Having a pool makes it possible to have a holiday in the comfortable atmosphere of your own backyard.
While building a pool can be quite expensive and sometimes a mission impossible because of the size of the yard, there are other options to add this water feature regardless of the budget and the yard specifics.
The budget-friendly pools that seem to displace the standard store sold options are the stock tanks. Those shiny universal farm containers quickly adapt to any decor.
Adding the stock tank to the existing decor doesn’t require any special setup activities. Maintaining it is also within the acceptable limits.
Once you find a flat area in the backyard, you can place it. And to make the pool area comfortable, protected and inviting, get inspired by the best stock tank pool ideas and designs that follow.
1. Backyard Paradise
The backyard, even small, can become a summer oasis. A stock tank turned into a pool, sunbathing lounges, flowers, and summer-themed decorations will turn the patio into a vacation spot.
2. Bamboo-Walled Paradise
If your backyard decor is nature-inspired, cover the stock tank with bamboo and surround it with stones instead of decking.
via Cuckoo 4 Design
3. Below Deck
In case you are just dedicating an area for a stock tank pool, think about making it comfortable by building it in a deck. That can be an extension of the patio or the patio itself.
4. How To DIY Stock Tank Pool
If you need help with installing the stock tank and giving it a new function as a pool, check the tutorial below. You will be amazed at how easy it is to complete this project entirely by yourself.
via Decor Home Ideas
5. California Dreamin’
If you are looking for a more affordable solution to zone the pool area, why not cover the ground with mulch?
That will work especially for backyards where the pool is installed in or next to a garden with plants. Add some flower pots with palms to mimic an exotic landscape and incite relaxation in your own backyard.
via Ivana Scott
6. Cocktail Pool Bar
Are you a party type of person? The stock pool tank could be a great addition to your outdoor entertainment area.
Make sure that there are always cold drinks available.
A small outdoor bar made of repurposed pieces of furniture or a large galvanized bucket will keep the beers at the right temperature.
via Jason Braaten
7. Cool in the Sand
This idea is for people that would like to have a piece of the coast in their own property. The stock tank is dug into the ground to look like a built-in water feature.
The sand layer gives the backyard an exotic vibe. The added deck on both sides of the pool makes sure that people rest in a clean area.
8. Customized Bench
If you don’t have the possibility to build the stock tank in the ground or on the deck, you can still upgrade it by surrounding it with a bench. Some lumber and screws and you will have a sitting area to dip your toes, to read a book or simply to sunbathe.
via Hey Wanderer
9. Customized in-Ground
Dug a hole in the yard and place the stock tank in there. To give it a customized built-in look, surround it entirely or only part of it with a deck or other type of material that allows building up.
The created platform will ensure a special place for enjoying the water feature.
10. DIY Tank Pool With Deck
The deck around the stock tank gives it a total transformation. In addition to that, it creates a dedicated area from the yard where the family can enjoy the sun.
via 73 GMC Square
11. Garden Pool
If you are looking for the best place for your stock tank pool, that can be the garden. The surrounding greenery will enhance the relaxing vibe.
12. Go All Orange
By painting the outer surface of the stock tank, it quickly adjusts to the summer decor of your backyard. The metal surfaces are the easiest for painting and sry fairly quickly.
via Coral Lynn
13. Hidden Plumbing
Regardless of the pool type in your backyard, the need for plumbing is always there. To make the pool area tidy and appealing, make sure that the pipes are well hidden.
The wooden platform will do this job and will also dedicate an area for sitting or lying under the sun.
14. Just Ducky
Make your stock tank pool attractive in the times it is not used. Add plastic and inflatable toys, faux water lilies.
via Dana plus David
15. Kids’ Play
The surrounding deck in this example creates the visual perception for a built-in ground pool.
The pergola above gives shade for kids and pets to be protected from direct sunlight.
via Tio Loco
16. Lounging and Swimming Together
This area is more than a pool area. The basket with towels makes sure that the transition from the pool to the chair is quick and easy.
The small side table is just enough to place a cool drink and enjoy the story of a new book.
via Lisa Martinez
17. Made in the Shade
If you don’t have a pergola and are looking for a quick and affordable shade provider, use an ordinary garden umbrella.
18. Minimalist Spa
Adding a privacy screen to the stock tank pool area will make the atmosphere more intimate and will add shade.
With a screen of this design, you can upgrade its functionality by adding hooks to the laths to dry wet towels.
via Hannah Reesor
19. Natural Setting
The patio is covered with pea gravel and a pathway with flat stones leads the way to the stock tank.
The rest of the yard is left authentic to a maximum extent making sure that nature is part of the family’s life.
20. Neon Dreams
To make the plain stock tank an attractive water feature of your backyard, use the pool-related items as decor.
