Not all renovations have to be the typical kitchen and bathroom upgrade. For those with one, the backyard pool is the perfect spot to develop and evolve your asset and lifestyle to include a dreamy pool house. To create the ultimate pool house, it is best to first decide how you would like to use the space. Here are a few main uses and interior features that you might like to include on your wishlist.
Set up a bar
A pool house bar has got to be at the top of the list. Invite friends over, hire a cocktail bartender and waiter for the day and have your very own pool bar channelling a bit of nostalgia in our travelling days. Pool bars are great for kids by keeping their wet feet out of the main house. Create a refreshment station fit with a fridge full of snacks, sink and a microwave so if you did want to use this as a guesthouse it is fully sufficient.
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Design the poolside front with sliding doors that can stack away opening up the entire space to one another. Photo / Supplied
Styling
With a guesthouse on the cards, you may want to consider a Murphy bed or sofa bed option to double up as an entertaining space or additional rumpus room for the kids. That way you can keep the footprint to a studio layout.
Movable pieces of furniture that can be used both inside and out would best utilise the space; with outdoor fabric upholstery and floor rugs that provide UV protection and are very easy to wipe down.
I would go for a contemporary resort-themed interior style or luxurious bohemian with elements of woven rattan, vintage leathers and stonewashed linens. Design the poolside front with sliding doors that can stack away opening up the entire space to one another.
Some people would go for a sash window style, but I don’t see the point in cutting up the view of the pool; keep the glazing joinery clean. Lastly, think about how lighting can play a role in illuminating the two zones to create one night hub, rather than a separated, two-part space.
An open extension on the side of the pool house can make for an impressive outdoor dining area. Photo / Supplied
Add an extension
If you have the space, having an open extension on the side of the pool house can make for an impressive outdoor dining area, with the ease of the internal kitchenette and bathroom close for those necessities.
You will really feel like you have left your home and transported to a tropical oasis. Cosy the space up with tropical plantings, ambient festoon lighting, and Hamptons linen dining chairs so dreamy you don’t want to leave.
Typically outdoor furniture isn’t super comfortable, but for this area, go all out. Sneak in a luxurious day bed to the side that you can easily pull into the sun, styled with a low rattan side table and light bamboo cotton throw.
Use outdoor fabric upholstery and floor rugs that provide UV protection and are easy to wipe down. Photo / Supplied
Yoga studio
An idyllic yoga studio with pool views would be enough to get anyone up and into a warrior pose. You could install floor-to-ceiling mirrors to reflect the pool colouring and make the poolhouse seem larger while connecting the two spaces.
Waterproofed timber flooring would be best for this application laid in the same direction as the pool deck and soften the space with some long hanging linen sheers.
Any additional gym equipment is to be strategically placed in easy-to-use locations but be sure to move them aside when transforming the space into one of the above uses.
- Laura Heynike is director of Pocketspace Interiors.
