Transforming a Patio Into a Courtyard

Courtyard Characteristics

• A courtyard serves as an outdoor extension of your home, creating additional space for recreation and socializing. Courtyards are usually at-grade structures, combining hard and soft landscape elements to form a space characterized by enclosure, privacy and a connection to the outdoors. Walls or fences, often including part of the exterior of the house, provide the enclosure, which is usually built high enough to screen or control views from inside or outside. Often courtyards are themed according to architectural, natural or other elements.

Courtyard Design

• A courtyard plan incorporates different functions. You can be set aside spaces for for an outdoor kitchen and dining area, for socializing, or for quiet retreat, for instance. Generally, a courtyard's overhead space is left open, though many homeowners prefer to build and grow pergolas or install transparent covers that provide protection from the elements. A water feature or ornamental planting adds interest to a courtyard and enhances aesthetic value. Plantings can serve as part of the boundary enclosure if conditions are suitable for plant health.

Courtyard Surface

• While an enclosure defines your outdoor space as a courtyard, the surface determines other boundaries people will respect. Paving material helps establish a theme and sets out a circulation pattern, or that of how people will move from one part of the space to another. The boundaries of the existing patio can be extended, or reduced, if an adjustment to the configuration suits the plan for the courtyard. Adding a different material for the edges or to mark a particular space will change the effect of existing surfaces.

Enclosing Structures

• Fences or walls are the typical structures for enclosing a courtyard. Usually they're installed on property lines. The height of fences and walls is generally limited by local building codes to 6 or 8 feet, but hedges may be permitted to be higher. A solid enclosure provides more privacy but limits the availability of sun for planting or warming. The material for the structure should be consistent with the paving material and the house architecture, and integrated with the design theme for the courtyard.