Author: Atrace

Kitchen of the Week: All-American Style Brightens a Craftsman

Atrace

Regardless of the devastation, this Portland, Oregon, household felt blessed after a fire struck the kitchen of their 1920s Craftsman home. The harm was terrible, but no one was hurt. Looking on the bright side they saw the opportunity to redesign their kitchen to the space they had always wanted.

Portland architect Michael Howells opened the kitchen up to add more light and storage. “We spend a lot of time indoors here in rainy Portland, as well as the dark wood interiors shared to old Craftsman houses can be gloomy,” he states. New white cabinetry and materials all manufactured in America provide a contemporary look that nonetheless feels at home in the 1920s home.

Howells Architecture + Design

The family needed a contemporary farm-style kitchen painted cupboards, subway tile and full-height custom made cabinetry were top on their list. Shelving at the back of this peninsula, generously sized cabinets and full-extension drawers provide the kitchen plenty of storage area.

Before Photo

Howells Architecture + Design

BEFORE: Thankfully, no member of this household was home when the fire broke out. From the time the family arrived on the scene, the flame was extinguished, and inspectors had begun to take account of this harm.

Howells Architecture + Design

AFTER: The kitchen’s original layout worked well, or so the family kept it — with a few tweaks. The peninsula at the close of the counter creates a small breakfast area, and the window at the corner changed the light.

Howells Architecture + Design, LLC

New white cabinetry immediately lightened the area’s visual weight. Rather than closing this off tiled wall at the peninsula with cabinetry, Howells left open, allowing light from the skillet to stream through.

Before Photo

Howells Architecture + Design

BEFORE: The inspectors thought that the fire caused a spark or electricity surge after an outage — possibly from a faulty toaster oven. Although the fire was mostly in the kitchen, intense smoke damage considerably influenced the rest of the home. Most of the home had to be gutted and remodeled, and nearly everything — including the silverware — had to be professionally cleaned.

Howells Architecture + Design

AFTER: Howells, who likes to use local goods, stuck using American materials to maintain the house’s quintessential Craftsman design. Black honed granite countertops look classic, and the backsplash tile is made by Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, California. Howells also custom made the cabinetry to mention traditional panel doors.

Howells Architecture + Design

A warm lotion wall color keeps a consistent tone through all the public rooms, but Howells used the backsplash to add interest. “I love to shoot backsplashes as an opportunity to do something fun and expressive,” he states. Simple open shelving around the sink is sensible for often-used decor and items, and still looks amazing.

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Windsor Chairs Join the Mod Squad

Atrace

What is more conventional than a Windsor chair? Not much … except when the seat gets a makeover which gives it a fresh, new attitude. Contemporary interpretations of the centuries-old icon retain the distinctive spindles, splayed legs and graceful lines of their cousins — but that’s where the similarities end. New profiles, hot paint colours and modern materials carry Windsor design right up to the present.

Each version of the Windsor chair in these spaces stays true to the soul of the first, but all are uniquely suited to their surroundings. What do you believe about these updates? Tell us in the Comments section.

CITYDESKSTUDIO, Inc..

This stripped-down space reflects a contemporary take on rustic lodge style. The wood-burning stove and Windsor-inspired chairs infuse the space with a hint of countryside soul, while the neutral palette and minimalist surfaces communicate urban cool.

Terrat Elms Interior Design

With sharp, smooth planes and light paint, these chairs have a Scandinavian sensibility. They’d look perfect in a midcentury modern interior, refreshing in a candy cottage and ultrasleek in a conventional setting.

Jeanette Lunde

With exaggerated tapering along with a coat of quite pink paint, a set of Windsors adds a light touch to an eclectic collection of artwork and artwork.

Neiman Taber Architects

Paint does wonders to teach these chairs tricks. Dressing every person in a different pastel hue gave them a joyous and accumulated air and offset their conventional form.

KKC Fine Homes

These barrel-back Windsor chairs have to be extra comfy — I imagine the curved profile feels like a gentle hug.

Windsor Chair – $625

Extra-long legs, sexy bright colours and a minimum of spindles put a contemporary twist with this new-generation Windsor layout.

