Building a pool with a natural, contemporary mood

Some superb tips for your outdoor area

How to furnish the area around the pool? The world of design offers lots of ideas, and we’d like to add a couple of extra suggestions to make this setting truly special, maintaining a style in perfect harmony with nature. To bring a personal touch to the poolside, you’ll have to consider how you spend your time there, the kind of setting you’d like to create; only then can you start furnishing it. If you’re wondering where to start, we have a few useful tips for you.

Limited space? No problem!

The main problem we come up against when building a pool in a small area is of course the limited space. If you’re short on square metres, you’ll need to plan the work carefully and choose a water purification and circulation system that doesn’t take up much space. If you decide to install a pool, or rather a tub, for example, on the terrace of your home, you’ll need to take account of the style, which must complement the rest of the home and furnishings. With the right project, you can radically transform a courtyard or garden: the important thing is to avoid bulky furnishing elements and choose delicate shades that blend smoothly with the surroundings outdoors.

Green is the new black

Trees, plants and flowers are very important. When choosing them, make sure they’re proportioned to the space around the pool; don’t get carried away and go for excessively large elements. Evergreens are the best choice if you’re not keen on spending autumn sweeping up dead leaves. To keep mosquitoes and other insects that can ruin the summer at bay, choose suitable flowers and plants for the purpose. One we particularly recommend is marigold, a hardy, low-maintenance flower with a warm, vibrant colour. It’s perfect for poolside areas, because it adds a note of colour and keeps insects away.

Lighting areas and water features

It’s very important to pay attention to the position of the pool, which must be chosen depending on the exposure to the sun, avoiding places in the shade. To make sure the water gets plenty of sun, it’s important to choose a solarium area or veranda from which we can see the pool while we’re sunbathing. To boost the versatility of even a small pool, it’s a good idea to add a water jet feature that creates a “fountain” effect. In addition to the pleasant sound of running water, this will add extra enjoyment to a dip, thanks to the spa effect created.

A natural mood for finishes

When choosing the finishes for the tiles around the poolside, it’s important to create an atmosphere that blends smoothly with the indoor areas. Ceramiche Coem offers a number of collections that are perfect for projects of this type. Kavastone, for example, is inspired by Kavala Stone, a slate of Greek origin with distinctive colour and material effects, and its natural tones – in two surface finishes for indoors and outdoors – guarantees porcelain stoneware flooring of impressive strength and beauty. Another stone-effect option is the Riverslate collection, which takes its inspiration from Jura Slate, a stone commonly found throughout central and north-western Europe, with a glossy, silky surface that brings a natural elegance to any setting. Coem brings a number of different patterns to the stone, creating a stone-effect stoneware with two surfaces, wax-coated and natural, suitable for both indoors and outdoors and able to meet all the technical and aesthetic requirements of project designers. This really is a perfect collection for guaranteeing continuity between indoor and outdoor areas. A mood inspired by the stone materials of the past can also be obtained using a product such as Massive Stone, inspired by Pierre Massive and the dry-stone building technique, which uses blocks of solid stone to shape buildings perfectly integrated into their surroundings, with a contemporary allure and a supreme elegance. For a taste of Sicily, Modica is a collection with a minimalist style that enhances the effect of the calcareous rock quarried in the Hyblaean Mountains area on the island, featuring delicate shades that shift from lighter tones gradually through to grey nuances and warm beige. The Massive Stone, Dualmood, Goldenstone, I Sassi, Cardoso, Aquitaine and Pietra Jura collections are also ideal for the poolside area, given their distinctive material effects and different sizes that can be used to create the perfect outdoor space for your needs.