Stylish, functional features for your pool & backyard

Swimming pool design trends are constantly evolving. As new materials and technology come on the market and as pool builders take creativity to new levels, you have more choices than ever for options to add interest and character to your pool & spa in fresh, exciting ways.

Looking to up your style game for your backyard resort? Stay ahead of the Joneses by getting up to speed on these five swimming pool design trends for 2016.

Benefits—and Factors Boosting Construction Costs

Imagine being able to use your home’s swimming pool year round—regardless of the weather outside. Particularly in areas of the country with short swim seasons, a concrete (gunite/shotcrete) pool that’s built inside—as part of a new or existing home—can be the answer.

However, this solution comes with a price. For the privilege of maximum privacy, convenience, and availability, building an indoor swimming pool can easily cost double or triple that of a regular backyard pool.

10 Hot Style Examples—in Photos—to Inspire your Design Plans

One or more fire pits near your swimming pool can be a great way to create both jaw-dropping aesthetics and practical, appealing comfort for you, your family, and guests.

Nothing creates a cozy atmosphere like gathering around a fire. An open flame encourages everyone to pull up a chair and enjoy the heat and images of the dancing orange plumes. If you are building a new pool or putting in an outdoor living space, that’s a great time to include a fire pit.

No longer limited to lavish swimming pools at resort hotels and homes of the ultra-wealthy, waterfall grottos are now common in backyards across America and can be the perfect complement to a lagoon-type pool.

A grotto typically is defined as a large rock waterfall with a nook or cavern-like space beneath it that’s large enough to swim into. Depending on the size, style, and configuration, a grotto can contain features like seating areas, lighting, or a therapy spa. They provide privacy and shade for swimmers, and kids can use them for imaginative play scenarios.

Large, elaborate installations are similar to actual sea caves from which swimmers can fully exit the water to lounge, have cocktails at the grotto bar, or get snacks from a built-in kitchen!

While that kind of ultra-deluxe grotto requires an ultra-deluxe budget, there are plenty of dramatic, beautiful grotto designs that an upper-end—yet realistic—pool budget can accommodate.

How conventional custom pools provide a practical alternative to natural swimming pools

Part 2 of 2

Natural swimming pools are a kind of pool-pond hybrid that use a dedicated zone of aquatic plants to maintain the water and they provide distinctive, organic beauty to backyards and pleasant, chemical-free swimming environments for families. Unfortunately, natural pools come with prerequisites and limitations that keep them from being a realistic option for many homeowners, as outlined in part 1 of this blog topic.

Factors such as construction costs, needed yard space, design challenges, and style and functionality preferences make these pools a boutique project. Couple these factors with the scarcity of pool builders who are skilled in this particular specialty installation, and it is understandable why a natural pool is currently out of reach for most Americans dreaming of one.

Determining if a Natural Swimming Pool is Right For You

Part 1 of 2

Natural swimming pools are the true realization of a healthy, environmentally friendly backyard resort. Not only does a natural pool look beautiful and seamlessly blend into its surroundings, it boasts special design, materials, and equipment that maintain the water

How to Integrate Pool Landscaping: Explained in Pictures

A little green can go a long way.  Incorporating trees, plants, flora, and foliage into a new or existing pool & deck enhances not only the pool’s visual allure, but the ambiance of your entire backyard setting.