architecture | Photo by Charles Davis Smith
Multiple living spaces occupy the veranda. Whether a seat for viewing the ravine and nearby hills, or a lounge area covered from the elements above, this veranda offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy the tranquil outdoors.
The star of the home is a 2,500-square-foot deck offering an outdoor grill and numerous seating areas—perfect for entertaining or enjoying the natural surroundings.
The cantilevering deck off of the master suite.
Bifold sliding doors seamlessly open the dining space to an outdoor deck, which also cantilevers over the backyard. The space is covered by a balcony off of the master suite.
Of the exterior cladding, Bryant notes, “Simple brick and cement render were chosen to not compete with the bold and heroic form.”
Edward Ogosta Architecture renovates and extends a Californian dwelling, creating a breezy, light-filled home for a family of five.
The deck has space for grilling and lounging alongside a lap pool that extends outward to the ocean.
Guests unwind in the cedar ofuro soaking tub, overlooking the blazing fire pit and dense forest.
Working around mature eucalyptus and elm trees, architect Murray Barker sited a new home for Fleur Glenn on her property in Clifton Hill, Australia. The trees also drove the home’s shape, with angles meeting the gabled roof in unexpected ways. The south elevation mixes black-stained timber and cement board with board-and-batten siding.
Blend Outdoor Design in Spokane oversaw the design of a new deck and fire feature.
An arbor-covered deck looks out over an oval rain garden planted with a mix of flowering native plants.
External area, integrated to the house by balcony common to all rooms, has swimming pool and deck. Casa Di Irena furniture. Deck run by Lovato Marcenaria
The lounge deck at the rear yard of Sunset Hills Residence features a swimming pool surrounded by lush gardens. Architect Hsu McCullough's design beautifully merges minimalism with an abundance of nature.
Zumaooh designed Sonoma Residence to be the perfect space for family activities that interact with the beautiful surrounding landscape. Large windows peer out into the meadows, and cozy patios allow the family to soak up the fresh air.
The Babat residence in Nashville is blessed with a big backyard; however, the blistering Tennessee sun once made it feel more like a broiler than a place to kick back and relax. Enter architect Michael Goorevich—then on staff at Manuel Zeitlin Architects—who devised a wood-and-steel trellis to cover part of the space.
Carlos Somoza “really brought the project home,” says Brillhart. “With our hope of the architecture being connected to landscape, you need a great landscape architect on-board, and we had that in Carlos.”
The couple tapped landscape designer Carlos Somoza to capture the wildness of the site throughout the landscape plan. This grove of old-growth trees was saved, with new Ipe hardscaping wrapping around them.
An outdoor lounge area is tucked into the juncture made where the new kitchen wing joins with the renovated Trip Russell house.
A view of the new kitchen wing. “We weren’t trying to mimic Russell’s architecture, but we were trying to be sympathetic to the structure and the materiality in our additions and renovations,” says Brillhart.
The kitchen wing now sits in roughly the same area as the pool used to. Says Brillhart: “The one-story wing is CMU block with exposed wood rafters – a similar system to Russell’s but a little more 21st Century.”
The sunroom connects to a deck for entertaining.
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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.