So you want to mod your outdoor patio design in a way that makes it unique from others? When you want a distinctive patio design that other people haven’t replicated, check out some of these radical ways to dress up your outdoor space. You may find that they fit very well with your approach to using your property in the best optimal ways and enjoying a better quality of life at your home. They’ll also make great first impressions when friends come to call!

1. A Gazebo With Extras

Some property owners have gone as far as setting up a gazebo for an outdoor pavilion on top of their patio or deck space, but that’s where most of them stop. A common use or multi use gazebo is great, but how about a set of themed accessories that give your space even more appeal?

For example, you can integrate an outdoor grill and other cooking tools and make your meals out in the fresh air. Perhaps you want to add a patio installation that allows you to cook different kinds of cuisine than just the usual ‘Americana’ fare that goes on the grill (think hamburgers and hotdogs.) Put a range of cooking solutions into your outdoor kitchen and you just might end up using it quite a lot.

Here’s an alternative: you can set up lounge chairs and create a kind of ‘reading room’ environment with appropriate coverage or other resources to help protect furnishings from inclement weather.

Or you can make that pavilion space into a studio for art or yoga or whatever you like to do regularly.

This kind of practical design is seldom seen in ‘Better Homes & Gardens’ or around a local neighborhood. Make your space your own in a bold new way!

2. Fountains

Another approach is to make your outdoor patio into a kind of classic space using old-fashioned infrastructures like stone fountains and garden components.

It’s not every day that you walk onto a patio and see a stone lion spouting water out of its mouth or a row of raised beds in the Victorian design stylized like the gardens of Versailles.

These attractive aesthetic options can make your patio into a space that people marvel at when they visit!

Visitors will be astounded at any new kind of space that looks like an oasis from the world at large. There is generally so much conformity in building design and property layout that with a little practical work, you’ll have a patio like no one else’s!

3. Outdoor Relaxation

Here’s another extreme way to enjoy your patio – add a hammock or a luxurious outdoor swing or even a full bed.

That last one is a pretty neat trick if you can pull it off. Look at mattress dimensions and again, how to protect the mattress from outdoor weather and temperature changes and precipitation.

You may be surprised how much this changes your lifestyle in terms of a good night’s sleep.

Another practical item is planning the bed linens and accessories that you want. Again, you have to make sure that these are somewhat weather resistant or that you stow them away when they’re not being used. You may or may not want things like throw pillows, because although these are pretty superfluous to a bed design, they can also be made to be weather-resistant outdoor pillows.

Part of the appeal here is just surprising people with something that they weren’t expecting aesthetically when they look at your patio space. But an outdoor bed or other amenity is also very functional, especially in temperate seasons.

4. Balancing for Nature

In addition to the studio ideas mentioned above, you can create a sort of meditative space on your patio with the kinds of geometric patterns and symbols prized by past societies and cultures. For example, the Tibetan ‘stupa’ or a design with the four classical elements (air, fire, earth, and water) is an interesting addition to your patio space!

5. Golf Course

For this one, you have to be into golf.

Some people put a putting green in their yard, but you can go the extra step and install actual golf course areas on your patio or nearby. That can include all of the bells and whistles: sand traps, quaint course obstacles, elaborate stonework… the sky’s the limit, and your imagination creates the boundaries of what you design—so for people who want a creative challenge, this can be a good option. 

All of this is going to give your property a very unique look and feel in comparison to those of your neighbors. Think about how to integrate these new design choices into your outdoor patio space for a “curb appeal win” that can end up improving the resale value of your property.