Fun, sleek, modern pool with amazing features: cabana, fire bar, splash pad with LED lights, long dolphin slide, outdoor kitchen with retractable doors and a secret garden/play area for the kids. Photos by Farley Designs

Bighorn Palm Desert modern golf community luxury resort style home

Whipple Russell Architects

Bighorn Palm Desert modern golf community luxury resort style home. Photo by William MacCollum.
Expansive modern backyard rectangular infinity pool in Los Angeles with with a pool and tile.

Swisher

Pools By Jordan

20' wide sun shelf with 3 LED bubblers
Inspiration for a large modern backyard rectangular lap pool in Tampa with a hot tub and tile.

Central Avenue

Kukk Architecture & Design P.A.

Design ideas for a large beach style backyard custom-shaped pool in Miami with a hot tub and tile.

Contemporary Pinecrest Home

Eurohabitat USA

This is an example of a large modern backyard rectangular lap pool in Miami with a water feature and tile.

Open and Outdoor Living

Presidential Pools, Spas & Patio

Mid-sized contemporary backyard kidney-shaped infinity pool in Phoenix with a hot tub and tile.

Amagansett Modern Barn Style

Kevin O'Sullivan + Associates

Inspiration for a beach style rectangular pool in New York with a hot tub and tile.

Interior and Outdoor Lighting

Hinkley

Voted Best of Westchester by Westchester Magazine for several years running, HI-LIGHT is based in Yonkers, New York only fifteen miles from Manhattan. After more than thirty years it is still run on a daily basis by the same family. Our children were brought up in the lighting business and work with us today to continue the HI-LIGHT tradition of offering lighting and home accessories of exceptional quality, style, and price while providing the service our customers have come to expect. Come and visit our lighting showroom in Yonkers.

Las Vegas LEED Certified Modern Residence

studio g ARCHITECTURE

Large modern backyard custom-shaped lap pool in Las Vegas with tile and a hot tub.

Modern pool with stone look porcelain tile throughout

Simple Steps

This modern pool has a stone look porcelain tile called Stoneone Silver Prestige Brown on the floors and Stoneone Dark and Stoneone Silver Muretto on the walls.

20 Audubon Causeway | Manalapan, FL | Deepwater Estate

Pascal Liguori & Son

Loggia
Mid-sized beach style backyard rectangular natural pool in Other with tile.

Amante

J. Montgomery Designs, Inc.

Inspiration for a mediterranean courtyard custom-shaped pool in San Francisco with tile.

Basking Ridge NJ, Natural Poolscape with Outdoor Fireplace

Landscape Aesthetics, Inc

This well planned landscape detail provides complete privacy for the spa and fire pit.
Inspiration for a traditional backyard custom-shaped lap pool in New York with a water slide and tile.

Albury Street

Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture

Stephen Dunn
Photo of a small tropical backyard custom-shaped lap pool in Miami with a water feature and tile.

Pools

Thompson's Landscaping

This is an example of a traditional backyard rectangular lap pool in Houston with tile.

Tropical Nights

Pu'uwai Design & Construction

The color changing lights illuminate the pool blue, the pocketing glass doors in teak create a seamless transition between the indoors and outdoors. The expansive lanai floor is gray porcelain tile and the outdoor teak furniture is covered in brightly colored fabrics in orange and blues. The orange and brown glazed pots are clustered around one of the ebony columns to create a tropical container garden. An antique daybed was converted into a swinging bed and hangs outside the master bedroom suite. The exterior walls are white board and batten, the eaves and chunky rafters are an ebony stain. the roofing material is rough sawn shake.

Modern Pool

This is an example of a large modern backyard rectangular lap pool in Miami with tile.

East Tennessee Modern Rustic

Altura Architects

The pool uses natural stone to blend in with the house aesthetic. The pool features a large stone diving board and a swim up bar to the outdoor cabana. The cabana features a large flat screen TV on a swivel, so you can watch TV from the pool or from the outdoor kitchen under the cabana. Photography by Todd Crawford.

Tyler, Texas

Landvisions

Large contemporary backyard rectangular lap pool in Dallas with a hot tub and tile.

Modern Mediterranean

Vernon Wentz

This modern mediterranean pool is well placed in to the backyard. It has a spa that is part of a water feature wall as the focal point. The pool has two seating areas from ledge loungers on a tanning shelf to bench seating underneath an umbrella. Photography by Vernon Wentz of Ad Imagery

Pool Design Ideas with Gravel and Tile

Swimming pools are heavenly during hot Australian and New Zealand summers and are the perfect way to cool down, relax, entertain friends and even get fit. A pool can also create visual interest, especially when you consider features like coloured pool tiles, lighting and landscaping. If you are short on space, you might still fit a lap pool, plunge pool or swim spa, all of which could be focal points in your small garden. As you plan your pool design, map out your space and determine what size, shape and style works best for you. Browse the photos on Houzz for design ideas for above ground pools, inground pools, as well as pool landscaping and novelty features like pool slides or water features. Then, save your favourite photos to an ideabook, and get in touch with the experts behind your favourite picks.

What type of pool should I install?

The dimensions of your backyard will determine the type of inground pools you can install. Take into account boundary restrictions and pool fencing compliance. Fibreglass versions are cheaper, and quicker to install; whereas concrete constructions are better suited to tricky sites and give you more freedom in design. If you’re on a tight budget or don’t want to commit to an inground pool, above ground pools are a more affordable alternative. If you only have a small backyard, a plunge pool is a great solution, and can easily run along a boundary wall or down the side of a house. This option is also low maintenance, can be heated for use in winter, and can do double duty as a swim spa. A long, narrow space, on the other hand, could fit a lap pool, whereas a water feature could fill an awkward space. If your backyard features a stunning vista, consider an infinity pool to accentuate the view.

What pool fencing options are available?

While the specifics vary from state to state, fencing is required of most pool designs. However, pool fencing doesn’t have to obscure your pool design. Glass fencing is increasingly popular for this reason exactly, and is available framed, frameless, semi-frameless and even in-ground. A cheaper alternative is aluminium or steel fencing, which, again, are available in a variety of styles: flat top, loop-top, double-top and wire-based.

What pool landscaping features should I consider?

To get the most out of your pool, design an area that offers multiple hangouts. Include a nearby barbecue, dining area, seating for lounging and outdoor shower. Having shaded areas will give you more reason to stay poolside longer, too. Timber decking and stone paving are popular choices for pool surrounds, and are also helpful in creating zones. Just imagine a raised timber platform with a daybed – a luxurious, resort-style addition to any pool design. Leafy trees and rocks will create a more natural-looking oasis, and will help provide more privacy for swimmers. Where you want your landscape to be the main focus, keep pool equipment and furnishings to a minimum.