Key Takeaways:
Many homeowners start by thinking about what they want to include in their backyard. But our team at Foxterra takes a step back and starts by thinking about the outdoor space as a whole.
— Think about how you want to use your outdoor space. Consider where you’ll spend time, how your family moves through the yard, and what you naturally come back to throughout the day.
— Get creative with the layout. Our team starts with the experience, considering things like: where the sun hits during the day, what you see when you step outside, and how you move through the space. This is what guides the layout and influences where things should go.
— Prioritize connection. When everything is placed with intention, the pool, seating, and surrounding areas work together instead of feeling separate. You spend more time outside. Think about how each feature integrates together in the outdoor space and with your home.
When most people start thinking about their backyard, they’re usually working off what they’ve seen before.
That typically means thinking in terms of features. A pool, some seating, maybe an outdoor kitchen, maybe a fire feature. Those are the reference points that come up again and again, so it makes sense that the process starts there.
And for a lot of homeowners, that’s the only version of outdoor design they’ve really been exposed to.
What’s often missing isn’t effort or intention. It’s just a different way of thinking about what the space could actually become.
Because the backyard doesn’t have to be a collection of features. It can feel like a place you live in, just as much as any room inside the home.
Once you start seeing that possibility, everything else begins to shift.
Keep reading to find out how Foxterra approaches outdoor design.
And when you’re ready to start your new yard, click the button below to book a free design consultation call with our team today.
From Wishlist To Private Resort
Instead of creating a checklist of features, start by asking a different set of questions.
How do you want to use the space?
How are your kids going to spend time out here?
Do you see yourself hosting often, or is this more for your family day to day?
Where do you naturally want to spend time in the morning, and where do you want to be in the evening?
Those answers give you a completely different starting point.
Now you’re not just placing elements into a yard. You’re shaping how the space will actually be used.
From there, every decision starts to connect. Where the sun hits affects where you’ll sit during the day. The way water moves changes how the space feels when you’re in it. What you see when you step outside sets the tone for the entire experience.
When you think about the space this way, you’re no longer designing individual pieces. You’re building an environment where everything supports how you live.
Designing for Experience, Not Just Aesthetics
It’s easy to focus on how a yard looks, especially because that’s how most outdoor spaces are presented.
But the spaces people come back to again and again are the ones that feel good to be in.
That comes from layering different elements with intention.
Moving water adds sound and energy instead of just sitting still. Shade and temperature are planned so the space stays comfortable throughout the day. Lighting carries the experience into the evening so the yard doesn’t shut down when the sun goes down.
The transitions matter just as much. You shouldn’t feel like you’re stepping from one disconnected area into another. Each space should lead naturally into the next.
Over time, you start to notice that certain features show up in the spaces that get used the most, but not because they’re trends.
Things like swim-up bars, over-water daybeds, or larger spas make it easier to settle in and stay. They remove the need to move around and allow the experience to continue without interruption.
That’s the difference between a space that looks good and a space you actually use.
Resort Thinking, Applied at Home
Most people already have a reference point for this, even if they haven’t thought about it in design terms.
It usually comes from travel. A place where you remember being outside for hours without really thinking about it.
What made those spaces work wasn’t any one feature. It was how everything connected.
You could move from the water to a seating area, into shade, and then into dining without having to think about it. Nothing felt separate. Nothing felt like a decision.
You just stayed there.
That’s what we’re trying to bring into a residential setting.
Not by copying those spaces, but by understanding what made them feel effortless and applying that in a way that fits your home.
Designed for weekends at home
One of the simplest ways to understand whether a yard is working is how long you stay outside.
When the layout is right, you don’t feel the need to go back in. You’re not leaving because something is uncomfortable or inconvenient. You’re staying because everything you need is already within reach.
That comes down to flow.
You shouldn’t have to cross the yard to move between spaces. You shouldn’t have areas that feel disconnected or underused. Every part of the layout should support how you naturally move and spend time.
Comfort isn’t something you add at the end. It comes from how the space is arranged from the beginning.