Modern Windsor Accent Chair – $399

This low-slung version, which is just right for an Asian-inspired space, takes a casual approach.

Hand-Painted Windsor Chair – GBP 225

Together, they’re like the most adorable paint deck you can imagine. Mix and match colours or pick a single unexpected shade to jolt a staid dining room.

Folklore

Dip Chair – GBP 395

It has two trends in one. This long-legged beauty combines an updated form using a dip-dye paint therapy.

More: On Trend: 10 Ways to Dip Dye

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Permit Spontaneity Loose for Abundance in the Landscape

Atrace

In gardens that are abundant, as in most plants, gardens, ornamentation and architecture are used as private expressions of someone’s design philosophy. To make the sense of spontaneity, your gestures are often as easy as putting a ceramic pot among a color garden’s lender of ferns or even including a very small figure perched on a mossy stump. Or perhaps spontaneity might come from the intentional bend at a pathway so you can not see where it contributes to.

Spontaneity in the backyard is accomplished when the unseen suddenly becomes visible, when finding the inconsistent brings delight to the viewer. A light hand tends plantings in accord with the idea. Eschewing the artificial, the keeper of the garden encourages plants to follow their normal habits. Vines cover inanimate structures; camaraderie flourishes between branches which weave together, their stems mingling. As a result, there’s an overall sense that character has expressed its beauty and artistry — together with exuberance.

Stout Design-Build

Designing for spontaneity is like a careful person’s trying to “lighten up.” It can not be forced, but it can be accomplished, little by little. This lush walkway has a perfect balance between the practical(the generously sized stepping stone make it easy to traverse this walkway) and the beautiful(the ground covers elevate the path to a beautiful experience) — and the two elements are essential to its achievement.

When plants are slightly askew, not rigidly manicured, their informality is attractive, as is the situation, using soft clumps of lamb’s ears forming the bounds of their trail. Tiny ground covers occupy the crevices and cracks and knit together the surfaces with striking results.

Gardens by Gabriel, Inc..

A joyous celebration of plants — using their unique traits, forms, customs and blooms — adds up to a backyard using a charismatic and engaging attitude. Colors can battle for astonishingly successful pairings, like pink and orange or gold and purple. This backyard challenges conventions. It’s a single composition created by the pairing of native and exotic plants.

Carex, Stipa and Pennisetum — carefree ornamental grasses — intermingle with Gaura and kangaroo paw in what some may call “controlled chaos.” I call it irresistible.

Elemental Design Group

Deliberate design elements combine happily with accidental ones at a spontaneous backyard. The backyard owner gives equal standing to both the ordinary and the infrequent: edibles, for example, are tucked among precious ornamentals; glistening finishes appear in contrast to rustic substances; lavish plantings occupy humble boats.

A spontanteous backyard gives the impression its owners jumped away from chores or tasks for an impromptu picnic midway through.

That I love this garden for some of these characteristics. Low-maintenance gravel has numerous pluses, including the fact that annuals and perennials are invited to self-sow in it. The billowy plantings here are companionable using the bungalow’s natural shingle exterior. The look is uncontrived and simple. This is a spot that you want to see (and maybe move into).

SchappacherWhite Architecture D.P.C.

A spontaneous backyard is not always weathered or casual in style. The modern architecture revealed here, with clean lines and an unembellished white facade, receives a jolt of spontaneity in the lush border growing in front of the windows. Two plants — a black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp) and an ornamental fountain grass — are massed together to make a dreamy, textured tapestry.

When we return to spontaneity in our gardens, we start to see with new eyes and listen to other sensory cues which resonate with our spirits. The act of gardening and the pursuit of beauty are interdependent. After the garden is seasoned with a dash of spontaneity and playfulness, the outcome is an unforgettable destination like this one.

Michael Lee Architects

When plants appear in surprising places, you have achieved the idea of spontaneity. Lifeless areas in and around our homes cry out for lush touches. To some, it may be incongruous to line an interior hallway with a boundary of Sansevieria plants, but these graphic plants from the tropics go a long way to heat the stark architecture using a playful wink. If you do not have a backyard outside, make one indoors.

