By Thiago Machado, co-founder of Aqua Elite Pools™
There’s this moment—I’ve seen it a hundred times now—when someone stands in their backyard for the first time after deciding they want a pool. They’re not looking at what’s there anymore. They’re seeing what could be. Their eyes go a little distant, and you can almost watch the movie playing in their head: summer evenings, kids laughing, that first dive on a hot afternoon. And then they ask the question that matters more than they realize: “What shape should it be?”
It’s such a simple question. Almost too simple. Like asking what kind of life you want to live.
Because here’s what nobody tells you when you start planning a pool: the shape isn’t just about aesthetics or fitting into your yard—though those things matter. It’s about who you are and how you want to feel when you’re home. It’s about whether you see yourself doing laps at dawn or floating lazily with a book in your hands. Whether your kids will be practicing their butterfly stroke or whether you’re dreaming of hosting those long summer gatherings where nobody wants to leave.
The shape tells a story. Your story.
When Form Follows Feeling
Picture someone who chooses a strict lap pool. Perfect rectangle, nothing fancy. Thirty-five feet of straight, no-nonsense swimming. Every morning at dawn, the ritual: eighteen laps before coffee. It becomes meditation in motion—start here, end there, turn around, repeat. When everything else in life feels chaotic, those clean lines make sense. The shape itself becomes therapy.
Then imagine a family who chooses curves and gentle arcs instead—a spa tucked into one side, a beach entry where toddlers can wade in gradually. Custom pool design that feels less like construction and more like discovering a secret cove. The kind of backyard that makes you feel like you’re on vacation every single day, where the pool wasn’t just built but somehow belonged from the beginning.
Same neighborhood street. Similar property sizes. Completely different pools because they represent completely different lives.
That’s the thing about inground pool shapes—there’s no universally “best” choice. There’s only what’s best for you, for your family, for the life you’re actually living instead of the one you think you should be living.
The Classics Still Work (Because They Solve Real Problems)
Walk through any established neighborhood with pools, and you’ll notice patterns. Certain shapes dominate for good reasons. They’re not popular by accident.
The Rectangle: Honest and Timeless
Rectangle pools are the jeans-and-white-tee of backyard design. They never go out of style because they’re fundamentally practical. You want to swim laps? Rectangle. You want clean lines that make your landscaper happy? Rectangle. You’ve got a long, narrow yard? Rectangle fits.
But there’s something else about rectangles that people don’t talk about enough—they feel intentional. Purposeful. When you see a backyard rectangle pool idea executed well, it reads as confidence. Like the homeowner knew exactly what they wanted and didn’t need to prove anything.
Modern pool deck ideas pair beautifully with rectangular pools because the geometry plays nice together. Straight lines, clean edges, space that feels organized even when it’s filled with people and pool floats and life.
The Kidney: The Softener
Kidney-shaped pools feel like a exhale.Where rectangles are all business, kidneys are about comfort. That gentle curve, the way one end feels like it’s wrapping around you—it’s welcoming in a way that’s hard to articulate but impossible to miss.
They fit into irregular yards better than you’d think. Pool contractors near me have told me that kidney shapes are often the solution when the property has quirks—a tree you can’t bear to remove, a fence line that juts in, a patio that already exists and isn’t going anywhere. The kidney bends around life instead of demanding life bends around it.
There’s also something retro-cool about them now, which wasn’t true a decade ago. Everything old becomes new. My theory? People are hungry for shapes that feel human-scaled and warm. We’re tired of everything being so angular and sharp.
The Geometric Twist: For the Design-Obsessed
Geometric pool shapes—think squares with angled corners, L-shapes, modern interpretations of classic forms—these are for people who’ve thought about their outdoor space the way some people think about interior design. Everything matters. Every line has a reason.
Consider the homeowner who spends eighteen months perfecting a geometric pool design. Every angle calculated, every material chosen with intention, spa integration that looks like it had always been part of some master plan. When it’s finished, it’s the kind of stunning that makes you stop and stare. And yes, it costs about as much as a small house.
But here’s the thing—when the design truly reflects who you are, you use it. Daily swims become routine. Dinner parties multiply. The pool becomes the reason to stay home instead of the reason to show off. That’s when you know shape really matters.
The Wild Cards: Because Convention Isn't for Everyone
Some people need their pool to be different. Not different for the sake of being different, but different because ordinary doesn’t match how they see the world.
Free-Form: Nature’s Signature
Free-form pools are for people who want to feel like they’ve discovered something rather than built it. They meander, they surprise you, they make your yard feel larger and more mysterious than it actually is. Beach entry sections, boulders strategically placed, maybe some grottos if you’re feeling particularly bold.
