Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

Modern Pergola Designs Gallery and Notes

Here are some design notes when it comes to modern pergola designs. The most common pergola design is to have decorative and somewhat rounded ends on the beam. The easiest way of creating a more modern pergola is to do away with the decorative ends. In picture (1) the beams still hang over the frame of the pergola but the decorative shape is gone. In pictures (2) (3) and (4) the beams are built within the frame so there are no overhanging parts – creating a sleeker look.

Going Dark: Using darker wood (almost black) creates a more modern look (5) (6), compared to the natural brown tones common with traditional pergolas.

Alternative Materials: Mixing a steel or wrought iron frame with wooden slats creates an ultra contemporary pergola design (7) (8).

Different Styles: The pergola in picture (9) is more of an awning style – there are beams only on the left side while the right side is completely open.

Luxury Touches: Some premium design add-ons include: adding lights (Simple Outdoor Pergola Lighting Ideas), a fan, and having a retractable canopy or motorized slats (Pergola Roofing Design Ideas: From the Natural to the Motorized). 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

March 26, 2013 in Outdoors

Resource Guide for DIY Pergola Construction

Even though we only write posts on design ideas, we’ve put together a list of resources for those looking to do their own DIY pergola construction. These links cover everything you’ll need to know from what materials to use, building plans, to kits, and instructions. 1/2/3/4/5/6

A very detailed step by step guide to building a pergola: Family Handyman
Popular Mechanic’s how to picture guide
Pergola kit (hardware, wooden stencils, and assembly instructions (lumber not included): Amazon
Lumber and kit: Amish Designers
Paid resource for all woodworking plans: Ted’s Woodworking

For ideas on what type of pergola to build, roofing and lighting options, and decorating accessories have a look at these posts:

March 26, 2013 in Construction

Pergola Roofing Design Ideas: From the Natural to the Motorized

Layering Up: A lot of pergolas will only have one layer of overhead beams – say going in a vertical direction. One way of adding more shade and roofing to the pergola is to add another level of beams – this time going in the horizontal direction as seen in picture (1).

Going Natural: A simple and inexpensive way of covering the pergola is to hang plants and vines across the beams (2) – this also adds to the decor of the space. Another eco friendly idea, though not as decorative, is to use the pergola as a solar station as seen in picture (3).

Retractable Canopies: A retractable roof lets you transform the pergola space, letting you control the amount of heat and light shining through. The most common canopy designs are fabric ones (4) (5) that are either motorized or manual pulling. Picture (6) shows a simple roofing system that can easily be done DIY – a fabric canvas slides along a wire that is attached the posts. Then there are motorized blind systems that can be opened to a certain angle, and can be solar powered like the system from Solarishield.co.uk seen in picture (7).

Fixed Covers: Here are some pergola roofing ideas and options that are fixed in place – a vinyl lattice (8), bamboo poles (9), a fabric mesh (10), glass (11), or polycarbonate (plastic) (12). 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12

Here are some other pergola posts for more ideas:

March 26, 2013 in Outdoors

Home Style Shopping Guide: Vintage Bedroom Edition

Since the Vintage Bedroom Decor Accessories and Ideas post become quite popular, I thought it’d be helpful to put together a post of places where you can buy the items that make up a vintage styled bedroom. So here it is, the shopping list:

(1) In the ideas post we showcased a birdcage that was acting as a book shelf. The one pictured above is being used as a decorative plant display and is available here

(2) Restoration Hardware have these Pool Locker Baskets that are great for storage – link

(3) These glass bottles from Mella on Etsy can be used to display a single flower stem

(4) Amazon is the best place I’ve found for vintage wall clocks. The one pictured can be found here. But they have a whole range of vintage style clocks from wall clocks, side table ones and alarm clocks which can be found here.

(5) The Georgina bedding set from Anthropologie fits perfectly into a vintage styled bedroom

(6) Laura Ashley has a nice collection of vintage styled lamps. The Webber Table lamp pictured above can be found on Lighting Universe.

(7) Traditional clothing pegs can be used to hang up photos and can be found here.

(8) The framed vintage key from Restoration Hardware is a bit expensive but it does look great. Etsy has a lot of antique keys, but none of them framed well – a DIY project maybe?

(9) The horse and lady art print can be printed to different sizes and can come as just the poster or in a frame – from Zazzle.

(10) Other vintage bedroom accessories include vintage maps and bird prints. The one pictured above is a 1777 American colonies map and can be bought here. The same store has vintage world maps along with maps of Europe, Africa, Paris and whole bunch much more, along with classical bird prints – store link.