Granny Flat and Backyard Studio Design Ideas and Photos

Second dwellings that add real value — siting, privacy, services, light and the layouts that work for family, guests, work or rental. A second dwelling in the backyard is the most practical small building most people will ever construct. It houses a parent, an adult child, a guest, a home office or a tenant, and it does so on land already owned and already serviced. The design challenge is not the building, which is simple, but the relationship between it and the main house — privacy, outlook, access and noise all have to be resolved on the site plan. Siting decides success. Position the studio so its main windows do not look directly into the existing bedrooms, give it its own small piece of private outdoor space rather than a share of the family yard, and provide access that does not require walking past the main living room windows. A separate path down the side boundary, a screen of planting between the two buildings, and a clear front door with its own number make the dwelling feel independent. Plan for one thing done well. A studio layout with a kitchenette along one wall, a bathroom in the corner, a bed...

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Beach House Designs

Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber and Plunge Pool, Shaded Cabana and Boardwalk

Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber, Charcoal Roofing and Glass Balustrades, Frangipani, Agapanthus and Soft Silver Coastal Foliage, featuring. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com — Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber, Charcoal Roofing and Glass Balustrades, Frangipani, Agapanthus and Soft Silver Coastal Foliage, featuring a Plunge Pool, Shaded Cabana and Boardwalk Approach, with Considered Outdoor Zoning and Soft Layered Textures Throughout

Bh 39 is part of our Beach House Designs collection — one of 57 large-format widescreen concept visuals in this section. It is presented here at full size so you can study the layout, the planting, the surfaces and the way light falls across the design before you commit to building anything on your own block.

Classic and modern coastal homes, dune gardens, decks and ocean-front living. Use this concept as a starting point: note the proportions between built form and greenery, where shade and shelter sit, how paths and paved areas move people through the space, and which materials repeat to hold the whole scheme together.

Every visual on this site is a design idea created for Home Design Photos. Browse the rest of the Beach House Designs collection, or open the complete image catalogue to see every home, garden, pool, pergola, furniture, lighting and beach house concept in one place.

← Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber and Plunge Pool, Shaded Cabana and Boardwalk Relaxed Seaside Holiday Home Design with White Weatherboard Cladding and Verandah Lounge, BBQ Bench →

More Beach House Designs concepts

Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber and Plunge Pool, Shaded Cabana and Boardwalk

Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber, Charcoal Roofing and Glass Balustrades, Frangipani, Agapanthus and Soft Silver Coastal Foliage, featuring a Plunge Pool, Shaded Cabana and Boardwalk Approach, with Considered Outdoor Zoning and Soft Layered Textures Throughout

Coastal Beach House Design with Shiplap Boarding, Sandy Stone Paving and Woven Cane Detailing, Sea Grasses, Pigface and Low Sculptural. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Coastal Beach House Design with Shiplap Boarding and Sheltered Alfresco Dining Terrace and Sun

Coastal Beach House Design with Shiplap Boarding, Sandy Stone Paving and Woven Cane Detailing, Sea Grasses, Pigface and Low Sculptural Shrubs, featuring a Sheltered Alfresco Dining Terrace and Sun Lounge Zone, complemented by Durable Weatherproof Finishes and Low-Maintenance Detailing

Hamptons-Style Beach House Design with Silvered Hardwood Screens and Beach Access Path, Firepit Circle

Hamptons-Style Beach House Design with Silvered Hardwood Screens, Off-White Render and Bronze Fittings, Coastal Banksias, Spinifex Grasses and Windswept Dune Planting, featuring a Beach Access Path, Firepit Circle and Evening Deck Lighting, finished with Sculptural Feature Planting and Inviting

Hamptons-Style Beach House Design with Silvered Hardwood Screens and Beach Access Path, Firepit Circle

Dune-Side Beach House Design with Bleached Timber Battens, Pale Render and Black Framed Glazing, Clipped Hedging, Feature Palms and Pale. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Dune-Side Beach House Design with Bleached Timber Battens and Wide Ocean-View Deck, Outdoor Shower

Dune-Side Beach House Design with Bleached Timber Battens, Pale Render and Black Framed Glazing, Clipped Hedging, Feature Palms and Pale Pebble Borders, featuring a Wide Ocean-View Deck, Outdoor Shower and Relaxed Lounge Setting, balanced by Clean Sightlines, Shaded Retreats

Coastal Beach House Design with Shiplap Boarding and Sheltered Alfresco Dining Terrace and Sun

Complete image catalogue

Mediterranean Villa Home and Garden Design Ideas and Photos

Lime render, terracotta, olive trees and gravel courtyards — the warm, shaded, waterwise style that suits hot dry climates better than any other.

Mediterranean design is a climate response that happens to be beautiful. Thick walls and small openings on the hot side, deep loggias and pergolas for shade, pale lime washed render to reflect heat, courtyards that trap cool air, terracotta and stone underfoot, and planting that survives long dry summers. Every element earns its place practically, which is why the style still looks right after centuries.

The materials are unpolished and generous. Textured lime or sand finish render rather than flat acrylic, terracotta or clay tile roofs, stone thresholds and window surrounds, chunky timber lintels and shutters, wrought or blackened metal for gates and rails, and floors in terracotta, travertine or tumbled limestone. Imperfection is part of the language, so avoid dead flat surfaces and machine perfect joints — they read as a shopping centre rather than a villa.

Outdoor rooms carry the plan. A shaded loggia along the main elevation doing the work of a hallway, a gravel courtyard with a central tree or fountain, a vine covered pergola over the long table, and a pool positioned as a still rectangle framed by hedging and cypress. Water appears as a wall spout into a trough, or a simple bowl, rather than as a feature demanding attention.

Mediterranean Style design ideas photo from the Mediterranean Villa Home and Garden Design Ideas and Photos feature. this image created by www.homedesign-photos.com

Planting is the most waterwise palette available. Olive, fig, citrus and pomegranate for canopy and fruit; rosemary, lavender, santolina and cistus for structure and scent; grapes and jasmine on the pergola; pots of pelargonium and herbs at every doorway. Gravel mulch, drip irrigation, and a bias toward silver and grey green foliage that looks cool in heat. The result is a garden that peaks in the hottest months, when most other styles are struggling.

House Design Photos is a HUGE Library Gallery and Directory of Home Design Photos

Granny Flat and Backyard Studio Design Ideas and Photos

Modern Ocean-Front Home Design with Limewashed Timber and Plunge Pool, Shaded Cabana and Boardwalk

More Beach House Designs concepts

Mediterranean Villa Home and Garden Design Ideas and Photos