outside space
Create a brick shelter. Built in red brick to match the house, and tiled with slate, this practical storage area blends with the property’s exterior and actually enhances the space with its character and interest. The look is mirrored in the raised bed at the front of the drive for a coordinated finish. A custom compartment on the left neatly houses the bin, while two smaller storage compartments on the right make room for stacking recycling boxes.
Party-ready patio. A large shade sail covering the patio provides more coverage than an umbrella alone. An extension table and folding director’s chairs can handle a crowd, but can easily be scaled back when it’s just family. Dress up for a party with a colorful tablecloth and lanterns, and personalize plain canvas chairs with stenciled-on numbers. Browse awnings and shade sails
Sunshades and overhangs. This house has Douglas fir sunshades that block direct light from coming in during the summer but allow for solar heat gain during the winter.
The homeowners worked with landscape architect Mark White, who graded the backyard into two flat, usable levels. He expanded the patio next to the house, adding a fireplace, an elegant seat wall and new perimeter landscaping. A new patio features a crisscrossing paving pattern of brick and bluestone, anchoring the space and contrasting the light-colored patio furniture and fireplace. The fireplace was designed as a focal point, built in between two garage windows and along the new raised planter. (You can see plants to the sides if you look closely.) The fireplace surround pops against the gray stone of the chimney, tying in with the house and garage. The mostly evergreen plants frame the space, creating a green backdrop for outdoor dining and lounging. Dining furniture: Kingsley-Bate; chimney: Chocolate Gray stone; fireplace surround: capstone; paving: brick and bluestone See more of the backyard Modern by Growsgreen Landscape Design Growsgreen Landscape Design 3. Lush Living on a San Francisco Parking Space Location: Mission District Designer: Beth Mullins of Growsgreen Landscape Design BEFORE: An unused concrete parking spot in the backyard of a couple’s first-floor ...
Steel Construction SaveEmail Tucking the treehouse into the woodland and using native tree species like oak and white cedar for the lumber — some of it harvested on-site, some sourced locally and milled — helped the structure fit in with in the environment. “The most interesting part is the live tree that grows through the center of the structure,” Skwira says. “It was one of the largest trees on the property and was a natural fit for the structure.” Generous holes cut for the tree trunk allow the tree to continue to grow up through the treehouse, while the posts of the building support the weight of the structure.
This gathering space around a fire pit maintains a feeling of intimacy thanks to its being removed from the sightline of those in the garden. It’s sunken, like a classic garden landscape feature called a ha-ha, nestling those who gather around the fire pit into the hillside and out of view.
The couple built a fire pit surrounded by trees to create a cozy, lush feel. A custom concrete bench and new hardscaping made the space more functional to be used year-round.
Beaumont, who uses tile in much of her commissioned art, designed and installed all of the tile in the home, including the floor-to-ceiling mosaics in the bathroom. An outdoor shower in the yard is also covered in mosaic tile.
If you plan on staying in your house for a while, take that jar of collected rocks, shells and mementos and make it part of your patio wall or floor.
Though Beaumont initially used the greenhouse to start plants for the garden, in recent years she has made it a year-round herb house. In summer, she refers to it as a “basil palace”; in fall and winter, it houses gardenias and other plants. The wine bottle installation adds thermal mass to the building. Each bottle is filled with water, which absorbs heat during the daytime and radiates it back into the space during cooler evenings.
Plant an ornamental grass for instant drama. To give some serious pizazz to existing container gardens by adding just one plant, reach for purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’, zones 8 to 11). The dramatic ornamental grass can reach 3 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide (although usually smaller in containers) with a vase-like shape topped with fuzzy purple seed heads. Although often grown as an annual in colder climates, it will continue to look striking throughout fall.
Climbing roses and a lush green hedge envelop a freestanding arbor and hanging swing.
In New Orleans, this colorful antique porch swing overlooks the front yard and neighborhood. The chair came from the Mustard Seed Antique Emporium in Oxford, Mississippi.
This porch in Georgia may be low on color, but it is high in texture and layers, with lots of natural materials coming together to create a relaxing, boho space. The design was inspired by a safari in South Africa. The rug is from West Elm, the chairs are by Ballard Designs and the swing is custom.
When is a garden shed not a shed? When it’s an open and airy potting space like the partially enclosed one seen here from SDS Design - Build. By using existing fencing to form two sides of the structure and adding a roof and built-in benches, this potting zone is easy to access and a snap to clean up. Slatted benches let soil fall through to the ground when potting, and a sink and garden hose are conveniently positioned within reach for watering and washing up.
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