Friday Pool Inspiration: Your Dream Backyard Could Be Closer Than You Think
What If You Were Swimming Here a Few Months From Now?
It is Friday in Florida.
The sun is out. The weekend is beginning. And somewhere between making dinner plans and deciding how to spend Saturday, you find yourself scrolling through another picture of a beautiful pool thinking:
I would love to have that in my backyard.
Here is your Friday reminder that it does not have to stay on an inspiration board.
That dark aqua water you cannot stop looking at.
The oversized sunshelf with bubblers sparkling in the Florida sunshine.
The spa that looks like it belongs at a private resort.
The gorgeous marble, travertine or porcelain deck.
The dramatic entrance into the water.
The fire features glowing after sunset.
All of it can begin with a blank backyard and an idea.
At Chosen Pool and Spa, that is one of our favorite parts of what we do.
We take the pool you have been imagining and begin turning it into something real.
Your Pool Does Not Have to Look Like Everyone Else’s
One of the biggest advantages of building a custom pool is exactly that.
It is custom.
Your backyard should not be a copy of your neighbor's pool or a slightly modified version of the same design being installed throughout a community.
Your pool can be shaped around your home, architecture, property and lifestyle.
Maybe your style is clean and contemporary with a rectangular pool, dark blue interior, white marble decking and a raised infinity edge spa.
Maybe you want something that feels more natural, with dark aqua green water, a beach style entrance and landscaping that makes the water feel almost like a hidden spring.
Or maybe your perfect Friday afternoon involves a large sunshelf, two loungers in the water, bubblers, a heated spa and an outdoor kitchen nearby.
That is what makes custom pool design so exciting.
There is no single answer.
Explore different possibilities on our Pool Materials and Finishes page.
Start With the Feeling You Want Your Backyard to Create
Homeowners often begin by asking:
“What size pool should I build?”
We like to take the conversation a little further.
How do you want the backyard to feel?
Do you want it to feel like a private resort?
Do you want somewhere peaceful to float after work?
Do you imagine your children and grandchildren spending weekends in the water?
Are you building a space for entertaining?
Do you want the pool to become an architectural feature that you can see through the windows of the home?
Do you want dramatic nighttime lighting and fire features?
Or are you dreaming of something completely different?
Those answers help shape the design.
Dark Pool Interiors Can Completely Change the Atmosphere
One of our favorite design directions right now is the use of deeper interior finishes.
Dark blue, charcoal, aqua green and near black finishes can create incredible water colors that change throughout the day.
In full Florida sunlight, a darker finish may produce rich blue, turquoise or blue green water.
When clouds pass overhead or shadows move across the pool, the same water can suddenly look deeper and more dramatic.
Pair that with a bright white or soft gray deck and the contrast can be stunning.
Dark interiors also work beautifully with:
Glass waterline tile
Raised spas
Wide sunshelves
Beach style entries
Natural stone
Marble decking
Waterfalls
Fire features
Tropical landscaping
Architectural LED lighting
Want to understand how different finishes affect both appearance and investment?
Read our guide to pool finish costs, marble, travertine and interior selections.
You can also compare plaster, quartz and pebble pool finishes.
Never Underestimate the Sunshelf
A great sunshelf can become one of the most frequently used areas of the entire pool.
It can be a place for:
In water loungers
Young children to enjoy shallow water
Bubblers
Umbrellas
Sitting with your feet in the water
Relaxing without fully entering the pool
And visually, a beautifully proportioned sunshelf can make a custom pool feel significantly more sophisticated.
Add two or three bubblers and suddenly the entrance becomes a feature instead of simply a way into the pool.
The same principle applies to steps.
Instead of treating pool entry as an afterthought, wide steps, floating steps, beach style transitions and integrated benches can become part of the architecture.
And Then There Is the Spa...
Florida may be known for warm weather, but a spa completely changes how often you can enjoy your outdoor space.
Imagine a cooler December evening.
The pool lights are on.
The spa is heated.
The backyard is quiet.
