Paver patio without door as focal point?

last year

I need some design advice- we want to put in a paver patio against the back of the house, but there is no door to serve as a focal point.

Because there is no real visual anchor, I have been planning on a floating blob of pavers with a walkway connecting to the paver driveway. That would allow for a garden bed between the patio and house foundation.

But would you just extend the patio to the edge of the house, and eliminate the flower bed?

And while I'm at it.. pergola/shade structure or no? The primary function is grilling, socializing, dining. The patio will be home to a grill station and a 6 person dining table, which currently has an umbrella.

The area gets some intense afternoon western sun, but I feel like a structure a few feet off the house might be awkward. Also I like the curved lines- would a square structure over an oval look odd?

We are debating moving the A/C units seen in the photo further to lookers left of the house, or putting up a little barrier.

The red line blob is about 20x22 feet.

Inspire me!!

Featured Answer

Josie23: Zone 5: WI

last year

Shade structure- yes

Odd with no door? not necessiarly especially if you have a nice shade structure and patio seating to be the focus.

Garden area? Up to you, do you want to take care of plants. They would offer nice framing for the area especially if you put them all the way around it.

Shape? Hard to know for sure, curves are nice, but lay out design options with string, bricks etc to visualize what each shape may look like.

Comments (7)

PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
That appears to be the side of your home if the garage door is located in the front of the home.

For entertaining, wouldn't you want the patio to be closer to the kitchen than the garage door?

I would locate the patio away from the noise of the AC units

The focal point of your semi-circular patio will be the seating arrangement or the dining table arrangement. It doesn't have to be a door on the home.
sleepysmile thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
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sleepysmile
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the input. I love the examples you shared.

This is the back of the house, and the only place for a patio. After living here for 7 years it is the natural spot to congregate/grill just due to the flow of our house. We have a door to the kitchen on the side porch and in the garage. The red lines in the photo show the flow of foot traffic.

Our pavers also have this awkward scallop in the corner (where the trashcan is in the photo) which is part of the reason I considered a garden bed against the house- I could continue that edge from the driveway over around the corner.
3onthetree
last year
Is the house front door on the street side then? And assume to the left of the a/c condensers is the 2 Master Bedroom windows and Master bath window? Just tossing around if one of the garage windows could become a door, but probably not a good idea . . .

The unfortunate part is there is no privacy or continuation of similar functions on your way to get there. You have to cross over the driveway outside, sometimes when the garage door is shut giving the feeling of "no one's home." During parties, navigating parked cars and stuff. Is there a more private path out the opposite "side" yard, so the patio would be congregrated in front of those 3 Master Bedroom windows (where the hose reel is)?

Specifically answering your questions though, it would be better IMO to have a landscape buffer between the house and patio here. And you can combine curved patio lines with square structures, even your patio footprint can delineate both design lines. Having a door be a visual focal point is not the gist of how that came about, it's about the function of having the door, since a patio is nothing more than an outdoor room, and you have to get to it.
PRO
Debbi Washburn
last year
last modified: last year
If your intention is for grilling , socializing and dining - where are you going to get to the ref or guests to go to the restroom? It does not seem like the right location for that - you need a connection to those interior spaces. You don't need a door as a focal point but just in close and obvious proximity
olychick
last year
Beverly's examples are gorgeous but they don't have a square or rectangular shade structure over them. I do think that would be odd. I would do squared off, straight edges on your hardscape with the shade structure also squared off, whatever you decide to build. Put it right up to the house and skip a gardens strip, unless you have it all a ways away from the house so there is room for real landscaping there. You can place a few pots with flower against the house if you choose.
Then I would landscape around the patio/pavers and curve the edges of the garden beds.
Okay, I wrote all that above and started searching to see if I could find curvy patios with square shade structures and, of course, I found some really nice looking ones that shows it could work, lol. I found this first and thought it wasn't a great look, but it's not bad...

I though this was really nice, but probably better like this and not tucked up against the house. Maybe what you're picturing?

I thought this was an interesting shade structure...no curves, though

Curves and square structure, with landscaping in between the house and patio. Just what I said wouldn't look good, but this does, lol.

Another curvy one not next to the house, tho

I thought this was a beautiful way to incorporate curves

A curvy bed that I was suggesting at the edge of a square patio:
P.D. Schlitz
last year
My first thought was if no pergola, go with the curvilinear patio away from the house, but with a pergola I would attach it (and patio) to the house in rectangular form.

But check out the below article (esp the last 2) for potential inspiration on locating a patio on the side of a garage. Good luck!

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/before-and-after-3-side-yards-add-outdoor-kitchens-and-seating-stsetivw-vs~144944728