The best pool builders understand that free-form doesn’t mean “whatever.” It means “looks like it grew here naturally.” That’s actually harder to achieve than it sounds. It requires an eye for organic flow, understanding how water and stone and plant life interact, knowing when enough is enough before it tips into theme-park territory.
Aqua Elite Pools™ specializes in this kind of thoughtful design—the type where luxury whispers instead of shouts. Where your neighbors wonder how you created something so seemingly effortless that actually required tremendous skill.
The Figure-8: Playfulness Meets Function
Figure-8 pools are having a moment. Two rounded ends connected in the middle, creating distinct spaces within a single body of water. The shallow end becomes kid territory naturally.
The deeper section is adult time. That pinch in the middle? Perfect for pool volleyball or to create a visual separation.
They’re social pools, built for families that actually use their outdoor space as a gathering spot. If your vision includes teaching your kids to swim while still having a place to legitimately exercise, if you’re imagining birthday parties and cousin reunions and spontaneous July afternoons, a figure-8 might be your answer.
What Nobody Tells You About Moon-Shaped Pools and Other Specialties
Every so often, someone asks about a moon shaped pool or some other distinctive configuration. Usually, they saw something on Pinterest at two in the morning and decided that was The One.
Can you do it? Sure. Should you? Depends entirely on your property and honest self-assessment about how you’ll actually use the space.
Specialty shapes—crescents, infinity edges that seem to pour into the horizon, lazy river configurations that require significant square footage—these are commitment shapes. They announce themselves. Your pool becomes a conversation piece, which is wonderful if that’s what you want. Less wonderful if you just wanted a nice place to cool off and now feel like you’re maintaining a minor landmark.
The question I always suggest people ask: Will this shape still make sense to me in ten years? Or am I in love with the idea right now but might find it exhausting long-term?
Size, Space, and the Mathematics of Happiness
Shape doesn’t exist in isolation. A stunning pool in the wrong-sized yard is just wrong. Too big feels overwhelming—like you’ve installed a community pool you’re now responsible for maintaining. Too small feels apologetic, like you couldn’t quite commit to the decision.
When swimming pool builders near me do site evaluations, they’re not just measuring. They’re envisioning proportion, flow, how people will move through the space. The pool needs to enhance your yard, not dominate it or apologize for existing.
There’s a growing trend toward what some call “cocktail pools”—basically oversized spas trying very hard to be taken seriously as pools. Maybe twelve feet long, sometimes even less. At first, it might feel like a compromise, something to be embarrassed about when everyone else has massive installations. But here’s what happens: smaller pools in appropriately-sized yards often become the most beloved. Perfect proportions for the space, minimal maintenance, lower heating costs, and still delivering that feeling of having a private resort. When you stop apologizing for size and start enjoying the reality, the magic happens.
That’s the real secret with pool size and shape: it’s right when you stop noticing the choice and just start living in it.
The Practical Stuff (Because Dreams Need Budgets)
Let’s talk reality for a minute. Swimming pool installation costs vary wildly based on shape complexity. Rectangles are generally most affordable—straight lines are easier to form and finish. Every curve adds complexity. Every custom angle requires additional engineering. Free-form pools can cost significantly more than their geometric cousins.
This doesn’t mean you can’t have curves if you love them. It means understanding the tradeoff and being honest about pool financing options that make sense for your situation. Industry professionals share countless stories of homeowners who designed their dream pool, then had to value-engineer it back to something affordable, and ended up disappointed. Better to start with realistic parameters and design upward from there.
Maintenance matters too, though people rarely think about this during the exciting design phase. More corners mean more areas for debris to collect. Infinity edges are gorgeous and require specialized equipment. Pool automation systems can help, but they’re an additional investment. Some shapes naturally circulate water better than others—something about physics and flow that I’ll let the engineers explain.
Reading Your Yard Like a Story
Your property is telling you something about what shape wants to be there. Sometimes it’s obvious—long and narrow suggests rectangle or maybe a lazy river pool design if you’re feeling ambitious. Irregular plots practically beg for kidney shapes or custom free-form designs that work with the quirks instead of fighting them.
But there’s also the architecture of your home, the style of your existing landscape, sight lines from various rooms, where the sun tracks across your space throughout the day. All of this matters more than most people realize.
Sometimes a shape gets forced onto a property that rejects it, and it never quite looks right—like wearing a beautiful suit that’s slightly the wrong size. Close, but not quite. Then there are those moments when pool builders collaborate with homeowners to find the shape that feels inevitable once it’s there, like it was always meant to be exactly that way.
That second experience is worth waiting for, worth the extra rounds of 3D pool design to get it right.
The Activities Tell the Shape
Here’s a useful exercise: Close your eyes and imagine your ideal summer day at your pool. Don’t think about what it looks like. Think about what you’re doing.
