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This Trending Now story features the most-saved porch and patio photos uploaded to Houzz between Dec. 15, 2025, and March 15, 2026.
Longer days and warmer weather often spark plans for spending more time outdoors — and for making those spaces more comfortable and functional. If you’re gathering ideas for a patio refresh, an alfresco cooking area or a garden getaway, this countdown of the most popular new outdoor spaces uploaded to Houzz so far in 2026 offers plenty of inspiration. The featured designs showcase a range of styles and sizes, with welcoming seating, thoughtful shade solutions and destination-worthy backyards that blur the line between indoors and out.
10. Pergola With Presence
In Cambridgeshire, England, House Form Architects designed this elegant wood pergola as an extension of the main living area, where sliding glass walls blur the line between indoors and out. Cedar shingle siding and timber framing reference traditional architecture, while clean-lined hardscaping and a geometric slat pattern introduce a modern edge. Lantern lighting and a warm interior glow create an inviting atmosphere that carries well into the evening.
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9. Mediterranean-Inspired Patio
After reimagining the interiors of this hillside home near San Francisco, interior designer Ania Omski-Talwar turned her attention to the outdoor living areas. Warm wood furnishings, crisp white cushions and Mediterranean-inspired accents complement the home’s Spanish-style architecture while helping create a seamless connection between indoors and out.
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8. Midcentury Outdoor Kitchen
This midcentury modern home in Mountain View, California, underwent a full remodel and expansion, with Cathie Hong Interiors collaborating with Story Build Design and Outer space Landscape Architecture to create a cohesive indoor-outdoor experience.
A built-in grill station anchors this corner of the backyard deck, where bar stools invite guests to pull up a seat and chat with the cook. A blue tile base creates a vibrant focal point, topped with a terrazzo-style counter that echoes the tile’s hues. Concrete pavers surrounded by river pebbles subtly define the cooking zone while setting it apart from the surrounding yard.
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7. Space-Savvy Terrace
Interior designer Ida Wadhams redesigned this London townhouse from top to bottom, including a charming dining terrace tailored to the home’s compact footprint. Space-saving features — including a built-in bench and linear planters that double as subtle dividers — maximize function while creating an inviting spot for outdoor meals and casual gatherings.
6. Fire Pit Lounge
A sloped site and a desire for easy entertaining inspired terraced gathering areas in this Lafayette, California, yard by Huettl Landscape Architecture. Set among mature native oaks, the redesigned landscape guides guests from the house to a dining deck and down a few steps to a circular fire pit lounge. Curved concrete walls stabilize the hillside while creating a sense of enclosure, and they double as extra seating for evenings spent around the fire beneath the trees.
5. Resort-Style Backyard
Southern Legacy Building Group designed this Atlanta outdoor area for year-round enjoyment with a resort-like vibe. Defined zones for dining, lounging and cooking make the space feel like a true extension of the home. Two fire features set a cozy mood, and elegant outdoor lighting completes the look, creating a versatile backyard retreat to enjoy day or night.
12 Ways to Turn Your Yard Into a Wellness Retreat
4. Covered Retreat
Case Architects & Remodelers added this covered, well-appointed outdoor room as part of a full-house remodel in McLean, Virginia. Off the home’s lower level, the stylish retreat features an outdoor kitchen and luxurious amenities, all layered in a warm white-and-wood palette that makes lounging here inviting and effortless.
3. Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Living
Wall-to-wall sliding glass doors in this Manchester, England, home renovated by Dimension Architects frame expansive backyard views and a fire pit patio. The design encourages seamless indoor-outdoor living in warm weather while allowing the landscape to be enjoyed even on cooler days.
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2. Fireside Gathering Spot
An intimate fire pit circle draws guests into the yard of this Lafayette, California, midcentury modern home remodeled by Cappa & Co. Builders. The outdoor space begins with an expansive dining deck just off the living area, then steps down to a lawn where meandering pavers lead to a lounge featuring a mix of seating, including woven chairs and a cushioned bench.
1. Lakeside Screened Porch
A family wanted a lakeside cabin in Wisconsin that respected the site while offering space to gather with friends and family. Christopher Strom Architects, Indicia Interior Design and RPS Construction Services collaborated on the project to bring that vision to life. A three-sided screened porch on the main floor provides panoramic lake views, giving the homeowners a front-row seat to the changing seasons and activity on the water. Plush furnishings, screened walls and thoughtful outdoor lighting let them enjoy the outdoors with all the comforts of home.
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The couple wanted a space where they could site a tent for summer parties, so Philpott retained the big lawn immediately behind the house (seen here in summer looking toward the pool that’s behind the wood fence), but added borders all around to create a beautiful floral backdrop.
