home design trends

Here are the hottest outdoor design trends for Dallas homes right now

A new Houzz home design trends study is revealing all the inspiration Dallasites need to spruce up their outdoor spaces for their summer gatherings, and the No. 1 priority is transforming backyards into comfortable lounging areas.

The 2026 Outdoor Trends Study surveyed nearly 1,200 U.S. homeowners to learn about their recent or planned outdoor or home exterior projects.

Owners are increasingly interested in making their outdoor spaces more accommodating, instead of being motivated by boosting their home's resale value. That means ditching the curb appeal and focusing on turning their yards into the ultimate relaxation zones and gathering spaces.

The survey determined homeowners' top outdoor renovation goals include improving aesthetics (53 percent), enhancing entertaining spaces (34 percent), and extending the living space of the home (32 percent).

Overall, homeowners are taking on exterior renovations to repair elements, and because they finally have the means.

Outdoor kitchens, structural upgrades, and other features
Several ways that homeowners are elevating their outdoor spaces are through deck installation, adding shade structures for extra hot summer days, updating open and screened-in porches or verandas, and building an outdoor kitchen for gatherings and cookouts, and adding al fresco dining areas.

Nearly all renovating homeowners (95 percent) that are undertaking an outdoor kitchen project are building them from scratch, Houzz found, while infrastructure upgrades are a high priority among existing kitchens.

Outdoor kitchen, Houzz 2026 Outdoor Trends Study Building an outdoor kitchen will make your place the summer house party hotspot.Courtesy of HomeTech Construction & Design

Exterior renovation, Houzz 2026 Outdoor Trends Study

Photo by Matthew Niemann Photography / Haven Design and Construction

Black painted trim is the most popular color choice for renovating homeowners.

"The share of renovating homeowners installing a plumbing, electrical or heating system [in an outdoor kitchen] has risen by 10 percentage points, to 68 percent, while the share opting to install appliances has risen by 6 percentage points, to 61 percent, compared with 2024," the report said.

Homeowners are also extending their living areas outside by upgrading or adding outdoor furniture like sofas, lounge chairs, coffee tables, a fireplace or fire pit, and upgrading lighting and adding entertainment features. More than half of survey respondents said they are creating dedicated reading areas and choosing comfortable furniture pieces to bring their "quiet retreat" vision to life.

Shockingly, the share of homeowners that are focusing on water features has decreased, suggesting that owners are not interested in the costly upkeep of a swimming pool or hot tub.

"Swimming pool projects have dropped by 3 percentage points to reach 7 percent, while hot tub projects (9 percent) and outdoor
shower projects (3 percent) both have dipped by 1 percentage point compared with 2024," the report said.

Low-maintenance plants top growing greenery upgrades
Drought resistant plants are non-negotiable for Texas households, and Houzz said more homeowners are prioritizing resilient native plants, shrubs, and trees in their yards. Flower beds and borders come in second place on the priority list, followed by upgrading garden paths, stairs, and adding planters or planter boxes.

The Native Plant Society of Texas has a list of 10 drought tolerant native plants that Dallas residents can plant in their yards, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center also has its own guide for choosing the right drought resistant plants for your environment.

Native plants and greenery, Houzz 2026 Outdoor Trends Study Fleas and ticks haven't seen a yard this nice.Courtesy of David Morello Garden Enterprises, Inc.

In another surprising turn of events, Houzz found homeowners are showing less interest in maintaining a natural lawn and are instead choosing "low maintenance and durable alternatives," such as synthetic lawns or hardscaping.

"And while more than a third of homeowners are actively shrinking grassy areas — 18 percent are reducing and 17 percent are removing their lawn — the former share has declined by 5 percentage points, and 23 percent of renovating homeowners are actually expanding the lawn," the report said.

Home exterior projects
When it comes to a facade refresh, stark white exterior house paint is falling off trend, while beige is skyrocketing in popularity. Homeowners tackling repainting as their major exterior renovation project are also showing a greater preference for green, black, brown, and blue exterior wall colors.

To accentuate their newly beige exterior walls, homeowners are choosing black or white paint for their trim, beams, columns, and other exterior accents.

