Take your backyard back from the weeds and your dog, and extend the living space of your home out into your backyard. Starting with a patio base, built around a centerpiece table, bar, fire pit, or outdoor fireplace, and dressed with other hardscaping features such as walkways, walls, columns, steps and terraces, you can build an exotic retreat from your normal home reminiscent of the Hamptons, a Spanish villa, a southwestern pueblo, or anything else you can imagine.

The Patio Base

The patio will serve as the base of your backyard retreat, so don’t neglect it in favor of the other “more exciting” hardscaping features. As the base it will be the unifying feature between all of your other hardscaping features, and will be where you, your family, and guests gather for out door gatherings and parties.  Choose your theme and plan the layout of your patio carefully. Use interesting shapes in the design like irregular ovals, or raised terraces, but remember to keep it practical to host for guests (unless you want to keep this retreat to yourself). Pick out materials to match your chosen theme, you can keep it regular throughout the hardscaping, or vary it with complimentary or contrasting colors, textures, and shapes. Building short walls around the patio helps keep the backyard from spilling onto the space, and can serve as impromptu seating for guests. Finally, consider a walkway from the backdoor to your patio and from your patio to your fence gate can save your grass from wear and tear.

The Centerpiece

Having a centerpiece for your patio, gives it a focal center, or gathering point for you and your guests to gather around at parties.  There are many options that can serve as the centerpiece of your patio, each providing a different flavor to your outdoor living space. A dinning table for you and your guests to sit and eat at would be best used during the spring, summer, and fall. A bar can be a great place for summer fun, especially for your Fourth of July barbecue. And a fire pit or out door fireplace work well as a gathering place for you and your guests to sit around, drink warm drinks, and reminisce beside year round.  Of course, if you wanted to and you had a big enough patio, you could have all of the features described above.

Other Hardscaping Features

There are many other hardscaping features that could be employed to help beautify your backyard, and make it a fun place to entertain. If you have an uneven backyard having the patio on different leveled terraces, with steps, and retaining walls can make it a more interesting area to inhabit. If your backyard gets lots of sunlight you might consider a cover with hardscaped columns supporting it to match your other décor. You could hardscape elevated planters held in with retaining walls. You could even use hardscaping with a water feature to make a fountain or waterfall to add a relaxing note of gurgling water to your backyard escape.

Hardscaping from Tri-State Paving

Call Tristate Paving. We’re a seasoned hardscaping company based in Maryland and have the experience and knowledge help you turn your backyard into the perfect retreat quickly and affordably. Our experts will work with you to find a design and layout for your patio that you’re sure to love for years and years to come.

Our area numbers are:

West Chester: 610.563.9456

Oxford: 610.932.3566

Delaware: 302.757.4100

Check back here for weekly updates on current projects, important paving facts and info, and smart ideas for homeowners interested in concrete, asphalt or hardscaping work.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+