Between remote work, group chats, and the average person’s nearly seven hours of daily screen time, most of us live indoors and online. So it makes sense that clients want a break from all of that—and the backyard is now getting some well-deserved attention. Designers report that outdoor projects now receive the same treatment as kitchen gut-renos—detailed briefs, large budgets, and heated debates over materials. Outdoor living is a priority for 75 percent of homebuyers, according to a 2025 study from This Old House, Houzz, and the National Kitchen & Bath Association, and many of those projects are returning their full cost at resale.
We talked to architects, interior designers, landscapers, and deck builders to find out exactly what's trending in the backyard right now.
Zoned Outdoor Layouts: Kaitlyn Hall, interior design manager at Revive Design and Renovation in Florida, used to get clients who wanted “a nice patio.” Now she gets clients who request entire floor plans: "It's not uncommon to see a backyard plan that includes an outdoor kitchen, a shaded dining area, a fire feature lounge, and even a quiet corner for yoga or cold plunges," she says. "The goal is flow and function, not just aesthetics."
This isn’t isolated to warmer climates, either. Adriena Daunt, principal designer at Daunt Designs in Montana, says her new builds routinely include covered patios with separate areas for cooking, dining, fireplace lounging, and a hot tub or sauna. Bigger projects get a yoga deck next to the gym or a private hot tub off the primary suite. "This feels like a shift from five or ten years ago, where having a cozy interior space in a cold climate was the priority," she says. Not anymore.
Read more: https://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/trends/a70941636/backyard-trends-2026/