Hardscaping & Custom Hardscape Design in the Quad Cities

Build More Into Your Outdoor Space

Beautiful landscaping brings color and life to a property. Hardscaping gives that landscape structure, function and places to enjoy it.

At Outdoor Innovations, we design and install custom hardscapes for homeowners and businesses throughout the Quad Cities and surrounding communities. From a new walkway or retaining wall to a custom patio or complete outdoor living environment, our hardscape designs are created around your property, your style and how you want to use your outdoor space.

With over 30 years of landscape design and construction experience, we understand that successful hardscaping is about much more than choosing attractive materials. Layout, scale, function, drainage, surrounding landscaping and future plans all play a role in creating a finished space that feels like a natural extension of your property.

What Is Hardscaping?

Hardscaping refers to the non-living, built elements incorporated into your landscape and outdoor living areas.

Depending on your property and project, hardscaping can include:

• Custom patios
• Paver patios and walkways
• Natural stone features
• Retaining and landscape walls
• Seat walls
• Steps
• Driveway pavers
• Outdoor kitchen areas
• Fire feature surrounds
• Pool-area hardscaping
• Paths and transitions between outdoor spaces
• Hardscape features integrated with landscaping

Hardscaping can solve practical needs, create gathering spaces and add architectural interest to a property—all while helping different areas of your landscape work together.

Hardscaping Projects Large & Small

Not every hardscaping project has to involve a complete backyard transformation.

A new walkway can create a more inviting entrance to your home. A retaining or landscape wall can define different elevations and planting areas. A patio can provide a comfortable place for dining, relaxing and entertaining.

For homeowners looking for more, hardscaping can also become the foundation of a complete outdoor living space incorporating an outdoor kitchen, fire feature, pergola, landscape lighting, water feature or surrounding landscaping.

Whether you’re improving one part of your property or reimagining the entire backyard, thoughtful design helps ensure today’s project works with what you already have—and what you may want to add later.

Custom Patios & Outdoor Living Areas

A patio can become one of the most-used spaces outside your home.

Outdoor Innovations designs custom patios around how you want to live outdoors. That might mean a comfortable seating area for two, room for family dinners, space for entertaining friends or a larger outdoor living area with multiple destinations.

Material, shape, size, traffic flow and surrounding features all matter.

Depending on your design preferences, hardscape materials can include manufactured concrete pavers and natural stone in a variety of styles, patterns and colors. The goal is to select materials and a design that complement your home and surrounding landscape while providing the function you need.

Paver Walkways & Paths

A walkway does more than get you from one place to another.

The right walkway can create a welcoming entrance, connect outdoor living areas, guide movement through the landscape and add another layer of detail to your property’s overall design.

Custom pavers allow us to coordinate patterns, colors, borders and materials with your home’s architecture and other hardscape features.

Whether it’s a front entry walk or a pathway connecting spaces in the backyard, we can make the journey part of the design.

Retaining Walls, Landscape Walls & Seat Walls

Walls can be both functional and beautiful.

Depending on the property and design, retaining and landscape walls can help define different areas, work with changes in elevation, create planting tiers or provide attractive transitions throughout a landscape.

Seat walls can add another dimension by providing built-in seating around patios, fire features and gathering areas without requiring additional outdoor furniture.

Rather than treating walls as isolated structures, we look at how they fit into the larger landscape and hardscape design.

Hardscaping Around Pools

The area surrounding a pool plays an important role in how the entire backyard looks and functions.

Thoughtful pool-area hardscaping can help establish spaces for walking, lounging, dining and entertaining while visually connecting the pool with the rest of the property.

Outdoor Innovations can coordinate poolscaping and hardscaping with landscaping, outdoor kitchens, fire features, pavilions, lighting and other outdoor elements to create a cohesive environment rather than a pool that feels separate from the rest of the yard.

Hardscaping for Outdoor Kitchens & Fire Features

Some of the most memorable outdoor spaces are built around gathering.

A custom hardscape can provide the foundation and surrounding space for an outdoor kitchen, grilling area, fire pit or outdoor fireplace.

By considering these features during the design process, we can plan for seating, movement, dining and surrounding landscaping so the finished area looks intentional and functions comfortably when family and friends gather.

Hardscaping & Landscaping Work Better Together

Hardscaping and landscaping shouldn’t compete with each other.