Donna Lynn – Landscape Designer

Infuse your backyard using a lively, free-spirited attitude. I love this “doorway” that connects a garden to its adjoining orchard. Visitors are enticed by the idea of exploration — to discover what is hidden just beyond this periwinkle-blue backyard door. The journey promises a touch of intrigue, a memorable experience from beginning to end. Use imagination to change the predictable to the poetic. When a backyard displays a spontaneous disposition, whether intentionally or by happenstance, when artistic liberty is encouraged and design principles are broken, we’re drawn to the attractive results.

Gardener’s Supply Company

Everlasting Alliums – $36.95

When design elements coexist with upbeat plantings or riotous blooms, their effect is indelible. Frivolous accents in the backyard are sure to induce the viewer to stop and notice their existence. An unconventional placement of found objects never fails to surprise, especially if it reflects the designer’s personal collections and interests (or favorite colour palette).

Lisa Borgnes Giramonti

The desire to discover the concealed secret or the unexpected treasure is really the allure for most garden lovers. Here, tucked beneath a prolific bougainvillea, a mosaic-framed mirror is tilted against the dark fence. It functions both as living art, representing the greenery elsewhere in the backyard, and as a faux window to the outside dining room. The intrigue makes this endearing space even more spontaneously beautiful.

Previous: 10 Elements of an Abundant Garden
Next: Views and Vistas add Abundance to the Landscape

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7 Ways to Let Your Cabinets and Dine You

Atrace

Traditional houses normally have a formal dining area, but today’s more spacious designs frequently combine an eating place with the kitchen. Some smaller houses do not have the room for a big dining table in any way. But if you have room for a kitchen island, you have a great deal of alternatives for gracious dining, too.

Palmerston Design Consultants

Dine in the heart of the kitchen. “We love to use islands to get more intimate dining experiences,” says Dana Lyon, principal at Palm Design Group. “When possible, use the kitchen island to get seating four-plus individuals; this permits for the best flexibility for your dining room.”

The Refined Group

Outfit the island using a sturdy surface. Because your kitchen island doubles as a prep station, go to get a durable coating. In this kitchen, made by Palm Design Group, Lyon utilized resilient Caesarstone to top the island. “It’s a more conventional edge so as to mimic the look of limestone,” she states.

Know more about engineered quartz countertops

Kuhl Design Build LLC

Furnish the island like a dining table. “Rather than using standard-sized stools at an island place, use an oversized, stylish design that allow your guests to sit comfortably through a meal as they would at a formal dining table,” says interior designer Claire Ownby. “With an upgraded or plush fabric on the stools could make the chairs feel more lavish.”

Tina Kuhlmann

Amp up the lighting fixtures. Pendants are generally a go-to kitchen lighting source, however, a statement-making option will place a more elegant, dining area–like tone. “Try with a exceptional dining room to make the room feel much more formal,” says Ownby. “Make sure the fixture is on a dimmer so that it can be functional for multiple uses.”

Antique Building Materials, Inc..

Choose decorative variations of functional pieces. If you want your kitchen to transition into an official space, pay attention to the overall look of your kitchen requirements. Lyon suggests repurposing a fireplace mantel to create a decorative hood. “We have utilized an 18th-century fireplace mantel for hoods, which have been generally utilized to cook under and are taller than conventional fireplaces, so they are fantastic for this usage,” she states.

Caden Design Group

Create ambience for a dining experience. Decorate your kitchen with entertaining in mind. “The usage of unique centerpieces in your own island can reinforce a sense of a formal dining area,” states Ownby. “Use candles, florals or decoration in your own island which you would typically use on a desk.” Lyon also proposes using any glass cabinetry you have to show off amazing dishes or collections.

Ownby Design

Soften the windows with drapes. The look is a little from the ordinary, but drapes can make a kitchen feel more inviting. “Adding this layer to your kitchen can help to make the space feel more romantic when used for much more formal motives,” states Ownby.

More: Have a Chair in the New Kitchen-Table Island

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Deluxe Expandable Dining Tables Make Room for More

Atrace

It’s true that you have a dining table large enough to seat your family. But when guests come, do you end up squeezed in so tight you devote the meal together with Uncle Bob’s elbow in your ribs? If your cut-off age for who gets stuck at the kids’ table is 35, then you may want a dining table that develops with all the guest list.

