5 Design Trends Defining Luxury Outdoor Living Spaces Across the Southeast
In the Southeast, outdoor living has quietly shifted from a seasonal perk to a year-round expectation. From wooded Tennessee properties to breezy Florida retreats, homeowners are rethinking how their outdoor spaces work—designing environments that feel just as inviting in the fall and winter as they do at the height of summer.
Luxury pool and outdoor living builders across the region are responding to this shift with spaces that are more thoughtful, more flexible, and more connected to the way people actually live. The most compelling projects aren’t about scale or spectacle. They’re about intention—how a space flows, how it adapts to changing weather, and how effortlessly it fits into everyday life.
Here are five design trends continuing to define year-round outdoor living in the Southeastern United States, each brought to life by a standout custom builder.
1. Adaptive Pool and Outdoor Living Spaces That Extend the Season
For years, pools in the Southeast were designed with summer in mind. That’s no longer the case. Today’s custom pools are built to stay active well beyond warm weather, incorporating discreet heating systems, integrated spas, sun shelves, and architectural elements that help shield spaces from wind and cooler temperatures.
Watermark Pools & Outdoor Living has been at the forefront of this movement, creating outdoor environments that feel just as intentional in October as they do in July. Their designs strike a careful balance—clean-lined pools paired with fire features, covered seating areas, and material palettes that feel connected to the home’s interior rather than separate from it. The result is outdoor living that feels like a natural extension of the house, not an afterthought.
Watermark also weaves in innovative outdoor technology to make year-round living easier and more intuitive. Automated lighting, pool controls, irrigation, and entertainment systems allow homeowners to adjust their space with minimal effort, whether that means warming the spa on a cool evening or setting the mood for an impromptu gathering. It’s technology that enhances comfort and convenience without ever calling attention to itself.
What ultimately sets Watermark apart is restraint. Instead of overdesigning, they focus on proportion, longevity, and livability to create spaces that evolve with the seasons and feel warm, refined, and quietly luxurious over time.
2. Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Transitions
One of the most enduring design trends moving into 2026 is the continued disappearance of hard boundaries between indoor and outdoor living. Oversized sliding glass walls, retractable screens, and consistent flooring are making it easier than ever for spaces to open up or close off depending on the day.
Custom Pools of Atlanta is known for creating outdoor environments that feel cohesive with their surroundings, like designing a striking geometric pool or a thoughtfully crafted solution for smaller outdoor footprints. Their projects emphasize ease and continuity, allowing patios, pools, and living areas to function comfortably all year, from holiday gatherings to quiet weekday mornings.
The focus here isn’t on drama, but on flow. These are spaces intended to adapt naturally to weather, lifestyle, and daily routines, making outdoor living feel effortless rather than orchestrated.
3. Resort-Inspired Courtyards and Private Retreats
In historic coastal cities like Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA, where architecture and lot size demand a lighter touch, builders are leaning into inward-facing designs that prioritize privacy and calm. Courtyard pools and enclosed outdoor rooms create sheltered environments that feel personal, protected, and deeply relaxing.
Atkinson Pools in Charleston specializes in these intimate retreats. Their designs often center on reflective water, layered landscaping, and comfortable lounge areas that feel reminiscent of a boutique resort while still honoring local materials and traditional proportions.
These spaces are especially well-suited for year-round use, offering shelter and warmth during cooler months but remaining open and airy through the summer.
4. Wellness-First Backyards: Spa Culture Moves Outside
Luxury outdoor living is increasingly being designed around a simple question: How do you want to feel? Across the Southeast, that mindset is shaping backyards that prioritize restoration, relaxation, and daily ritual.
Florida-based Ryan Hughes Design brings this wellness-forward approach to life through custom pools and spas designed as part of fully integrated outdoor estates. Their work often layers water and fire features with cohesive hardscape and landscape design, fashioning environments that feel immersive instead of looking assembled piece by piece.
These are spaces built for lingering. The takeaway is simple: wellness isn’t a single feature; it’s the result of thoughtful design, easy flow, and outdoor spaces that invite you to slow down and stay awhile.
Photo Credit: Affinity Outdoor Living
5. Fire-Forward Outdoor Living Rooms That Make Winter Stylish
Winter isn’t always harsh in the Southeast, but it is moody, and the best outdoor spaces embrace that tendency. Designers and builders are elevating patios into true outdoor living rooms with linear fireplaces, sculptural fire bowls, and fire lounges that generate warmth, light and a natural place for spending quality time with friends and family. It’s less “backyard feature,” more “evening destination.”
Affinity Outdoor Living, serving the Atlanta region, is known for building complete outdoor environments where fire features are part of the architecture. Sophisticated outdoor spaces are paired with thoughtfully planned kitchens, cabanas, and lounge zones that make the space feel finished year-round. The most refined versions of this trend also prioritize functionality: generous seating, layered lighting, and materials that look as good under a soft winter sky as they do in peak summer sun.
Designing for a Lifestyle, Not a Season
This is the new Southern luxury move: designing for December just as much as July, because the best outdoor spaces don’t close for the season. Rather, the most successful luxury outdoor spaces are designed for living, not just viewing, and are based on year-round rhythm and refinement, whether that’s achieved through pools adapted for different seasons or easy indoor-outdoor transitions.
The most successful designs incorporate versatile materials and prioritize comfort and proportion, inviting connection long after temperatures cool. The result is a new standard of Southern luxury: outdoor spaces that feel as intentional, comfortable, and as timeless as the homes they are connected to.
