Site conditions and landscape requirements will affect your decision on the size and shape of your pool. But personal tastes and how the pool will be used are the most important considerations.

Personal Needs
A family of happy frolickers needs a pool with a large shallow area. To satisfy those who enjoy swimming laps, the pool should feature a long, straight section with parallel ends. If your family falls into both these groups, choose a pool that can accommodate all types of swimming activity. For example, the shallow, short leg of an L-shaped pool can be large enough for the frolickers, and the other leg can be long enough for the lap swimmers.

Many pool users splash and play in shallow water and do little, if any, swimming. For this purpose, figure a minimum depth of 36 inches, increasing to 4 or 5 feet.

Don't be tempted to include a wading pool just because you have small children. They will quickly outgrow it and take to the main pool with the rest of the family. You can build a separate wading pool that can later be converted into a garden pond, or install a platform, available commercially, that converts spas into wading pools.

Serious swimmers, those who use the pool often for exercise need a depth of at least 3-1/2 to 4 feet so they don't touch bottom while swimming and can safely negotiate tumble turns at the pool's ends.

If the pool will be a training center for competitive swimmers, make the length 75 feet. Then they can develop a style usable for competitive meets. Width is not critical some lap pools in side yards are just wide enough for one swimmer10 feet.

Space Around the Pool
You will want a paved area or deck at least 4-8 feet wide on all sides of the pool that allows access to the pool, keeps dirt out of the water and prevents the garden from becoming waterlogged. In general, the poolside area should be at least equal to the area of the pool.

Pool Shape
The simpler the shape of your pool, the better it will blend into a landscaped setting and enhance the appearance of your property. Shapes developed from squares, rectangles, circles, ovals and other simple geometric figures will not compete with the landscaping.

A naturalistic pool is also usually simple in shape. But making it much a part of its environment usually requires the skill of a top landscape architect. A naturalistic pool is not easy to integrate into a residential lot, may require more maintenance if plants are used close to the pool and will probably be more expensive.

Unusual pool shapes are difficult to plan well because they compete with the other elements in your landscape. But sometimes an unusual shape is the best, or only, choice. If your lot is small and wedge-shaped, for example, your pool will also have to be wedge-shaped. Or to integrate a tree or other natural feature that's valuable to you, you may need to plan for a bend in one side of a pool.

Popular Pool Shapes
The variety of pool shapes available is limitless, ranging from the formality of a rectangle to more natural pond like shapes. Select a pool shape based on how it will fulfill your needs and complement your home and backyard.

Though the trend is to smaller pools these days, choose a pool that's large enough to accommodate your needs. Most experts agree that a pool measuring at least 16 by 32 feet is needed for a full range of play activities.