12 Home Design Ideas, Pictures and Inspiration
Exterior Worlds Landscaping & Design
A local Houston art collector hired us to create a low maintenance, sophisticated, contemporary landscape design. She wanted her property to compliment her eclectic taste in architecture, outdoor sculpture, and modern art. Her house was built with a minimalist approach to decoration, emphasizing right angles and windows instead of architectural keynotes. The west wing of the house was only one story, while the east wing was two-story. The windows in both wings were larger than usual, so that visitors could see her art collection from the home’s exterior. Near one of the large rear windows, there was an abstract metal sculpture designed in the form of a spiral.
When she initially contacted us, the surrounding property had only a few trees and indigenous grass as vegetation. This was actually a good beginning point with us, because it allowed us to develop a contemporary landscape design that featured a very linear, crisp look supportive of the home and its contents. We began by planting a garden around the large contemporary sculpture near the window. Landscape designers planted horsetail reed under windows, along the sides of the home, and around the corners. This vegetation is very resilient and hardy, and requires little trimming, weeding, or mulching. This helped unite the diverse elements of sculpture, contemporary architecture, and landscape design into a more fluid harmony that preserved the proportions of each unique element, but eliminated any tendency for the elements to clash with one another.
We then added two stonework designs to the landscape surrounding the contemporary art collection and home. The first was a linear walkway we build from concrete pads purchased through a retail vendor as a cost-saving benefit to our client. We created this walkway to follow the perimeter of the home so that visitors could walk around the entire property and admire the outdoor sculptures and the collections of modern art visible through the windows. This was especially enjoyable at night, when the entire home was brightly lit from within.
To add a touch of tranquility and quite repose to the stark right angles of the home and surrounding contemporary landscape, we designed a special seating area toward the northwest corner of the property. We wanted to create a sense of contemplation in this area, so we departed from the linear and angular designs of the surrounding landscape and established a theme of circular geometry. We laid down gravel as ground cover, then placed large, circular pads arranged like giant stepping stones that led up to a stone patio filled with chairs. The shape of the granite pads and the contours of the graveled area further complimented the spirals and turns in the outdoor metal sculpture, and balanced the entire contemporary landscape design with proportional geometric forms of lines, angles, and curves.
This particular contemporary landscape design also has a sense of movement attached to it. All stonework leads to a destination of some sort. The linear pathway provides a guided tour around the home, garden, and modern art collection. The granite pathway stones create movement toward separate space where the entire experience of art, vegetation, and architecture can be viewed and experienced as a unity.
Contemporary landscaping designs like create form out of feeling by using basic geometric forms and variations of forms. Sometimes very stark forms are used to create a sense of absolutism or contrast. At other times, forms are blended, or even distorted to suggest a sense of complex emotion, or a sense of multi-dimensional reality. The exact nature of the design is always highly subjective, and developed on a case-by-case basis with the client.
TylerMandic Ltd
TylerMandic Ltd
Photo of a medium sized victorian balcony in London with no cover and fencing.
Photo of a medium sized victorian balcony in London with no cover and fencing.
Lankford Associates Landscape Architects
A old watering trough from the site was used as a water feature within the courtyard. Low maintenance plantings and traditional gravel pathways with paver edging flank the stone entry and are surrounded by low lath screen fences to formalize the space. This farmstead is located in the Northwest corner of Washington State. Photo by Ian Gleadle
Katie Leede & Company Studio
Photo of a medium sized contemporary back patio in Los Angeles with gravel, a fire feature and no cover.
POW Architects
POW Architects
Design ideas for a medium sized and gey contemporary two floor house exterior in London with metal cladding and a lean-to roof.
Design ideas for a medium sized and gey contemporary two floor house exterior in London with metal cladding and a lean-to roof.
Sudbury Design Group
Located in one on the country’s most desirable vacation destinations, this vacation home blends seamlessly into the natural landscape of this unique location. The property includes a crushed stone entry drive with cobble accents, guest house, tennis court, swimming pool with stone deck, pool house with exterior fireplace for those cool summer eves, putting green, lush gardens, and a meandering boardwalk access through the dunes to the beautiful sandy beach.
Photography: Richard Mandelkorn Photography
deckerbullocksir
Santa Barbara lifestyle with this gated 5,200 square foot estate affords serenity and privacy while incorporating the finest materials and craftsmanship. Visually striking interiors are enhanced by a sparkling bay view and spectacular landscaping with heritage oaks, rose and dahlia gardens and a picturesque splash pool. Just two minutes to Marin’s finest schools.
Conte & Conte, LLC
Conte & Conte, LLC landscape architects and designers work with clients located in Connecticut & New York (Greenwich, Belle Haven, Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Fairfield, Southport, Rowayton, Manhattan, Larchmont, Bedford Hills, Armonk, Massachusetts) Fountain in a formal garden, thanks to Fairfield House & Garden Co. for making this happen!
Christian Builders Margate Ltd
Photographs by Mike Waterman
Design ideas for a large contemporary back garden fence in Kent.
Design ideas for a large contemporary back garden fence in Kent.
Philip Kistner Fotografie
@ Philip Kistner / www.philipkistner.com
Design ideas for a large and red contemporary two floor brick house exterior in Dusseldorf with a flat roof.
Design ideas for a large and red contemporary two floor brick house exterior in Dusseldorf with a flat roof.
Milosz Kijowski
Photoplan UK
Design ideas for a medium sized contemporary back patio in London with tiled flooring, a roof extension and fencing.
Design ideas for a medium sized contemporary back patio in London with tiled flooring, a roof extension and fencing.
TylerMandic Ltd
TylerMandic Ltd
Photo of a large traditional side patio in London with natural stone paving, no cover and fencing.
Photo of a large traditional side patio in London with natural stone paving, no cover and fencing.
12 Home Design Ideas, Pictures and Inspiration
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