Desert Crest Press

A great way to add subtle color accents to outdoor living spaces is using natural stone tiles as the capping materials on the permanent features so popular for patio designs today. The popularity of custom designed patio living elements can include a wide range of things in Scottsdale and Phoenix. Built in BBQ grills, patio bar islands, an outdoor kitchen’s counter, seat walls and decorative inlays on outdoor fireplaces are all places homeowners look for ways to accent for the most beauty.

As patio bar areas and built in bbq grills go, this particular finished project is a great example of just how colorful natural stone can be. The more common colors of flagstone or stack stone available for Arizona landscaping present us with earth tones only. While these are wonderful for a neutral look, some homeowners prefer more unique colors as is found with this counter stone tile selection.

Entertaining in outdoor living spaces means having a special set of dinnerware and glasses that fits the colors and scene on the patio for many homeowners. Imagine how much fun you could have with that when you have a surface like this one to work with. This combination of stone used in the tiles gives so many hues and tones to work with in creating a smart looking setting. There are pinks, green, gray to charcoal and some tan to sand colors that run through the different stones in this mixed tile. Here’s a closeup so you can see just how gorgeous counter surfaced and decorative touches with this particular choice can be.

The unpolished surface of this Phoenix built in BBQ grill’s counter and patio bar island is a wonderful companion to the popular color of adobe stucco homes found all over Arizona. Being natural stone, also allows this choice to work with any preferred style of design from ultra modern contemporary to traditional and rustic. Something you might want to make note of, for such a material won’t become dated when it has such timeless beauty. It would be just as at home a century ago as it is on this current day Phoenix patio design.

Since every Phoenix patio design we do at Desert Crest is customized to fit the house, the space and the customer’s taste and lifestyle, it would be pretty rare to see two of them ever look alike. That’s part of what is so interesting about being a Scottsdale and Phoenix landscaper, variety is a constant presence. Many times, we’re as excited to see outdoor living spaces and  patio designs come to life as our client is.

When planning what will be included in your Scottsdale or Phoenix patio design’s spaces, living with it every day should be first and foremost in your mind. One can’t forget either that these elements are permanent fixtures in your Arizona landscaping, or that they are a home improvement project. If you do lose sight of that fact when working with us as your Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design and installation company, we’ll help you get back on course so that your outdoor living spaces are an asset to both your lifestyle and your property value long term.

Popularity: 22% [?]

While Arizona courtyards are really connected to a home’s structure, they can be inviting outdoor living spaces and a popular part of your Phoenix or Glendale landscaping. These especially secluded outdoor rooms are an excellent place for spending quality time in the comfort of cooling shade, entertaining friends or enjoying a good book.

The elements of courtyard design for homeowners in the part of Arizona are all parts of well planned Phoenix landscape design. Since Desert Crest is a licensed general contractor, we are skilled at all facets of landscape design and installation – even those parts of a courtyard that fall under the concrete and stone masonry trade. For our clients, this means that a complete courtyard design can be planned and installed with just one contractor. Naturally, this allows them to go from the planning stage to the enjoyment stage of such a Phoenix landscape design faster and with no hassles or delay in completion.

Adding water features to courtyard designs is an excellent way to up the ambiance and relaxing quality of these private outdoor living rooms. Many times with a custom designed water feature, your courtyard can become a far more beautiful place than when installing pre-fabricated outdoor fountains.

As is seen with this particular Glendale landscaping courtyard design’s water feature, sometimes the simplest design provides the greatest decorative appeal.  While the lines in the stone masonry construction are rather contemporary, the overall feeling here is timeless and could have been there for a century.

An informal composure covered in Arizona flagstone mosaic, the square pillars at two different heights do several things to this water feature’s appeal. Visually, the add dimension and interest to the shaping of the courtyard fountain. They also change the tone of the falling water sound. The farther water falls, as well as the speed it moves at has much to do with the music a water feature creates – whether it’s done as natural looking waterfalls, or a stylized fountain. Here, the addition of spilling over terracotta pots adds tons of interest and really does a lot to put more emphasis on the visual appeal it adds to this shady courtyard design.

Whether you live in Glendale or Phoenix, landscape design that includes a very unique and attractive water feature adds great value to these types of outdoor living rooms, as well as to your home’s curb appeal and market value. For complete Phoenix and Glendale landscaping that will have both you and your guests raving about the beauty of your property, a call to Desert Crest can make it happen in a very short time.

Popularity: 13% [?]

The desert lifestyle is most definitely enhanced with a swimming pool in our outdoor living spaces. The incorporation of patios that spill over into the pool area has many owners of older pools eager to replace their bland concrete pool decks. Phoenix and Scottsdale pool landscaping today will incorporate  the warm, earthy look of natural stone tiles or Phoenix pavers.

The pool in this photo isn’t a new installation. It is the after picture of a Phoenix pool deck remodeling. Before we began work in this client’s yard, the pool landscaping was not at all warm or welcoming. At the time that this swimming pool was built, the deck design was high style for that era and quite at home in anyone’s view as to what a smart looking backyard landscape should contain.

