What should you think about before renovating your backyard?
Before renovating your backyard, think about how you actually want to spend time outside. Consider your family’s routines, how you entertain, and which features you would use regularly, whether that’s a pool, outdoor kitchen, fire feature, sport court, or something completely different. Working with an exterior designer can help you plan those features around your lifestyle and how you want to use your yard every day.
Key Takeaways:
A backyard renovation is a major investment, so the design should reflect how you and your family actually want to spend time outside.
Start with your lifestyle. Think about what your family would genuinely use every week instead of choosing features because you feel like they belong in a luxury backyard.
Plan the entire yard together. Decide how swimming, cooking, entertaining, relaxing, sports, gardening, and other activities fit into the overall plan before construction begins.
Think beyond how it looks. A beautiful yard means a lot more when your kids, friends, and family actually want to spend time there.
Work with an exterior designer before you build. A thoughtful design gives you the opportunity to work through the major decisions before committing to construction.
Working with an exterior designer can mean the difference between:
Huge, open areas of your yard that you don’t even use.
And your kids sprinting out the door the minute they wake up and you having to drag them inside at bedtime.
Big, beautiful features you thought you wanted, but that mostly just sit there.
And a pool that’s absolutely packed all summer. Your kids. Their friends. Your friends. Family coming over for the afternoon and somehow still being there after dark.
Looking out the window and thinking, I really wish we’d done this differently.
Or looking outside and seeing your family actually living in the space you created.
Don’t regret your yard.
Homeowners reach out to us all the time with regrets about their outdoor space.
They want to work with Foxterra because they used a different contractor to redo their yard 5 or 10 years ago and already want to renovate again.
Or, their architect designed the yard when they first built their home, and they’ve wanted to redo the outdoor space from day one.
Sometimes they hate it.
Sometimes it looks beautiful, but they barely spend any time outside.
Sometimes they spent a lot of money on features they thought they were supposed to have, only to realize they would have used the space completely differently if they could do it over.
Because the goal isn’t just to have a beautiful yard.
It’s to have the yard your kids spend their entire summer in.
The house all their friends want to come to.
The pool everyone ends up in after dinner.
A place where you can make pizza outside on a random Tuesday night, watch the game while the kids swim, spend an afternoon reading by the pool, or stay around the fire way later than you planned because no one really wants to go inside yet.
It’s birthday parties and backyard sleepovers. Holidays with everyone outside. Barbecues that turn into late nights. Friends stopping by to swim. Kids running around barefoot. Long summer afternoons when there’s nowhere else anyone would rather be.
Those are the things your family remembers.
And to get that, you need a thoughtful design for your outdoor space.
Which is Foxterra does for our clients. We design yards specifically for you and your lifestyle And how you want to enjoy your new yard.
Maybe you want to swim laps every morning. Maybe your kids would live in the pool if you let them. Maybe you play pickleball, want a cold plunge, love to garden, need a quiet place to read, or want an outdoor kitchen where everyone can hang out while you cook.
Maybe you want your backyard to feel a little like being on vacation, except you get to walk outside and use it whenever you want.
That’s what good exterior design can do.
It can make your yard your favorite part of your home, and your house the place everyone wants to be.
Ready to renovate your yard? Click the button below to connect with our team about your project.
Transforming Your Yard
You’re making a major investment in your backyard. Start with a design based on how you and your family actually want to live outside.
Ready to renovate your yard? Connect with the Foxterra team to start designing your outdoor space.
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Welcome to this full yard tour of an Austin Mediterranean dream home and luxury backyard. More than five years after it was designed, this Mediterranean outdoor space still looks stunning thanks to timeless design decisions that continue to elevate every part of the property. This yard tour will explain:
– How to design a small or difficult backyard that feels like a resort
– Ways to turn a retaining wall or slope into a focal point instead of something you try to hide
– How layering texture, elevation, and lighting makes the entire space feel deeper and more connected
– Money saving tips and more
Frequently Asked Questions
Is hiring a backyard designer worth it?
Hiring a backyard or exterior designer can be valuable when you are making a significant investment in your outdoor space. A designer can help you plan the entire property before construction, work through feature placement and priorities, and develop the yard around how you want to use it.
What should I consider before renovating my backyard?
Start with how you want to spend time outside. Consider who will use the yard, how often you entertain, the activities your family enjoys, which features matter most, your budget, and the existing conditions of your property.
What does an exterior designer do?
An exterior designer develops a complete plan for your outdoor space. Depending on the project, that can include pools, outdoor kitchens, entertaining areas, landscaping, sport courts, fire features, wellness areas, water features, and other exterior elements.
How do I design a backyard my family will actually use?
Start with your family’s real routines. Think about what your kids enjoy, how you entertain, what you like doing outside, and which features you would use regularly. Then plan the yard around those priorities rather than starting with a list of features.
When should I hire an exterior designer for a backyard renovation?
Ideally, work with an exterior designer before construction begins. This gives you time to plan the complete yard and make decisions about features, placement, circulation, materials, and other major details before committing to construction.
How can I avoid regretting my backyard renovation?
Spend time defining how you want to use the yard before deciding what goes into it. Plan for everyday life as well as entertaining, prioritize features your family will actually use, and develop the complete exterior design before construction starts.
Behind The Blog
Justin Fox
Founder & Creative Director
Founder Justin Fox grew up with a passion for landscaping. After 15+ years building luxury yards and pools as a licensed contractor, he saw the limits of the design/build model. Homes get detailed, architect-led plans, so why shouldn’t yards? In 2019 he convinced brother Nate Fox to join him and launched Foxterra Design to focus on immersive, luxury outdoor spaces.
Foxterra designs immersive outdoor environments that blend architecture, landscape, and lifestyle into one cohesive vision. Our work is rooted in timeless materials, intentional layout, and outdoor living that feels effortless to use every day.
Nate Fox
Designer
Nate Fox helps shape Foxterra’s creative vision, blending architectural detail with a designer’s eye for proportion and flow. His work redefines the backyard as an extension of modern luxury living.
In recent features, Nate’s perspective has been quoted across leading design publications, including Homes & Gardens and Luxury Pools + Outdoor Living, where he shares practical, design-forward guidance on everything from integrating sculptural moments and sightlines to creating “living wall” effects that soften hard architecture and make compact spaces feel more expansive.
For this story, Nate looks at why the best backyard designs start with understanding how a family actually wants to spend time outside, from everyday routines to summers spent around the pool.