“I’d call my style naturalistic and quite romantic — I like to use lots of perennials and have softness in my planting,” she says. “Here, I went for a really soft feel, because when you cross the lawn and go down stone steps [on the left], you enter a more naturalistic area. I wanted to create a transition from formal planting to that wilder feel as you move away from the house.”
The Arts and Crafts-inspired plantings around the lawn include ‘Twilight’ purple asters (Eurybia x herveyi ‘Twilight’, USDA zones 3 to 9; find your zone) and white fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium ‘Album’, zones 3 to 7). “It’s often considered a weed because it gets everywhere, but this is a cultivated variety. It does self seed, but it’s actually clumped up very quickly,” Philpott says. “It’s a good choice when you’re establishing planting and you have gaps, as it fills out the space and gives the soft, romantic feel I was going for.”
Also seen growing here are purple ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, zones 4 to 9), white ‘Madame Emile Mouillère’ bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Madame Emile Mouillère’, zones 5 to 9) and burgundy ‘Raven’ beardtongue (Penstemon ‘Raven’, zones 5 to 9). The dense holly hedges at either side were existing. “They provide a fantastic evergreen backdrop for planting: the purple asters look almost luminous against them,” Philpott says.
Retaining existing plants, such as these hedges, is important to Philpott. “I never want to go in, especially with a garden like this that’s been here since the early 20th century, and rip everything out, because it’s unnecessary,” she says. “It’s about seeing what’s there and what’s worth keeping and maybe reshaping it if necessary, but it would take decades to get new hedges to look like these because they’re so thick.”
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An outdoor space — whether a yard, patio or deck — is high on many homeowners’ entertaining wish lists. Whether you like to have a crowd over for cocktails, a few friends for dinner or a small gathering for drinks around a fire pit, the right lighting helps extend outdoor enjoyment after sundown.
Solar-powered, battery-powered, or wired lighting, and even candlelight, can all work nicely. Choose warm white LEDs (2500 Kelvin to 3000 Kelvin) for a cozy feel, and be sure the fixtures are rated for outdoor use. It’s also worth choosing lights that are easy to switch off once the party is over, to help protect wildlife at night.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
An outdoor space — whether a yard, patio or deck — is high on many homeowners’ entertaining wish lists. Whether you like to have a crowd over for cocktails, a few friends for dinner or a small gathering for drinks around a fire pit, the right lighting helps extend outdoor enjoyment after sundown.
Solar-powered, battery-powered, or wired lighting, and even candlelight, can all work nicely. Choose warm white LEDs (2500 Kelvin to 3000 Kelvin) for a cozy feel, and be sure the fixtures are rated for outdoor use. It’s also worth choosing lights that are easy to switch off once the party is over, to help protect wildlife at night.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
When it comes to paths and steps, lighting needs to be practical to prevent trips and falls. Fortunately, there are plenty of options that look good, add ambiance and safely light the way. Fixtures can be subtle at night and nearly disappear during the day, or they can make a statement and enhance the overall design when the sun’s up.
Whether you choose hard-wired, battery-powered or solar lights, the key is to avoid fixtures that create glare, which could dazzle and disorient. It’s also worth considering timers or motion sensors, so lights turn on when needed but don’t disrupt wildlife all night.
Scroll down to see how designers on Houzz have lit steps and pathways across a range of landscapes.
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Outdoor renovations typically begin with a similar wish list: places to kick back, room for gathering and spaces for cooking and dining outdoors. For ideas on weaving those elements into your own backyard, explore this countdown of the five most-viewed outdoor makeovers of the year. Each project shows how architects and designers thoughtfully integrated flexible seating, fire features, outdoor kitchens and more into welcoming landscapes that feel like natural extensions of the home.
5. Indoor-Outdoor Dream
Outdoor seating areas that echo the comforts of indoors — cushy furnishings, shade, heat and bug control — tend to be the spaces people use most in a yard. In this inviting Los Altos, California, backyard, KNR Design Studio and Changras & Frey Construction created multiple flexible seating zones with varying levels of comfort to make indoor-outdoor living feel effortless. A covered veranda just off the living room can be fully enclosed with motorized screens or opened wide through black-frame sliding glass doors. Nearby, an outdoor dining table enjoys partial shade, while an adjacent lounge area offers views of a putting green.
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4. Flexible Urban Patio
In compact city gardens, every square inch counts, and an adaptable design can greatly expand how a space functions. This Chicago backyard, tucked between the house and garage, once served mainly as a pass-through. Landscape architect Benjamin Himschoot of Himsben Design Studio reimagined it as a versatile patio framed by lush plantings. Lightweight plastic Adirondack chairs and a portable smoke-free fire pit allow for quick rearranging. When the seating area isn’t in use, the homeowners’ two children can clear the furniture and set up a soccer net.
