Yesterday, I opened my inbox to find an email from Danny Cullerton from Aristata Land Arts. She sent along a series of before & after photos from one of her recent projects in Portland, OR, and I know you guys are going to love the makeover! The landscape surrounds a beautiful old Victorian house, and the re-work definitely brings out a ton of character in this lovely house!  Here’s the front yard, basking in its newfound glory. I like that Danny was able to step away from the typical landscape findings of a home from this era and swap them for a bit of a rustic modern vibe. I espec ..read more

Whenever Abby or Adam looked into their backyard, they were greeted by a hideous rotted wood fence that was far from any sort of privacy shield. Being new homeowners, they were big on ambition and change and also slightly motivated by their neighbor’s two-tone, half-painted house. To their neighbor’s defense, I, too, am sporting a two-tone house, and I am less than proud of going through another winter this way…..but you know how things go. Ahem, at any rate, the two of them got to work, and soon they were well on their way to the backyard they had envisioned. A backyard gravel patio is a gre ..read more

The Heat!! The Heat!! — I melt just walking to the veg patch. I don’t yet have an outdoor shower, so the hose is my only welcome respite (and I’ll take it with a smile! Whew, it’s hot!) I can’t get my work boots on because I (stupidly) walked barefoot across my asphalt driveway and burnt the bottoms so badly that I even have a blister. Two days later, after many Epsom salt baths, they still ache. The dreamiest of outdoor showers features a stone swirl surround, windows to the savannah and hardwood and concrete surfaces. Found at the Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa in at the Welgevonden ..read more

Do you regularly wash your house windows? I have to admit – I’ve never. I’ve tried but it gets overwhelming fast. But I am all inspired to try again with some new cleaning products that I’m trying out (I’ll get back to that). But let’s talk about all the reasons why I should be cleaning them much more than have – because, garden. I used to work at an interior plant company. Interior plant people carry light meters like regular plant people carry hand pruners. We walk around office buildings measuring lumens in the corners of cubicles to see if you are lucky enough to allow a fiddle leaf fig. O ..read more

One of my favorite things about writing the Before & After series here on Studio ‘g’ is that I get to read all kinds of little facts about the projects. The one I found for this week won 2 runner-up awards in the summer of 2012 from Kansas City Home & Gardens- one for best professional landscape and the other for best outdoor living space. Katie and NSPJ architects completed the project and I love how it turned out. I’m a huge fan of having an area in the front yard that’s dedicated to relaxing…somewhere to wave to your neighbors on their evening walks while sipping a tall glass ..read more

What were you like ‘back in the day’?  Goth, Valley, Stoner, Jock?  Something else?  Me? I was some weird Denver thing that involved high hair, shoulder pads and Wranglers.   I have no idea what you might have called it — but it definitely wasn’t punk. Now, if I were to indulge in a theme persona today I would most certainly be Punk.  Rebellion, individualism, free thought and a splash of anti-authoritarianism — yep, that is me now (at least ideologically) — minus the discontent and the fact that I am not sure I can pull off the outfits with out a big smirk ..read more

You guys know Megan and Matti (from Far Out Flora) right? I shared this yesterday (but with different images) on my Gardenist column at Apartment Therapy….but I love it so much I am going  re-share this sweet story here too.   It all started with a shopping trip for local handmade treasures.   On their adventure, they came across the fantastic canvas pillows created by Tin of Utilitarian Franchise (BTW — these would be excellent on a patio chair and I am going to share my favs in another post later today!) One thing led to another …. as it always seems to among garde ..read more

Do you remember this post? I do… for two reasons….first, it remains to this day, one of the most responded to posts since I wrote it over 2 years ago. And second, I can’t help but still be obsessed with the graphically cool nature of the insect walls.   Flora Grubb’s beau Kevin Smith must be also inspired because he took the idea of insect habitat walls and made it sing in a way that only a skilled craftsman and artist can do. It is so beautiful that if this weren’t built to teem with bugs and garden encouraging insect life, I would be temped to hang it in my living room. This ..read more

Tasha Tudor was an author and illustrator of many books and gardener extraordinaire.  Her beloved gardens and her home in Marlboro, Vermont are a beautiful memory of the woman who lived in a simpler way even in modern day.  Tasha Tudor passed away a few years ago, but her children’s stories, garden books, and recipes remain. Her Hummingbird Cake Recipe (which has some similarity to my favorite carrot cake) was one Southern Living’s  most popular recipes of all time.  (Proving that even Northerners can cook like Southerners right?).  I thought of it because I have bee ..read more

When I saw this, I had one of those, Ah-ha moments where I wondered why I didn’t think of that. A number of years ago I had a project where, through the installation, a couple of large shade sails got damaged.  Nothing major, quarter sized holes in across a 16 ft span, but not suitable for the client whe paid top dollar and deserved undamaged goods.  So the spares have languished in my barn since.   I am determined to put a wood floor in the barn this summer so a big clean out is in order and I have been considering what to do with these sails.   And now I have i ..read more