With the innovation of Phoenix pavers and readily available supplies of stone tile pavers like travertine, pool decks and outdoor living spaces have altered dramatically. Looking at the difference between then and now, it isn’t hard to wonder what was found so attractive in huge expanses of monotone concrete. This choice of decking material is definitely an improvement over bare soil and weeds. However, it still leaves much to be desired, even when adding contrast with colorful brick trim as was done here.

Along with the introduction of paver pool decks, came a wider scope of Phoenix landscape design. Most people would prefer to have pool landscaping that adds color and interest to this part of the yard too. This makes perfect sense with our patio designs evolving into outdoor living spaces and it being a natural thing to merge the pool deck with the patio.

In a small backyard space such as this one pictured here, sometimes it is best that not many plants be used. This isn’t just because of the lack of area to plant. The chlorine concentration in pool water can damage landscaping plants if there is a great deal of constant saturation of their root zones occurring. Something that homeowners with boisterous children making waves and splash over at play in the pool should keep in mind as they plan their Phoenix landscape design surrounding the water’s edge.

The change between the original pool deck and this new paver pool deck is incredible really. It wouldn’t be stretching the truth one bit to say that this clients outdoor living space was swiftly transformed from cold and drab to warm and stunning. All it took was a pool deck remodel using ultra versatile Phoenix pavers. Without a doubt, Phoenix pool decks have come a long way in recent years. It’s hard to imagine a look like this as going out of style.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Desert landscaping here in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas can be so striking and rich in interest. This is especially important for a home’s curb appeal.

For the designer, selecting the right xeriscaping plants to compliment the home and each other can be quite a task with every individual one carrying a key role. Unlike the ‘fluffier’ forms of landscaping plants one sees used in residential landscaping in more verdant parts of the country, xeriscaping landscaping in this part of Arizona is more architectural and minimalistic.

With the use of stone as ground cover rather than grass and bark mulch, the plants used in Arizona landscaping beds are far more important than one may realize. All foliar interest and color around a home in Scottsdale or Phoenix must come from the trees, shrubs, catci and flowering plants. It is important to get good combinations of shapes, stature and shades of different colors to put together a truly remarkable Arizona landscape design.

This particular curb appeal landscape installation carries just the right amount of different shapes, heights, textures and unique colors to really be stunning in a very simple way. To be able to put such a planting together takes a great amount of creativity on the part of the xeriscaping designer. Knowing just where each different plant should be placed to arrive at a finished setting like this one isn’t an accident, the designer can see this scene in their mind.

Low and purple flowering Texas Sage looks wonderful against desert boulders. The setting is brightened with a plentiful addition of Golden Barrel Cactus and a unique Gold Echinopsis tucked in between the blue of the Variegated Yucca and Century Plant Agave. Height and greater interest is added with Prickly Pear, Saquaro and Hedgehog Cactus. Finishing off the edges is a nice sized Palo Verde tree and multi-stemmed palm for fluff, and anchoring the corner of walk and bed at the entrance to the courtyard is a Totem Pole Cactus.

It is far easier to create a truly stunning xeriscaping landscaping design with our architecturally shaped desert plants than the wide, full plants from other regions. This homeowner now has great color and year around interest in a small area that is also very low maintenance. This is exactly what every homeowner wants that is ready to have new Phoenix or Scottsdale, Arizona landscaping installed.

Popularity: 16% [?]

It’s a pretty common thing for stone outdoor fire pits to be found on Phoenix patios. Usually, they are round as well. Coming up with a design like that to add the welcome warmth and light of fire to your patio design doesn’t take much creativity. Arizona homeowners today though, prefer that their outdoor living spaces be unique to their home and decorating taste. This makes perfect sense really, since patio designs are and extension of the rooms within the walls of any house.

There are also only so many types of natural stone available to work with in creating outdoor fire pits to compliment Arizona patio designs. You do have a choice of having your patio’s fire pit built with concrete masonry with a stone or pavers cap, as well as having the entire element built from paver blocks. Neither of these will be really different looking from everyone else’s fire pit either.

Sometimes, when working on Phoenix landscape design for a client, there are things that one must work with that guide us on what details must be made to flow really well together. This recent customer’s installation features light colored patio elements on a dark paver patio. While putting light against dark always works well, there are times when pulling them both into one piece can really have a great dramatic effect.

You see this in the outdoor fire pit’s design in the Phoenix outdoor living space pictured above. It is built of Arizona flagstone to match the top of the seat wall and built-in BBQ grill that was part of this new patio installation. The surprising part is the mosaic that was used to incorporate the flagstone in the round fire pit. Using masonry colored to match the rich brown Phoenix pavers makes this a dramatic element that pulls all the materials used in this patio design together. It also makes the beauty of flagstone very enhanced by making all the soft color variations running through the rock very apparent.

Even when using the same construction materials available to all Phoenix landscapers, Desert Crest can still come up with new and unusual ways to apply them. We’re always creative and deliver top quality craftsmanship in all areas of Scottsdale and Phoenix landscape design. A little artistic twist goes a long way in putting together remarkable Arizona landscaping for discerning clients like ours.

Popularity: 14% [?]