There have been odes written about them, and they've stored everything from wine to cremated ashes. Today, we typically use urns in a range of styles as decoration throughout our homes and in the garden. Lately large, simple, Mediterranean-style urns have been catching my eye around Houzz landscapes. They add curb appeal to entrances, draw the eye as sculpture, add color to the garden and serve as fountains. Check out a group of urns that range from antiques to modern art, along with some ideas for how to use them, to see if using a large urn in your yard is for you. Randy Thueme Design Inc. - Landscape Architecture Bring in a splash of color. While this home and its surrounding landscape have many traditional elements, the avant-garde outdoor art collection and furnishings delight and surprise. This sculpture takes the traditional urn form, blows it up to unexpected proportions and draws the eye from all over the yard because of its bright orange hue. Kikuchi + Kankel Design Group Make a bold statement. This gigantic urn sculpture is an apt choice for an olive grove, as large urns were traditionally used to store olive oil in places like Italy and Turkey. However, I think of this as an urn-inspired sculpture because I doubt even a large number of gladiators led by Russell Crowe could carry this thing around full of olive oil without creating an oily mess. Kelley & Company Home Create a fountain. This designer created a fountain using three hand-thrown Greek urns against a stone wall and three spigots.

See the rest of this home Lee Ann Marienthal Gardens A single urn fountain's bubbling water invites visitors to explore a garden. Westover Landscape Design, Inc. Make a focal point. A large glazed urn plays off all the shades of green in this garden full of conical evergreen trees and rounded boxwood shrubs. debora carl landscape design Likewise, you can use an urn as a focal point in a courtyard or on a patio. McHale Landscape Design, Inc. Some pools go on to "infinity," while others need a focal point to mark the spot where they terminate. This black urn is classic because of its familiar shape, modern because of its placement and dark coloring. Carolyn Chadwick Fashion a planter. Urns occupy the space between the ground and a stone wall here, serving as architectural bases for climbing vines. Don Ziebell Complement stone facades. Antique and reclaimed building materials were used throughout this Mediterranean-style home in Arizona. The urn's patina fits right in with the antique weathered palette. Secret Gardens Add an appropriately scaled architectural element. Large palm leaves and other tropical plants could eat up most garden statues like a Venus flytrap gobbles insects. This urn's simple shape does not distract from the shapes of the lush and exotic plants. Carolle Huber Landscape Architecture Create symmetry. A pair of urns glazed in deep blue hues connects a pergola to other elements in the landscape, like this pool. Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture Pick up on overlooked hues. The ochre of this urn ties together the colors of the dry grasses, the sand and weathered portions of the wooden fence. Exteriors By Chad Robert Enhance an entryway's drama. This pair of urns reinforces the symmetry and accentuates the exotic feel of this inviting and exotic threshold.

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