And you are sitting outside wondering why you did not build it sooner.
A spa can also become one of the strongest visual elements in a pool design.
Depending on the architecture, we can explore concepts such as:
Raised spas
Infinity edge spas
Negative edge spillways
Fully tiled spa walls
Glass tile
Coordinating dark interiors
Wide spillovers
Integrated seating
Architectural lighting
Your designer can help determine which style makes sense for the home rather than simply adding a spa because it is on a feature checklist.
Your dream pool may be closer than it feels. Once construction begins, many custom pool projects can move toward completion in approximately 10 to 16 weeks, depending on design, inspections, weather and site conditions. Start planning now, and the backyard you are imagining today could become the place you are swimming, relaxing and entertaining sooner than you think.
So, How Soon Could You Actually Be Swimming?
This is where dreaming becomes exciting.
Once construction begins, many custom pool projects may take approximately 10 to 16 weeks to move through the major construction phases and toward completion.
That does not include the time required before construction for design, engineering, HOA approval when applicable and permitting.
Every project is different.
Construction duration can be affected by:
Pool size
Design complexity
Site conditions
Property access
Inspections
Weather
Material availability
Screen enclosure schedules
Specialty features
Changes requested during construction
So we never recommend choosing a pool builder based on an unrealistic promise of an exact completion date.
But consider what 10 to 16 weeks actually means.
The pool you are looking at on your phone today could potentially become the place where you are spending weekends only a few months after construction begins.
That makes this Friday inspiration feel a little different.
The Earlier You Start Planning, the Better
Before excavation can happen, there is work happening behind the scenes.
Your project generally moves through:
Design → Selections → Engineering → Permitting → Scheduling → Excavation → Construction → Startup
That is why homeowners hoping to swim by a particular season should not wait until that season arrives to contact a builder.
Planning early gives your design and permitting team more flexibility.
For Longboat Key projects, for example, the Town maintains its own Building Division and swimming pool permitting requirements.
Helpful local resources include:
Longboat Key Building Division
Longboat Key Swimming Pool and Spa Permit Checklist
For Sarasota area homeowners, you can also review:
Sarasota County Permits, Licenses and Taxes
These resources are provided for homeowners who want to better understand the process. Chosen Pool and Spa coordinates the pool specific engineering and permitting process for our contracted projects.
What Could We Create in Your Backyard?
This is the question we want you thinking about this Friday.
Not:
“Should I build the same pool I saw somewhere else?”
Instead:
What could we create specifically for your home?
Maybe it is a dramatic dark aqua pool surrounded by cool gray stone.
Maybe it is a modern white marble backyard with sapphire blue water.
Maybe it is a beach entrance that slowly disappears into a deep blue pool.
Maybe it is a raised spa with a sheet of water spilling into the pool below.
Maybe it is a sunshelf with bubblers where you spend every Sunday morning with coffee.
Maybe it is fire reflecting across the water after sunset.
Or maybe you have an idea we have not designed yet.
That is even better.
From Inspiration to Your Own Custom Pool
Chosen Pool and Spa designs and builds custom swimming pools throughout Sarasota, Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Lakewood Ranch, Bird Key, Lido Key, Casey Key, Osprey, Nokomis, Venice, Bradenton, North Port and surrounding Southwest Florida communities.
Our goal is not simply to put a pool in your backyard.
We want to create the backyard that makes you want to stay home on Friday night.
The one your family gathers around.
The one people remember when they visit.
The one that feels unmistakably yours.
Ready to Start Dreaming?
Explore our Custom Pool Construction process.
Browse Pool Materials and Finishes.
Review our Pool Pricing and Frequently Asked Questions.
Explore Pool Financing Options.
Visit the Chosen Backyard Journal for more pool inspiration and homeowner resources.
Or take the first step and schedule your complimentary custom pool design consultation.
Your Friday inspiration could become your favorite place to spend every Friday.
Chosen Pool and Spa
Call or Text: 813.505.4120
Florida Pool Contractor License CPC1461551
The builder you can rely on.
