Pool Paving Design

(Long Island, New York)

Your designs are so unbelievably tasteful! Wish you were out here on Long Island. I have a small english cottage style home on Setauket Harbor and am doing a classic 18 x 38 rectangle pool. Was hoping to do a classic elegant yet simple walk and small sun and shade patio around it.

Designers I've met with want to overdo it with a lot of hardscape. Do you have any recommendations for someone out here in Suffolk with vision like yours? I should also mention that my budget is small, will be doing some work
myself. Thanks for sharing your amazing website!


ANSWER


First, thanks for your compliments and visiting my site!

If you want to do something simple, keep this in mind. A walkway around the pool can be anywhere from 2 feet wide and beyond. 3 feet is roomier, while 4 feet allows two people to walk side by side. Lounges need a space 10 feet in length, and (for example) a 60" round (diameter) table needs about 15 feet minimum on all sides to walk around it. If your table and chairs are different in size, take each width/length dimension, add on 2 feet for each chair and then add on about 2 to 3 feet space to get around (minimum).

If you are going with a rectangular shaped pool, geometric paving compliments it. Start with a walkway going around the pool and then you can add on square or rectangular areas to fit the furniture you might have. Take a look at the second photo on this page.
Pictures of Swimming Pools (The picture I am referring to is shown here too.) Forget the walk that is leading to it. Notice how there is just a simple, wide walkway around the pool. These clients had a patio nearby for furniture, so they did not need sitting areas incorporated into the pool decking.

So in your situation, you could do the same, but along the long side of the pool, possibly centered, add on the space you need for lounges and/or tables. This can be one large space or you can divide it into two areas...one for lounges and one for dining. So if the walk is 3 feet, there might be a section 15 feet long by 18 feet deep, including the walkway. Hope this is clear!

Regarding the sun and shade, determine where the shade is and decide if that's where you want any of the furniture areas and if the location can be worked into the design. You can always add large landscape trees for to provide shade. Add this into your budget as it can provide both extreme comfort and also a beautiful look.

A few large trees will be more dramatic and practical than a lot of small plants (if you have to decide where to put your dollars). So many people worry about leaves getting into the pool but I have always found this to be silly as by the time the leaves are falling, the pool is being closed for the season, particularly in the northeast.

Please also visit my page on
Swimming Pool Decking

I hope this was helpful. I can always sketch it out for you via an online design if you like. If you are interested, let me know and I will explain how it works. Once again, thanks for the compliments!