These colorful floats and toys add a cheerful and vibrant feel to the patio, reminding a vacation spot.
via Lauren Karsten
21. One-Person Pool
This oval stock tank is of a smaller size than the typical one to make the dream for a colling water feature possible even for owners of a tiny yard.
22. Padded Edge
The priority of the owners of this pool tank has been safety. Therefore, they have covered the edge of the metal with orange pool noodles that coordinate with the orange side table and the umbrella.
via Bar 607
23. Paradise in the Deep South
To anchor zones in the backyard, use different ground coverings. For the stock tank pool area, the best surface is the one that easily drains the splashed water and dries quickly.
24. Patio Around Pool
The best way to blend a stock tank pool looks to the existing backyard decor is to give it a built-in look. Surround its bottom with pavers if the spot of the patio you are installing it at is covered with stone.
Build a deck around the entire perimeter or around half of it to create an elevated platform for sunbathing.
via Stock Tank Pool
25. Peeking Cherubs
This stock tank has been placed on a raised platform in the backyard. Instead of building it from lumber, a more affordable and nature-inspired idea came to the creators’ minds. To build it with gravel.
via Rascal Rarities
26. Personalized Pool
If there are large trees in your backyard, then their shade is irreplaceable on the hottest days. Place your stock tank pool there and line up a walkway to connect your patio or resting area with the pool.
Give the pool some personal touch by painting it or adding a curious label on the outer surface. Use pool noodles to cover the metal edge and to add a pop of color.
27. Pink Stripes
Make the outer surface of the stock tank intriguing by painting it in a striped pattern. Use summer-related colors or such that will enhance the outdoor decor.
via Daily Disco
28. Pool Party Vibes
Another party-lover has used the stock tank as an upgraded function of her outdoor living space.
The pool is not only a place to chill out. It is a place to gather with friends and enjoy a cheerful summer.
via Sunwoven
29. Pop of Color
Make your stock tank the centerpiece of your patio with an interesting painting pattern. Leaves are trendy not only on fabric.
They make any surface more summer-friendly and inviting.
via Stock Tank Pool
30. Private Swim Club
Added privacy screens will make sure that the pool area is enjoyed only by you and your friends.
Pallets, reclaimed wood, old doors and shutters come to help when a budget-friendly solution is needed. This stock tank pool idea also inspires with the hammock area built in the corner of the pool privacy walls.
31. Protection and Privacy
This pool area has a farmhouse charm. The metal finish of the stock tank is enhanced by galvanized buckets functioning as supports for the pool-related items. The umbrella is firmly stuck into a bucket planter.
On the other side, another planter holds a post for drying wet towels. The same containers have been used for fixing the privacy screen beside the pool.
32. Pure White
White paint gives any surface a fresh, clean and hygienic look.
This color is the best choice for a stock tank pool placed on the green lawn, surrounded by white pea gravel.
via Ryan Barnes
33. Shielded from the Sun
Consider the spot where there is a shade as the best one. That can be the shade from a large tree crown or the pergola. Add string lights to extend the pool time.
via Jake Reed
34. Stock Tank Pool With Cover
Protect the water in the stock tank with a special pool protector or with a handmade one. Given that the stock tanks are repurposed into pools, it may be difficult to find a store-sold product.
This is a good project to utilize reclaimed lumber.
35. Sun Shaded Stock Tank Pool
Another way to provide shade over the pool area is to stretch a large piece of fabric over it.
For that, you need four posts to keep the fabric well stretched and secured.
36. Texas Trailblazer
If your backyard is sloped, create a platform for the lounges and another one- for the stock tank. The elevated design will create a point of interest and will separate the zones.
37. The Real Thing
The author of this idea has styled the area of the stock tank in the same style as the existing backyard landscape. Being decorated in a ranch style, the ground of the different zones is covered with gravel and edged with concrete.
via Suburban Pop
38. Tropical Ohio Hideaway
This stock tank pool idea features covering the ground with gravel first and then building a platform for the pool. The layered look is functional on one hand and very interesting, on the other.
39. Vintage Charm
The stock tank repurposed into a pool fits in any outdoor style. This vintage backyard decor features string lights hung on a metal hook, a set of wrought iron chairs and a table in flamingo pink and a hammock.
40. Your Private Backyard Retreat
The plain mosquito mesh net will protect the pool from leaves and dirt entering the water and will ensure some shade.
This is a cheap alternative to the pergola as the only structure you need to ensure is four wood posts.
41. Zebra Pattern
This stock tank has become a trendy water feature of a modern backyard by painting it in white and black stripes.
The periphery is surrounded by concrete tiles that edge the pool area and make stepping on the ground safer and cleaner.
via Lyz Scott