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3. Sloped Sanctuary
This serene hot tub, part of an Oakland, California, landscape designed and built by Barry Sacher of Rock Paper Scissors Landscape, gives the homeowners a peaceful retreat within their sloped backyard. Once short on level, usable space, the yard now features a series of decks and terraces that work with the grade rather than against it. The 7-foot-diameter Alaskan cedar tub sits in a prime spot facing redwood trees, with an outdoor shower tucked close by. A few steps up, a larger deck provides lounge seating beneath an umbrella, while additional stairs lead farther up the slope to an outdoor kitchen and dining area conveniently close to the house.
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Before and After: 3 Creative Solutions to a Sloped Yard
2. Backyard Built for Enjoyment
This Timnath, Colorado, backyard, designed and built by Lindgren Landscape, has plenty of features packed into a modest footprint. After downsizing, the homeowners wanted to replace a patchy lawn with a space built for lounging, dining and entertaining nearly year-round. Landscape designer Jamie McCarn delivered a highly functional layout, adding a solid-roof shade structure that covers both dining and lounge areas, along with a nearby fire pit patio for cozy evenings. Just off the back door, a slightly elevated deck houses an outdoor kitchen with a grill and smoker, while a kit-built barrel sauna beside the fire pit offers a relaxing all-season retreat.
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1. Elegant Retreat
This striking backyard in Needham, Massachusetts, claimed the top spot as the most-viewed outdoor space of 2025. When the homeowners first consulted landscape designer Jim Stucchi, they were considering buying the home and installing a pool. Stucchi ultimately reimagined the entire backyard, adding a pool, a cabana, a spa, a dining terrace and an outdoor kitchen. The landscape’s modern-meets-traditional style complements the home’s architecture, while carefully chosen plants soften the hardscape’s clean lines, adding color and other visual interest at every turn.
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3. Cozy Fireside Lounge
Patio at a Glance
Who lives here: Trevor Fulmer, who also designed the space, and his husband, Jim Mattus, a corporate attorney
Location: South Boston
Size: 585 square feet (54 square meters); 15 feet wide by 39 feet long
Builder: B H Brown Landscape Design
Before: This South Boston home’s original side yard was functional and sunny, but it felt boxed in by the perimeter fencing. There also was nothing to break up all the hard surfaces. Still, interior designer Trevor Fulmer and his husband immediately saw the potential. “Being in Boston proper with this square footage of outdoor livable space is very rare,” the designer says.
Fulmer quickly started dreaming up ideas for the space, including a lounge area with a fireplace. Plenty of plants also sat high on the list. “We wanted the space to feel very lush and green, like a little oasis in the concrete jungle,” he says.
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3. Handsome Outdoor Hearth
This elevated indoor-outdoor lounge is positioned on the back side of a luxury mountain home in Big Sky, Montana, just outside of Yellowstone National Park. The team at interior design firm Hive Home brought the same attention to detail to the outdoor space as they did to the home’s interiors, with a rich, earth-tone color palette and a focus on natural materials. A stone hearth serves as the focal point of the outdoor lounge, anchoring the seating arrangement. Overhead, integrated lighting and a heating element keep the lounge warm and inviting on cool evenings.
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These Austin, Texas, homeowners have daughters in elementary and middle schools, and they wanted to create more usable space in their steeply sloped backyard to encourage outdoor play. They also wanted space for entertaining their friends.
José Roberto Corea of Austin Outdoor Design transformed the yard into a series of outdoor rooms featuring a pool, a spa, an outdoor shower, a fire table lounge, a play area, a renovated two-story porch and a pergola-covered dining and grilling area. At the same time, he preserved several existing live oak trees. The result is a cohesive, beautifully terraced modern yard that the whole family and their friends enjoy.
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Counters help define an outdoor kitchen’s style. “Choose a stone [or other material] that ties the whole look together or provides a fun accent,” says Kara Gorski of Landed in Alexandria, Virginia.
Practical considerations. Add plenty of countertop area around the grill. “No matter how small an outdoor kitchen is, it needs to have adequate counter space,” says landscape designer Deborah Gliksman of Urban Oasis Landscape Design in Los Angeles. Douglass recommends leaving enough room for utensils as well as cooked and uncooked food.
Pros say you’ll probably need to seal the countertop when it’s installed and then reseal it every few years, as food spills and metal contact can stain it. If your counters are completely exposed to weather, the elements can also cause wear.
Finally, make good use of the cabinetry the counters sit on. It’s a prime space for storage as well as other amenities, such as an undercounter refrigerator.