Are you swimming laps? You need length and straightness—rectangles or ovals.
Are you teaching a nervous five-year-old how to float? Beach entries and graduated depths matter more than shape.
Are you hosting your extended family for a weekend? Size and multiple areas for different activities trump geometric perfection.
Do you see yourself floating peacefully with a cold drink, occasionally dipping in when the heat gets to be too much? Comfort and aesthetics probably matter most—kidney shapes, Roman ends that feel like resort poolside, elegant curves.
Are you planning to add pool lighting installation for evening swims? Some shapes showcase lighting design better than others.
The activities you’re honest about wanting will guide you toward shapes that support those activities. Function doesn’t have to fight form—they can be allies if you’re thoughtful about the pairing.
When the Neighbors' Opinions Matter (and When They Don't)
There’s something socially vulnerable about being the first house on the block to install a pool, or about being the one who chooses something different from the standard rectangle or kidney.
Imagine installing a beautiful Roman-end pool—rectangular body with rounded semicircles at each end. Classic, elegant, timeless. Then hearing a neighbor comment, “Huh, interesting choice.” Not unkind, just… surprised. The second-guessing can last for days. Until the first pool party, when thirty people don’t want to leave and someone literally asks if they can move in.
The opinions that matter are: yours, your family’s, and whether the pool fits your life. The opinions that don’t matter are: literally everyone else’s. Your neighbors aren’t going to be the ones swimming in it at sunset on a Tuesday. You are.
That said—and real estate professionals will tell you this—if you’re planning to sell within five years, wildly unusual pool shapes might limit your buyer pool. Pun intended. Basic shapes have broader appeal. Custom shapes need to find the right buyer who loves exactly what you loved. Just something to hold in the back of your mind.
The Moment It Becomes Real
There’s this stage in every pool project where it stops being drawings and permits and decisions, and becomes an actual hole in the ground. It’s shocking, honestly. Bigger than expected. More disruptive. Doubts creep in.
Then construction crews arrive one morning and start shooting gunite or installing the fiberglass, and the shape emerges, and it becomes real in three dimensions instead of on paper. That’s the moment of truth—when you know if the choice was right.
Stories abound of homeowners moved to happy tears when they first see their pool taking form. Something about witnessing years of dreaming become concrete (sometimes literally) triggers profound gratitude. This is happening. This is real. This shape that will hold a family’s memories for decades is actually being built.
If you’ve chosen well—if the shape matches your vision and your life—that moment is pure magic.
The Shape That Becomes Invisible
The ultimate test of whether you’ve chosen the right pool shape is simple: eventually, you stop seeing it.
Not because it’s unremarkable, but because it becomes part of daily life in such a natural way that it’s hard to remember what the yard looked like before. The shape isn’t something you notice; it’s something you use, enjoy, live in.
When the lap swimmer finishes and heads inside for coffee, the thought isn’t about the perfectly rectangular pool—it’s about how much clearer the mind feels.
When kids run out the back door and jump into the water without hesitation, without needing to be convinced, they’re not analyzing the brilliant beach entry design. They’re just being kids in summer, which is exactly what every parent dreams of.
The shape disappears into the background and the life comes forward. That’s when you know you chose correctly.
Begin With the End in Mind
So which pool shape is right for you?
The one that makes you excited to come home. The one that matches how you actually want to spend your time, not how you think you should spend your time. The one that fits your property like it was always meant to be there. The one you can maintain realistically. The one that still makes sense after the initial excitement fades and you’re left with the day-to-day reality of ownership.
Maybe that’s a clean rectangle that lets you swim until your mind goes quiet. Maybe it’s a kidney shape that softens all the hard edges in your life. Maybe it’s some geometric configuration that makes your design-loving heart sing. Maybe it’s a free-form lagoon that makes you feel like you’ve escaped to somewhere tropical without leaving your zip code.
The right shape is the one that, five years from now, you can’t imagine being any other way.
Start there. Be honest about your life, your space, your budget, your dreams. Talk to swimming pool builders who listen more than they talk, who ask about your family and your routine before they show you portfolios. Look at examples of custom swimming pools that move you, even if you can’t articulate why. Pay attention to which shapes make you lean forward with interest and which ones you scroll past without a second thought.
Your pool shape is out there waiting for you to recognize it. And when you do—when everything clicks and you just know—that’s the moment the real journey begins.
Trust that feeling. It knows the way.
Considering a pool for your Central Florida home? Aqua Elite Pools™ brings 15+ years of engineering expertise to every project, creating custom designs that enhance your lifestyle rather than just adding features. Because your backyard should feel like the place you never want to leave.