While the idea of planning your dream swimming pool in the middle of winter may feel a little out of place, now really is the perfect time to start. While we pride ourselves on our fast pool installation turnaround, a little extra planning time can go a long way. So, if you’re keen to swap the overcrowded public pool for your own private paradise this year, it’s time to start moving your dream towards its reality, so that come our coastal warm weather, you and your family are ready to dive in and enjoy your new home addition. Feeling a little daunted by the pool prep process? To help you move from overwhelmed to organised, we’re sharing 3 tips to kickstart your dream pool planning.
1. Design for all year round
A pool that envelopes your entire backyard may seem like a great idea on a hot summer’s day when all you can think about is lazing around in its inviting cool comfort, but this is another reason why planning your dream pool in winter is the perfect time. Choosing a pool size and style that suits your lifestyle all year round is an important part of your planning (which, thanks to the wide range of heating solutions available these days, can be that first option if it’s what floats your boat!). Consider how you are using your outdoor space right now, during the cooler months, and what ideas have sprung to mind that might make outdoor living more appealing for every season. What elements of your outdoor area are already working well and what would you like to keep? What elements might you add to a wish list if you could? Consider, for example, whether you’d like to keep or make space for an outdoor fireplace, or decide how important lawn space is for you and your family. Installing a pool is the perfect time to re-imagine your entire outdoor space, maximising your budget while equipment is at the ready, and ensuring all elements work cohesively together. Even if some items are left on the wish list for now (hello, Vogue Living lifestyle!), your pool installation and landscaping can be designed in a way that allows for growth as you want and need it.
2. Consider its purpose not just its prettiness
While aesthetics are an important aspect of your dream pool design, it’s just as important to consider how your pool will likely be used. The concept of a plunge pool may sound indulgent and perhaps even practical from a space-saving perspective, but if you happen to be raising a future Olympic swimmer, you’ll likely find them frustrated by the number of tumble-turns needed to strive towards their 100m PB. On the other hand, a lap pool doesn’t quite have the same excitement factor for the age-old family fun of a Marco Polo game. Another consideration is whether you are likely to want to lounge poolside or supervise little swimmers closely (requiring extended paving area), or maximise backyard cricket pitch space, seeing your pool fence hugging your pool perimeter a little more tightly. Getting an idea of how your pool is likely to be used, and by who (now and into the future) is a good starting point to deciding your pool size and style. But if deciding on the perfect ‘purpose’ feels more daunting than abseiling off the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, don’t stress! With such a wide designer range to choose from with Port Pools by Design, you’re guaranteed to find a pool that ticks the right boxes for even the most complicated of family needs and wants.
3. And now it’s time to think pretty
Now that you’ve scoped out your outdoor living ‘bigger picture’ and mastered the role of the Household Pool Design People Pleaser, it’s time to grab yourself a cup of tea and enjoy the process of planning the ‘pretty’ factor. After all, nobody wants a practical pool that’s an eye-sore to look at. Things to consider? How might you integrate your pool design into your existing architecture? Think line, direction and angles here. A modern, highly structured home will suit quite a different pool design compared with a period house or country homestead. Keen for your pool colour to blend in with its surroundings (think our Carribean or Bahamas here), or perhaps prefer to make it your outdoor statement, embracing bolder colours like our Metallic Karbon or Maldives blue? Do you have existing decking or paving you’d like to continue or compliment, or perhaps you’d like to extend some greenery inside the pool area? If a pool has been on your dream home list for a while now, chances are you’ve trawled the internet far and wide for inspiration and may have even been building your own dream pool scrapbook for years now. But if this all seems new and unknown, head to our Facebook or Instagram pages for plenty of poolside inspiration.
Keen for more tips?
At Port Pools by Design, it is our mission to merge form and function to create the perfect environment to meet your vision of a beautiful yet practical pool design. We treat your pool design project as if it were our own, and work with you every step of the way. So, while we hope these 3 tips help to kickstart your pool planning process, we’re standing by ready for an obligation free call to dream alive your perfect pool together. Click here to email the PPbD Dream Team or call us on 02 6584 0844.