The report also found that 51 percent of all exterior renovation projects include some type of roofing work — namely a full roof replacement, followed by adding new roofing or repairing and patching existing areas. Over half of all renovating homeowners (56 percent) are opting for full window and skylight replacements rather than partial or temporary fixes, and 37 percent of renovating homeowners are adding windows or skylights into their homes.

home design houzz outdoor decor summer

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

Southern Living unveils inspirational Idea House in Texas Hill Country

Photo courtesy of Laurey Glenn/Southern Living

The 4,000-square-foot Idea House in Frieden, a development in Fredericksburg, combines stone, brown siding, and a metal roof.

The 2026 Southern Living Idea House opened for public tours on September 18 in Fredericksburg, bringing the magazine's long-running showcase-home series to the Hill Country.

The 4,000-square-foot house is in Friedën, a planned community about three miles from downtown Fredericksburg. The development is expected to include roughly 230 to 250 custom single-family homes when complete, along with commercial space, retail, offices, multifamily housing, trails, lakes, and green space.

The Idea House program is part model home, part design experiment, and part brand statement for Southern Living. For more than 35 years, the magazine has worked with builders, architects, designers, and landscapers to create homes in different parts of the South, usually pairing regional references with current home-design trends. Past projects have included homes in Nashville, Louisiana, Georgia, coastal Texas, and the Carolinas.

$Southern Living Idea House 2026\u200b$ This room really plays with textures, including an abstract art piece that looks a little like crushed velvet.Photo courtesy of Laurey Glenn/Southern Living

Texas last hosted a Southern Living Idea House in 2018, when the magazine renovated a 1980s fixer-upper in Austin's Northwest Hills. That project leaned on local architecture and design talent to turn an older house into a more open, family-oriented home.

This year's Fredericksburg project is a new-build contemporary farmhouse. The exterior mixes limestone, brown siding, and a dark metal roof, with separate wings arranged around a broad drive. The home also has floor-to-ceiling windows, multiple porches, and a backyard fire pit, which are meant to connect the interiors to the surrounding Hill Country setting.

The design team included a secondary private casita, a feature Southern Living says was intended as a nod to Fredericksburg's historic Sunday houses. Those small in-town homes, traditionally near churches, were once used by German settlers who had to travel long distances into Fredericksburg on weekends for church, shopping, and social visits.

$Southern Living Idea House 2026\u200b$ Dark wood cabinetry and brass hardware frame the kitchen’s veined stone backsplash and large island.Photo courtesy of Laurey Glenn/Southern Living

The interiors were split among three Texas designers: Jean Liu of Dallas, Marcus Mohon of Austin, and Paloma Contreras of Houston. The broader team includes builders Melanie Sparks and Chris McGinley of Kurk Homes, architect Andrew Bray of Mustard Architects in Fredericksburg, and landscape designer Melissa Gerstle of Dallas.

The kitchen uses dark wood cabinetry, brass hardware, pale pendant lights, and a heavily veined stone backsplash. It is more formal than a typical farmhouse kitchen, but the long island and six counter stools keep it oriented around gathering rather than display.

One bedroom takes a more traditional approach, with a four-poster bed, exposed wood beams, and green scenic wallcovering wrapped around the room. A matching green chair near the window and a pale patterned rug keep the palette tied together without making the room monochromatic.

$Southern Living Idea House 2026\u200b$ Green scenic wallcovering surrounds a four-poster bed beneath exposed wood beams.Photo courtesy of Laurey Glenn/Southern Living

Southern Living editor-in-chief Sid Evans said in the release that the house was designed to take cues from the Hill Country landscape while showing "a home that's as warm and welcoming as it is stylish and innovative."

Public tours run through December 20 at 518 Interlaken St. Tours are scheduled Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm and Sundays from noon to 5 pm. Tickets are $44, with part of the proceeds benefiting Operation Finally Home, the Hunt Preservation Society, and the Gillespie County Historical Society/Pioneer & Vereins Kirche Museums.

$Southern Living Idea House 2026\u200b$ Look out for this cover on newsstands to pick up a copy and learn more about the home.Photo courtesy of Laurey Glenn/Southern Living

Southern Living is also scheduling several event weekends during the tour run, including Volvo test-drive weekends and a Holiday Classics event from December 4-6.

home design design inspiration interior design southern living fredericksburg hill country