How to Design a Pool & Spa
A well-designed pool and spa area extends your home's living and entertaining space into the outdoors. Building a swimming pool is an expensive proposition, however, so it's important to plan well. By integrating the space into your current outdoor design you can create a seamless mix of indoor and outdoor living. Take the size of your yard, your current landscaping and how you intend to use the pool into consideration when you design your pool and spa. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Swimming pool
- Waterfall
- Slide
- Hot tub
- Sauna
- Cabana
- Sun sails
- Outdoor shower
- Insect repelling plants
- Lighting
Instructions
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1
Choose a pool design that fits your landscaping. Select a large pool if you do a lot of entertaining, a small pool for quick dips or an Endless Pool (see Resources 1) for exercise. Add a waterfall that tumbles into the pool for a more elegant look or a slide for a more casual pool.
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Design the pool deck, the paved area around the pool, with a non-slip surface. Extend the patio or the deck of your house to the pool for easy access and to provide more area for entertaining and sunbathing.
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3
Install a hot tub. The hot tub can be integrated into the pool's design or be free standing. Soft or inflatable hot tubs are portable and require no plumbing. Hard-sided hot tubs require both plumbing and electricity.
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4
Add a sauna to the landscape. Saunas only require a heating source and water to create steam, so the structure can be placed anywhere.
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Build a cabana or a pool house with a bathroom and shower for guests to change their clothes. The pool house can double as guest quarters or an entertainment area when equipped with a kitchen, bar and seating areas.
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Construct a short 6 x 6 foot deck near the house or the cabana and install an outdoor shower. Either plumb the shower or build a shower that uses rainwater that's held in a tank above the fixture. Screen the deck with large plants or build a lattice enclosure if privacy is an issue.
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Use sun shade sails to provide shade at one end of the pool. Sun shades can be moved to allow for the sun's position and can be taken down in severe weather.
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Plant insect repelling plants like geraniums, bee balm and lavender. Leave an area of lawn near the pool for kids and adults to play catch or spread out blankets for a poolside picnic.
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Install lighting to extend the pool's use into evening hours. Many pools come with underwater lighting. Light the patio with solar lights, party lights or tiki torches.
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Tips & Warnings
Furnish the area with chaise lounges, tables and chairs. Set-up a fire pit on the patio. Consider adding an outdoor kitchen.
