Design 101 - Holiday Decorating with Dramatic Lighting

Kitchen Decorating Ideas

Let the holiday decorating begin! As I was searching for compelling photos of outdoor holiday decorating ideas I realized that I was gravitating towards decorating idea that have a long shelf-life.  What I like about this weeks' inspiration is that these outdoor decorating touches would look in season year round.

Check out last year's holiday decorating ideas too.

Designer Profile - Eckersley Garden Architecture

Eckersley Garden Architecture

Rick Eckersley of Australian based Eckersley Garden Architecture is one of my favorite landscape architects.  Rick isn't a pool designer but quite a few of his designs incorporate a pool and he is a master of blending an existing landscape with a pool surround. This is likely true because of Rick's design principle about pools and landscape design: "Swimming pools are a pivotal and expensive part of any landscape but surprisingly few are designed in a way that best suits the site or offers the client greatest amenity. Often pools are designed and sited by pool builders with the landscape seen as ancillary. A swimming pool should be considered objectively as one component of a garden design and should blend aesthetically into the style of the garden and the surrounding architecture."

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Design 101 - Setting Plans In Stone: Tips from A Hardscape Designer

James Stephenson - The Artist Garden

Interested in installing a new patio, a modern fence or a brick walkway? As hardscape design grows in popularity, there are lots of choices for homeowners. From pavers and  paths to patios, hardscapes are the manmade features of the landscape and can change the way you look at and use you outdoor space.  

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Design 101 - Big Backyard Ideas

Tom Stuart-Smith

Looking for creative ways to transform a barren backyard into a low maintenance multifunctional space? Landscape architect Steve Verner shared with us some of his tricks of the trade for doing just that.

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Discover - Artificial Turf

Every spring when I am lugging home bags of lawn fertilizer and weed killer, I daydream of creating a perfect lawn that has no weeds and a perfect dark green color. That is why I made it my buying quest last year to find the most realistic, easiest to purchase and install artifical turf I could find.  My buying search came to an end when I found AGL Grass.  This year I know I can have the perfect lawn with this artificial turf.

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Design 101 - Guest Blogger Gale Steves, From the Outdoors Looking In

Rees Roberts + Partners

Everyone is so busy moving their indoor looks outside these days. I wish they would stop for a minute or two and ponder how their new exterior creations will affect the view from the windows.  And those windows are important for bringing the outdoors inside. And then stop to think about how the existing garden color scheme will influence furniture choices and colors as well.

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Inspiration Board - Living Outdoors in Harmony with Your Landscape

When we talk about outdoor living we should bear in mind that we are actually guests of our outdoor environment or landscape.  We can either be the obnoxious guest who takes over and dominates our host's space or we can be the guest that falls into step with our host and will ultimately be asked back time and again.  This week we are going to be talking about falling into step with the outdoor environment and landscape when designing our outdoor spaces.  Here are some inspiring looks that have integrated almost seamlessly with the outdoors.

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Design 101 - Guest Blogger Sarah Kinbar on Urban Container Gardens

My first visit to New Orleans—just this fall—was a wake-up call for me on the importance of balcony gardens, which are the heart and soul of the French Quarter. Block after block, my eye was drawn to the balconies decorated with the most useful of garden accessories: glorious planters, alive with trailing ivy and pothos, bright with geraniums and petunias. There’s a reason these plants are standard fare for planters—they’re so easy to care for, they make a bold statement visually and they graciously accept the home of a small planter filled with healthy soil.

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Design 101 - Designing for Outdoor Privacy with Eric King

Rick EckersleyWhen it came time to finding answers to the “How to” questions of creating privacy for your outdoor living space we turned to landscape architect Eric King who has been designing award-winning gardens for homes in Atlanta for decades.

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Design 101 - Holiday Decorating with Empty Planters

Deborah Silver and CO.Just because your annuals have died back in your planters doesn’t mean you have to move them to the garage or basement for the winter.  Keep your beautiful planters outdoors and use them as the base for our gorgeous holiday decorating ideas.

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