Have you heard?... Summer is coming! Here on the blog today I'm going to be loving on all the beautiful, dreamy swimming pools out there. Well, perhaps not all of them, but at least some of the best swimming pool designs I found inspiring when we were designing our own pool.

Have you ever considered a pool for your home? With warmer temps around the corner, now is the perfect time to be thinking about a small body of water to enhance your home and exterior living spaces. You can indeed create your very own resort-like living without leaving your home and without getting on a plane and traveling to far-flung destinations!

To be honest, several years ago, I would have never considered a swimming pool. I thought about the cost, the maintenance (pool boy!), the space it would consume in our backyard, etc. At the time, we had a small, urban backyard with limited outdoor space. After working with my former business partner and spending time at her home where she has the most spectacular pool (and home too), I had a change of mind and heart, sold on having a pool. She nailed the indoor/outdoor living and the "we live on vacation" vibe! She also insisted anyone can have a pool, regardless of space limitations. She'd actually designed multiple pools where she'd made use of every square inch of in-town backyards. Made me a believer!

I'm not going to lie though, even if you overcome the challenge of limited space, there is still the expense of a pool so it's definitely an important consideration. If you're doing a concrete pool, it can most definitely be costly, especially when you get into pool decking and hardscape materials. We ran into this with our own pool as I definitely wanted concrete. Add in the concrete wall, scuppers, poured concrete decking, decorative gravel and landscaping... Let's just say, we were slightly over budget when all was said and done. Thankfully though, we did allocate money for the pool as part of our new build.

Looking for a more budget-friendly swimming pool? There really are many affordable options to consider such as prefab and above ground pools. A quick google search for these, and you'll find many different types and selections available, although finding ones that actually look good and have good water colors can be a bit tricky (if that matters to you). There are also pools made from shipping containers (yet another great use of these rectangular metal vessels). Another great, and even lower cost option is the "cowboy pool" made using a galvanized stock tank. I've always thought these are the coolest. They can also be made into hot tubs by adding a heater. There's also the plunge pool, a smaller version of a traditional swimming pool. If you really want a pool though, there are definitely ways to make this your reality. Albeit, you may not be swimming laps or making big splashes in a cowboy or plunge pool, but you can definitely cool off, lounge poolside, have a place for you and your family and friends to frolic during the warmer months of the year and elevate your home summer vibes.

And if you install a pool and swing the additional expense, add the heater. Repeat, add the heater! You'll thank me later. Yes, there's a cost to the heater and to heating the pool, but depending on where you live, you'll be able to use your pool more months out of the year. With a heater in NC, we can typically use our pool nine to ten months out of the year. We could during the other two coldest months, but opt not to. We also have a pool cover because we have a mini forest in our backyard that drops an enormous amount of leaves into our pool. An added bonus of the cover is that it generates heat in our pool when it's closed. So when the weather warms up a bit, we're able to get the water heated with the sun and only use the heater to warm the water temperature a bit more.

With the March warm-up we're experiencing this week, we have our cover on and are planning to use our heater for the next several weeks. It's like having a little early spring break, at home! Happy soon to be summer + happy swimming!

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P.S.

If you're looking for more inspiration for your outdoor living spaces, check out this post - The Dreamiest Outdoor Living Spaces You'll Love.