Retaining walls can play a major role in the landscape design of many homes and commercial spaces. Whether they have been used as feature walls or to help create livable spaces such as fireplaces or built-in seating walls, they are a design feature that should work well with the other hardscape features in the same area to blend seamlessly into the space. Some careful planning before you begin your project, and working with a landscape professional, will help to ensure that you end up with a space that you will be proud of, and excited to share with your family and friends.
When designing your space, it is important to pay careful consideration to your stone choices, as picking products that match or compliment one another will help to bring harmony to your outdoor living spaces. Much like when you design the interior of your home by selecting the paint colour and flooring, when you are planning your outdoor space you want to take the same time and effort picking your vertical and horizontal hardscape elements to create a space that feels complete and cozy.
Complimentary vs Contrasting
One of the things to consider when you are deciding on the retaining walls you will use to finish your space is to determine the design style you want. Do you like a complimentary look? That being stonework that matches one another such as the retaining wall and pavers to be a matching or similar material. Or do you prefer a contrasting look? Where the stonework is opposite in colour or texture and while they work together they have contrasting qualities.
Creating a Classic Look in Burlington, ON
When working with retaining walls that have a more natural look, such as Unilock’s RiverCrest Wall, there are many excellent choices of pavers to choose from. Bristol Valley is a paver that has a nice textured surface that is a nice substitute for natural stone. Available in a range of colours that compliment the choices for RiverCrest, it is a great choice for many residential applications.
The NorthShore Paver also from Unilock is another option that offers a natural look with exceptional performance. With its 3.25” thickness it is excellent for use for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic meaning that it can be used for both your walkways and patios as well as your driveway, and it will compliment your RiverCrest retaining wall with its vast colour options.
Contemporary Lines
Contemporary lines are very popular with both retaining walls and concrete pavers for many Burlington, ON homeowners today. The Lineo Dimensional Stone from Unilock is a retaining wall system that offers a great contemporary look that can be easily complimented using one of the many pavers available from Unilock. The Senzo Paver from Unilock offers clean contemporary lines with an excellent range of colour blends making it a great choice to pair with the Lineo Dimensional Wall. The Senzo Paver is also stain and slip resistant making it a good selection when working with pool decks and driveways.
Richcliff is another paver from Unilock that offers a modern look while still maintaining an elegant touch. To ensure the Richcliff paver has a realistic look it has been cast from a mould created by using hundreds of natural stones thus giving it an appearance that rivals natural stone installation in appearance and durability. Richcliff will compliment many of the Unilock retaining wall systems from Lineo to Brussels Block, it is very universal and works well for almost any outdoor application.
If you are stuck for inspiration, look inside your home and think about bringing your indoors look outdoors. While you don’t need to replicate exactly the look you have done inside, you can continue the same feel into your outdoor spaces.
Be sure to visit the Unilock Design Ideas Catalog page here for lush photos sure to inspire.
