18 Things You Didn’t Know You Needed in Your Dream Backyard
A backyard is like a blank slate: a little tiny plot of land all your own, to deal with however you please (with perhaps a little input from your homeowners’ association). What will you do with your own little estate? Here are 18 ways to make the very most of your backyard — innovative (and maybe even a little crazy) features you never knew you needed.
1. A swimming pool that looks like a pond.
2. An outdoor bar with a pass-through to the kitchen.
3. A splash pad — cheaper to build and easier to maintain than a pool, but just as much fun.
4. This amazing deck/cabana hybrid (possibly with some sort of pulley system for delivering drinks).
5. A cozy outdoor conversation pit… preferably with a fireplace.
6. A pool… with a trampoline.
7. A cozy seating area (and water feature! and fire pit!) made from concrete pipes.
8. A suspended swinging daybed.
9. An oversized screen for watching movies outdoors.
10. An outdoor shower…
11. … and maybe an outdoor tub.
12. A ‘spool’ — that is, a small swimming pool that can also function as a hot tub.
13. A backyard bowling alley! Find a DIY here.
14. An outdoor kitchen, complete with wood-fired pizza oven.
15. This fire pit/swing combo that you can make yourself.
16. A rock slide (and maybe a waterfall and a rope swing, too).
17. This cool modern treehouse.
18. A slide that goes straight from the house to the yard, because steps are for squares.