This Romantic Courtyard Garden Renovation Might Be the Ultimate Space to Spend Time Outdoors — It's Warm, Enclosed, and Layered "Without Being Precious"

Nothing says summer quite like a spot of al fresco dining. As soon as the sun emerges from retirement, I'm straight out to my garden. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner — you can find me dining outdoors, trying to make the most of every last drop of sunshine. And I can't think of anywhere I'd rather tuck into a meal than in this Californian fairy-tale, bistro-inspired garden kitchen, set against the backdrop of Mount Tamalpais.

Now, as much as I've been loving the growing trend of outdoor kitchens, I think it's fair to say that the majority of them follow the same guidelines. Typically, these spaces are designed to be as sleek and modern as possible, with sharp lines and cool, hard materials. This isn't to say they don't look great, because they do, but that isn't everyone's style. I'd been waiting ever so patiently to see some shifts in the way we design outdoor kitchens, and finally, at long last, the time has come.

This delightful, paved courtyard garden is home to the most charming, elegant outdoor kitchen I've laid my eyes on. Designed by Imparfait Design Studio's Rebekah Zaveloff, this setup is a far cry from the slick industrial kitchens you've seen before. It's quaint, cozy, and inviting — like a Parisian bistro kitchen in your backyard — and she's explained exactly how she got the look.

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The Vision

In this Victorian-era home, set against the backdrop of Mount Tamalpais, old-school charm and family-forward functionality went hand in hand. Rebekah's clients, a family of six, wanted to find a way to honor the home's history while ensuring it met the needs of their growing family. Inside this period property, the space is filled with beautiful crown molding, arched doorways, and a light, breezy color scheme — and it was important that the same design approach was continued in the backyard.

The family wanted "to make it feel like a seamless extension of the interior — a continuous indoor-outdoor space," explains Rebekah. A request many of us are familiar with, considering the ever-increasing rise in indoor-outdoor living.

Beyond this, much of the brief came from a practical standpoint. "They knew they wanted a small kitchen and grill area, a fireplace, a pergola, and a fountain to drown out road noise," says Rebekah.

With these features in mind, the foundation for the design was laid; what came next was bringing these individual puzzle pieces together and creating a unified whole.

Although much of the home's design draws inspiration from the more traditional, British Victorian style, in the garden, Rebekah opted for something slightly more romantic, looking across other visual cultures for her inspiration. Ultimately, she says, "I fell in love with the idea of making it feel like a courtyard you might find in Moroccan architecture." Known for their unique, striking architecture, earthy color palettes, and inclusion of water features, the Moroccan inspiration provided a natural starting point.

The architecture and positioning of the space had an equally significant impact on the final design, though. With the dramatic peaks of Mount Tamalpais right in their backyard, it only made sense to incorporate the structure into the design. "Since it was an L-shaped addition, we used Mt. Tam as one "wall" and the neighbor's fence as another," explains Rebekah.

The Process

But while the mountain setting eventually became a core facet of the design, when the family first moved into the home, there wasn't quite so clear a harmony. In fact, before the renovation, Rebekah claims, "It wasn't really a garden — more of a hillside. The transformation was significant." Some heavy structural changes were made to turn it from an offshoot of the mountain into the modern garden it is today.

And although the final design looks so natural in its layout, it was not always meant to be this way. "The architect had done some early schematic plans with the pergola on the opposite side of the patio. We flipped that first, then started working through furniture plans," she explains.

The pergola structure in itself did not find its final form in the early stages, either, as Rebekah describes spending weeks searching for the perfect finish: "I looked at dozens of images trying to get it to have just the right amount of charm without tipping into something too precious or over-styled." Eventually, landing on a simple slatted, white structure, it provides just the right amount of cover and privacy, without ever blocking the light or boxing in the courtyard.

The overhead structure introduces some coziness to the design, something Rebekah picked up from the Moroccan courtyards she drew inspiration from. "The Moroccan courtyard garden idea was the throughline — that sense of enclosure, warmth, and layered detail without being precious about it," she says. It was important that the space didn't appear overly stylized or unnatural.

The Design

The garden, in many ways, is a design of two halves. On one side, the kitchen, where a grill and prep area lead onto a large, bistro-style table with Parisian woven chairs and a charming pendant lantern hanging overhead. To the right of this outdoor dining setup is an equally stylish outdoor living room. With a large, brick fireplace at the back, and an understated water feature to the side, this seating area makes for the perfect post-dinner spot.

The pergola ends as the outdoor seating area begins, creating a natural distinction between the two spaces. To further this delineation, Rebekah used the sofa as a partition wall, despite it going against her ingrained design rules. As she explains, "It's actually considered a design no-no to look at the back of a sofa — so I worked with that instinct to naturally define the two zones."

Although there is a clear zoning of the space, there are also plenty of consistencies running across the zones, keeping it harmonious. Chief among them are the beautiful, black and white outdoor tiles, covering the courtyard floor. The subtle, patterned tiles bring a greater sense of artistry and embellishment to the space and help to exaggerate this indoor-outdoor design style.

These tiles, and the color palette more widely, aren't just consistent across the outside area but throughout the entire home. "Most of the interior is white; the exterior is cream and white — a black and white palette never goes out of style," notes Rebekah..

Get The Look

If you love the romantic, Parisian feel of this garden, then you'll love these London bistro interiors that make rooms feel more intimate.

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