Perhaps the history of arranging this summer cottage will help you to make a beautiful design of a summer cottage with your own hands. This story began several years ago, when an old house outside the city was bought. And during this time in the country they set up a garden and made a cellar, built a large gazebo and a small shed near the house, renovated the bathhouse, made a pond with a waterfall, put a gazebo with barbecue and much more. If you are still with us, then let's get started!
The general design of the suburban area was thought out and drawn a couple of years ago. Over time, small changes and additions were made there, but in general, for five years it remained the same. Setting up a vegetable garden and building a greenhouse did not cause much trouble.
The most ambitious work on the arrangement of the site was planned to create a pond with a waterfall on the back of the house.
Making a pond with a waterfall
Initially, the shape of the pond and the planting and buildings next to it were drawn on paper. When the dimensions were selected, consumables for the pond were ordered: geotextile, airtight liner, pump, drain pipes, filters and skimmers. Zones on the ground were marked with rope and paint. It was originally planned to dig the pond bowl with a mini-excavator, but there was so much debris in the ground - on the right in the photo that the foundation pit had to be dug by hand. Excavation of land was also done at the location of the waterfall and the stream from it to the pond. The fertile layer of the dug earth was distributed among the flower beds.
After the pit was ready, it was necessary to level the walls of the bowl, removing everything that could damage the waterproofing film - stones, roots, etc. After that, the walls of the bowl were tamped with a mixture of sand and clay and geotextiles were laid, which would protect us from the emergence of new roots on the walls of the bowl.
The waterproofing film was laid out on a sunny day in the sun, and after it warmed up and became more elastic, a pit was covered with it with an overlap of 50 cm along the edges. The edges of the film were fixed with stones and soil. They began to fill the pond, trying to prevent air bubbles from forming under the film.
A stream followed the pond. The creek bed is of different depths for a more interesting effect. The stream itself flows from the waterfall to the pond. The order of work is the same as with a pond: we form a channel, remove stones, roots, ram, line geotextiles, from above with an overlap along the edges of the hydro-film.
The waterfall is made in such a way that water overflows from the upper bowl to the lower one, and then goes into the stream. The stone masonry on the waterfall itself was made dry - its stability provides a small angle of inclination inward.
After the whole complex of works, when the water began to flow in the right direction, they began to shape the stream bed and the pond bank with stones. Next to the waterfall, on one side, a platform was made with supporting walls for a gazebo with a barbecue, and on the other side of the waterfall, there was a small cozy meadow on the shore of the pond.
View of the house from the side of the waterfall.
In order to combine the design of the summer cottage, small decorative bridges were thrown across the stream, paths along the pond were paved with stones.
To create a more private atmosphere, a decorative fence was built on the side of the neighboring fence, which for years has been almost entirely covered with curly flowers.
Gazebo with barbecue
A gazebo with barbecue was planned next to the waterfall - this is a beautiful place with a view of the pond and the murmur of a stream, perhaps the most comfortable in the garden.
A foundation of cinder blocks was erected under the gazebo.
We installed the gazebo on the foundation. Now she is giving the finishing touch to this corner of the garden!
What's inside the gazebo with barbecue.
Gazebo next to the house
At the exit from the back of the house there is a small terrace with a large covered gazebo.
Here you can get together in a fairly large company. And now from the windows of the gazebo there is a great view of the pond.
For heating in cold weather, a UV heater is built into the roof of the gazebo.
Next to the gazebo there is a terrace paved with paving slabs.
On the other (south) side of the house is a small wooden shed with a polycarbonate roof.
We are planning a garden and a cellar
The design of the suburban area is made in such a way that there is a recreation area near the house, and the vegetable garden and cellar are a little away from the house - through the lawn and the green hedge from the kut.
In the garden there are ordinary beds, fenced with wooden logs and using black agrofilm for protection from weeds and faster warming up.
A small greenhouse was made of plastic pipes in the garden, next to it is a garden table for working with seedlings and other garden concerns.
And, of course, the cellar - where without it in the country.
Bath in the country
The old bathhouse at the dacha has already completely fallen into disrepair, so one year was devoted to its renovation.
The old stove was dismantled, a new one was built, the walls were insulated and the roof was blocked.
This is all that we managed in one year, but the bath could already be fully used.
The next year, a small terrace was added to the bathhouse.
And she became another favorite place in the country.
The bathhouse is always popular not only among the owners, but also very much to the liking and friends.
Using this beautiful summer cottage as an example, we see that a good design of a summer cottage implies not only technical techniques and a creative approach, but also an understanding that to implement our plans we will need patience, calculation, hard work and the ability to enjoy what we already have. What you read in a couple of minutes has been under construction for more than five years - after all, we see only an amazing result of the diligence and perseverance of the owners of this dacha.
Agree that this design of a summer cottage really looks like a fairy tale!
