How to style your swimming pool in the new year

A new year brings a desire to make changes and upgrades. During this last year, there has been a trend of home owners wishing to upgrade their properties, as spending time at home is valued more highly than ever before. 

With the unbeatable Costa del Sol climate, swimming pools are an essential part of the home, and our special weather means that they can be enjoyed year-round. Swimming pools are a hugely important area, whether a property is being built from the beginning or the home is undergoing a renovation. In the development of the home, the swimming pool often becomes an axis on which the house and garden evolve.

 

Evolution of the design

Pool design has evolved greatly. In recent years the changes have accelerated, and all parts of the pool have developed, from the tiles, lighting, heating, technology and shape. This evolution has allowed for every pool to be customised completely to the home owner’s taste.

Traditionally the pool used to be either a kidney shape or rectangular. Now, with new trends, tastes and available technology, pools are being designed and built in all kinds of amazing shapes and sizes. Only your imagination can set the limits.

The double height effect can also be played with. Typical skimmer pools, where the water level is below the terrace or garden, to designs that lead to the water surface blending with the environment, the sea or the clouds, thanks to an “infinity” design. One of the most spectacular is the “glass infinity”, creating a wall of water and a certain wow factor.

 

Choose the water wisely

The conventional use of chlorine to clean the water is in decline. More people are seeking healthier and more ecological water, minimising the need to add chemicals.

With saltwater pools, it is far easier to add disinfection systems which use electrolysis, hydrolysis, UV rays and advanced solutions such as Cu-Ag ionization. The advantages include,

  • Economically beneficial and easy to install, even if the pool is already built.
  • Prevents the health effects, from the itching of eyes and skin to the green tinge chlorine can give to blonde hair. With saltwater, these effects are gone.
  • The protection of the fabric of bathing suites and saltwater also favours tanning!
  • Requires minimal maintenance of the pool.

  

Light it up

To truly enjoy the Andalusian climate and swim all day and all night, lighting can be added to create a special effect unique to the pool. To save money and be more sustainably minded, LED lights are most commonly used, with the installation of hidden perimeter stripes under the edge to define the shape of the pool with an incredible light and with little consumption of energy.

Even white light is no longer the only option, RGD lights can illuminate the pool with colours and even change to the rhythm of music. A “starry sky” effect can also be achieved, via optical fibres spread across the bottom of the pool, as seen in the interiors of the Rolls Royce.

 

The right cover

As with the salt water systems, most of the swimming pools already made can have a heating system and a cover added to enjoy the wonderful pool all year around. There are even some covers designed to allow the walking of pets to allow peace of mind. More and more property owners are installing a cover to the pool, since it also reduces the maintenance work.

 

Control with technology

Technology has made so many things possible and it is only natural that the power of our smart phones and home automation can control the swimming pool too.

Little by little, more and more aspects can be controlled from a device and where ever you are in the world, the hours of filtration, the lighting and even to check the chemical values of the water can be controlled with a few clicks on an app.

 

The finishing factor

Long gone are the dark blue tiles, the dolphins at the bottom and the Greek style border, swimming pool tiles have been revolutionised. While the traditional mosaic tile is still in use, the sizes, colours, textures and shapes are unlimited. From the crystal white coloured tiles which give the water a spectacular turquoise colour, to the dark tiled, dark grouting lagoon style pools, just about anything is possible and when perfectly integrated with the design of the home and garden, the result is truly stunning.

Large porcelain tiles are also in trend, and these provide the perfect situation for a shallower platform to be added to the design, to create a good area for children to play and to add loungers. This trend is causing pools to lean more towards the straight lined and right-angled designs, since using these large tiles make it impossible to create a curved shape.