How to Find Design Ideas for Walls

Here are a few pointers for finding inspirations for wall designs.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring Tapes
• Design Magazines
• Sketchbooks
• Cameras

Instructions

1. Take your cue from the architecture that will be nearby. Garden walls that complement the architecture help to create a unified composition of house and garden that creates a sense of harmony.

2. Look in books and magazines about architecture, gardens and travel as well as masonry. Scan the photos for walls (and other details).

3. Stroll the nearest historic district and note what wall designs are common there. Historical sites and museum houses often have walls that are appropriate for the architecture and materials of your region. These have stood the test of time in your region for various reasons - be it a sensible response to the climate or as an expression of the local heritage - and will probably employ materials and methods that can be found nearby.

4. Sketch, photograph and measure walls that you like. (See 'eHow to Record Landscape Ideas in the Field.")

5. Take a walk or drive through an upscale neighborhood (where the professional designers have been at work) and look at the walls instead of the houses.

6. Ask local masons to direct you to their best work in the area.

7. Hire a landscape architect.