When all of that is working together, the yard holds you there without effort.
Creating A Yard Custom To your family
At the center of all of this is still the person the space is designed for.
Because no matter how well a yard is designed, it only works if it reflects how you actually live.
There’s a version of outdoor design that looks familiar across a lot of homes, but what makes a space feel right is when it aligns with your routines and your preferences.
It starts with understanding how you spend your time now, not how you think you might use the space in the future. From there, every decision begins to support that reality.
When that alignment is there, the space feels natural from the moment it’s finished.
creating your outdoor space
One of the challenges with outdoor design has always been understanding how everything will come together before it’s built.
It’s not always easy to visualize how different elements will connect, and that uncertainty can lead to changes during construction.
Our process is designed to give you clarity from the beginning.
With a fully developed virtual design, you can see how the entire space works together before anything is built. That makes it easier to make decisions, align the design with your budget, and move forward with confidence.
Instead of adjusting along the way, the design is already resolved.
At the end of the process, what you’re left with isn’t just a set of features.
It’s a complete environment designed around how you live, how you move through the space, and how you want it to feel when you’re outside.
And when everything is aligned that way, it doesn’t just change how your yard looks.
It changes how you use your home.
Click below to book a free design consultation and start building a yard you’ll actually use.
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This retaining wall became the star feature of this backyard transformation.
What started as a steep, unusable slope turned into a functional and visually striking outdoor space.
Instead of just solving the grade issue, we designed a retaining wall that defines the entire backyard and elevates the look of the space.
There’s a limited footprint and a massive retaining wall, but we used both to shape a backyard that feels like a true resort. It’s dynamic, intentional, and just as considered as a space five times the size.
In this video, we’re sharing:
-How to design a small or difficult backyard so it feels intentional, not limited
-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
-And more
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What makes a backyard something you actually use every day?
A: It comes down to how the space works as a whole. When the layout makes it easy to move between areas and everything feels connected, you don’t have to think about using it—you just do.
Q: Why don’t most backyards get used as much as people expect?
A: Most are designed piece by piece. The pool, seating, and outdoor areas might all look good on their own, but they’re not always working together. When the layout doesn’t support how you naturally spend time, you end up going back inside.
Q: How does Foxterra approach backyard design differently?
A: We don’t start with a list of features. We start with how you want to use the space and build everything around that. The goal is to create one environment where every part of the yard connects and supports the way you live.
Q: What does it mean to design a backyard as a complete environment?
A: It means looking at the entire space at once—how you move through it, where you spend time, how different areas relate to each other—and making decisions that tie everything together instead of treating each feature separately.
Q: Is luxury backyard design about adding more features?
A: Not really. It’s more about how those features are placed and how they work together. A well-designed space doesn’t need more—it just needs to feel intentional.
Q: What should you think about before designing a backyard?
A: Think about how you’ll actually use it. Where you’ll sit, how your family spends time outside, whether you host or keep it more private. Those answers shape the layout more than any specific feature.
Q: How do you design a backyard that feels like a resort?
A: It’s not about copying a resort. It’s about translating the feeling—easy movement between spaces, everything within reach, and a layout that lets you stay outside without needing to reset or relocate.
Q: What role does layout play in backyard design?
A: Layout is everything. It determines how the space functions, how it feels to move through it, and whether it actually gets used. When the layout is right, the rest tends to fall into place.
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.
For this story, the Foxterra team shares the thinking behind that approach—how stepping back and designing the yard as a complete environment changes the way people experience it day to day, often in ways they hadn’t considered before.
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 focuses on how outdoor spaces function as part of the home, not separate from it.
He approaches every project by looking at how people actually live—how they move through a space, where they naturally gather, and what makes them want to stay outside longer. That perspective turns layout into the most important part of the design.
His approach to outdoor design has recently been featured in publications like Architectural Digest and Martha Stewart Living, where he shares insights on creating outdoor spaces that feel as considered and functional as the interiors they connect to.
