Contemporary Patio Ideas

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With the summer months on their way, I’ve been reminiscing on what summer means to me, and how I love to spend it. Being outdoors and being active were very high up the list, but when I look back to what summer really means to me the answer is sitting outside on the patio with family and friends and simply talking about everything and nothing until it’s too cool to stay outside. Or I get too annoyed with all the mosquitoes flying around me. I seem to be a magnet to them, much to my dismay.
As I’m not only a mosquito magnet, but mostly a design enthusiast (or obsessed as my friends say) I’ve been having a look at what patio design styles are out there and what they look like. I’ve fallen for the contemporary design styles, and would like to share with you how to recreate a contemporary patio design with some ideas from my research.

Using Color

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Contemporary patio designs appear to be like contemporary room designs. You use colors and accessories to make a well-thought out design look effortless, modern and very chic. For patios the floor of your patio is very important. The contemporary design seems to focus on choosing between stone floors or wooden decks. I really like the idea of using large, grey stone blocks as the floor and contrasting this cool color with wicker or wooden furniture in shades of rich and warm browns. A fireplace or fire pit is, in my mind, a must for this style of contemporary design, as it not only adds warmth so you can stay out for longer, but the light from the fire is mesmerizing adding to the warm color-stone floor contrast. Have a look at this great design from Arterra LLP Landscape Architects on Houzz.com. They have a wide collection of contemporary patio designs, which have given me some great inspiration.

Using Accessories

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Although, my favourite is the stone floor patio, the wooden deck one isn’t too shabby either, and it gives more room to add design accessories, which I'll admit is the best part of design. In contrast to the stone floor patio, the wooden deck doesn’t draw the main focus towards it rather it is how you use it in combination with the patio furniture and accessories which makes the difference between a good design and a great design. I have another favourite online example, this time from a UK based garden patio firm. They’ve used a warm dark wood with other warm yet bright accessory colors to make the patio highly inviting as well as an interesting feature. I like the little touches of small brass lamps and the overhanging curtain, which matches the color of the cushions, to hint at an Arabian Nights theme but without this theme completely overtaking the contemporary look.

Conclusion

From my research I’ve concluded that if you’re taken by a stone floor patio, then make the floor your main feature by contrasting it with colors using the furniture and accessories. Although my contemporary patio ideas and examples include rich colors, you can also use bold colors such as red, grey-blue, and yellow to gain the same design effect. If you like the deck patio design, then liven it up with a mix of accessories that can be based on other themes, but be sure to not cross the line between contemporary and cluttered.

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About the Author

This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of Custom Curtains providers of made to measure curtains online. Sarah is a home design enthusiast, who is often found looking up the recent trends and plotting how to combine them with her own personal style.