Stone and pavers provide structure and definition, while trees, shrubs, grasses and flowering plants soften those materials and bring color, texture and seasonal interest into the space.

Because Outdoor Innovations provides both landscape design and hardscape design, we can consider these elements together.

A patio can transition naturally into planting beds. Landscaping can soften a retaining wall. Plants can provide privacy around an outdoor living area. Lighting can highlight stonework and improve usability after sunset.

It’s the relationship between these elements that can turn a collection of individual features into a finished outdoor environment.

Start With a Thoughtful Hardscape Design

Before choosing a paver or deciding exactly where a patio should go, it helps to step back and consider the property as a whole.

Our design process considers factors such as:

• How you want to use the space
• Your home’s architecture and style
• Existing landscaping and hardscaping
• Available space and property layout
• Traffic patterns and connections between areas
• Changes in elevation
• Material and color preferences
• Maintenance considerations
• Your budget
• Features you may want to add in the future

Outdoor Innovations also uses 3-D design technology to help homeowners visualize proposed outdoor spaces before construction begins. Seeing the design can make it easier to understand scale, layout and how different features will work together before final decisions are made.

Planning for Today—and Tomorrow

You don’t necessarily need to complete your entire outdoor wish list at once.

If you know you eventually want a patio, outdoor kitchen, fire feature or pergola, planning those possibilities from the beginning can help today’s hardscape project fit into a larger vision.

A comprehensive design can also make it possible to complete improvements in phases while maintaining a consistent look and functional layout.

That means the patio you build today doesn’t have to stand in the way of the outdoor kitchen you want tomorrow.

Why Choose Outdoor Innovations for Hardscaping?

For more than 30 years, Outdoor Innovations has helped homeowners and businesses throughout the Quad Cities create distinctive outdoor spaces.

Our experience extends beyond installing pavers or building walls. We provide landscape design, hardscaping and outdoor living services, allowing us to look at how individual features fit into the property as a whole.

We take time to understand your ideas, needs and long-term goals before developing a design.

Whether your project involves a single hardscape improvement or a complete outdoor transformation, our goal is to create a space that feels like it was designed specifically for your property and the way you want to enjoy it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hardscaping

What is the difference between landscaping and hardscaping?

Landscaping generally refers to living elements such as trees, shrubs, grasses and other plantings. Hardscaping refers to built elements such as patios, walkways, walls and other stone or paver features. The two are often most effective when designed together as part of a cohesive outdoor plan.

What materials can be used for hardscaping?

Outdoor Innovations works with a variety of hardscape materials, including manufactured concrete pavers and natural stone. The right material depends on your desired appearance, the application, surrounding architecture and overall project design.

Can you design a custom paver patio?

Yes. Outdoor Innovations designs custom patios based on the property, available space, desired materials and how the homeowner plans to use the area. Patios can range from simple gathering spaces to larger outdoor living environments incorporating kitchens, fire features, shade structures and landscaping.

Can hardscaping be added to my existing landscape?

Yes. A hardscape project doesn’t necessarily require redesigning your entire property. Patios, walkways, walls and other features can often be incorporated into an existing landscape with careful planning.

Can I complete my hardscaping project in phases?

Yes. Creating an overall plan first can allow larger outdoor projects to be completed in stages while helping each phase work with the long-term design.

Can you combine hardscaping with landscaping?

Yes. Outdoor Innovations provides both hardscape and landscape design, making it possible to coordinate pavers, stonework and walls with plantings and other landscape elements for a more cohesive finished space.

Can you show me what my hardscaping project will look like before construction?

Outdoor Innovations uses advanced 3-D design technology that can help you visualize the layout and features of your proposed outdoor space before construction begins.

What areas do you serve?

Outdoor Innovations serves the Quad Cities and surrounding areas, including Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island, Illinois. Contact us to determine whether your property is within our service area.

Let’s Build an Outdoor Space You’ll Actually Use

Your hardscape should do more than fill space in your yard.

It should create places to walk, gather, cook, relax and enjoy being outdoors.

Whether you’re considering a walkway, retaining wall, custom patio or complete outdoor living environment, Outdoor Innovations can help you develop a design that works with your home, landscape and long-term plans.

Let’s turn your ideas into an outdoor space designed around the way you live.

Contact Outdoor Innovations today to start planning your hardscaping project in the Quad Cities and surrounding area.