Six Great Ideas from Popular Summer Pools

Above-ground pools are fantastic but aren’t often described as elegant. Leave it to the French, however, to show that they can be. Interior designer Laure Arancio of La Nostra Secrets d’Intérieur tucked this above-ground pool in Marseille, France, into a corner and surrounded it with beautiful decking. And the deck itself is clever — it has integrated lighting, and one side serves as seating.
Matt Sitra Custom Homes used a mix of materials around this pool in Austin, Texas. Natural stone coping, succulents and decking surround it. But it’s the plant-topped stone wall with cascading spouts that grabbed the most attention; it serves as a focal point from inside the house. The sound of the water splashing into the pool is soothing and drowns out other noise. And the plants and long planter above the wall create striking lines of texture.
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Large areas around pools are often paved or tiled. But this quarter, verdant grassy expanses around pools caught Houzz users’ attention.
A successful minimalist design means shrewdly editing the material palette. Around this pool in Elviria, Spain, the design pros at Iddomus thoughtfully mimicked the architecture of the house with the pool coping’s geometry, color and dimensions. Grass planted in between the tiled areas emphasizes these lines and the rectilinear geometry.
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Clever site planning by architect Greg Swedberg of 2Scale Architects made the most of this corner lot in Houston. He found room for the pool in the side yard, creating beautiful gardens that connect it to the house. And as in the previous examples, a large expanse of grass runs from stucco privacy walls that surround the property right up to the pool’s narrow coping.
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Houzz users were also seeking poolside shelter from the sun. In this home outside Tampa, Florida, Laura Lee Home created an inviting transition between indoors and out. The covered outdoor living room serves as a comfortable and shady spot for poolside lounging.
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This Jacksonville, Florida, project built by J.A. Long took inspiration from the beach. Sandy-hued tiles surround water that, thanks to the pool tiles, looks Caribbean blue. The long, central pool area in the back is a shallow shelf made for wading or setting lounge chairs into the water. The area in the foreground has deeper water for swimming. And there’s a spa on the left.
Your turn: Did any of these most popular pool photos have you dreaming of building a pool at your home? Please share your favorite features in the Comments.
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