An expandable dining table is available in every style, so there’s one just right for you. Before you go shopping, think about these design elements that will assist you opt for the most suitable one.

Brownstone Furniture

Sienna Dining Table

I’ve always loved round dining tables best since they make it simple for everyone to see and speak with one another. Most of the time, as soon as a round table contains leaves, it becomes oblong, which gives you those horizontal sides. But this one …

Brownstone Furniture

Sienna Dining Table

… turns to a larger table. Brownstone’s Sienna Table goes from a 56-inch diameter, which seats four to six individuals, up to a 72-inch diameter, which seats 10. The style is so straightforward and timeless it’ll work with conventional or transitional decor. Individual soft felt bags are provided to protect the extensions from scrapes while stored.

Astrolab Dining Table

Is modern more your preference? Roche Bobois is known for its sleek styling. Its Astrolab glass expansion table has integrated leaves and an exposed system of gears that could earn a Swiss watch proud. Operated by a battery-run motor with remote controller, you just push a button to expand this table. The remote performance is so cool, you might have the ability to entice the sport enthusiasts in their death-grip on the TV remote and football watching long enough to come eat dinner.

The Hickory Chair Furniture Co..

Newport Dining Table Top

Do you regularly throw big dinner parties? Hickory Chair’s Newport Dining Table is available in lots of sizes, such as a behemoth that begins at 10 feet long and expands up to 18 ft, which will seat 20 people. It utilizes three pedestals rather than the two you see here. Casters on the pedestals make it a lot easier to maneuver it into another position if you want to expand to the complete size — a nice feature on this a long table. I’m sure I’m not the only person who expands my dining table in the dining room to the living room once I want to seat more people.

Urbanspace Interiors

Were you aware there are no legs on the edges of this table for in the way of the seats? Selecting a table with a pedestal base keeps your knees bruise-free. Click on this photo and adhere to the green tags for resource information.

Vanguard Furniture

Vanguard Dining Table

Vanguard’s base dining table is the essence of contemporary style that is warm. The slim base guarantees that nobody might need to sit straddling a table leg.

Calligaris

Airport Extra-Long Extending Table

Many tables with legs at the corners have extensions that add on to the ends while the legs stay put. I really don’t enjoy those since it means someone gets stuck with a leg pressing sideways into a leg ; or worse, they all have to sit with a table between their knees. Calligaris was more intelligent than that if it designed the Airport Extra Long Extending Table. The legs stay at the corners when the table is pulled to its full length, an impressive 102 inches seating 10 people.

A couple of different things I love about this table are the self-storing extension leaves, which eliminate the need to locate somewhere to keep part of your table the remainder of the year. I also love that one person can open or close this table, thanks to its telescoping mechanism. A movie on Calligaris’ site shows how simple it’s to use. Another real plus is that this table compacts to 51 inches. That will fit in the smallest dining areas leaving you with plenty of space when the guests go home.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR

This dining table designed by yours truly also keeps its legs at the corners when extensions are inserted into the center.

How large should your table be?

A great rule of thumb would be to allow 24 inches per person, but it doesn’t always work. See that the seats round this table are all armchairs. To keep individuals from getting their seats banging into every other’s, I allowed more distance.

The side of this table is 6 ft long, and you may observe that only two people may sit on a side because of the larger armchairs. With armless seats, three individuals could sit on every side. Also keep in mind who is coming to dinner. If you’ve invited your local football team, then they will require space for those broad shoulders. If children are found, then you can sit two in an end using a bench or banquette.

Brownstone Furniture

Monterey Table

Tables with expansion leaves are not the only way to handle business for holiday meals. What if you bought two fitting square tables with a level edge similar to that one from Brownstone that could sit side by side?

Brownstone Furniture

Monterery Table

You can use one as your routine vanity, and the next one may normally serve as a match table in the family room. Although I wouldn’t suggest this solution to someone who has dinner guests often, it might be an ideal solution for people who have a dinner party once or twice annually.

Elad Gonen

If everything else fails, the magic of a floor-length tablecloth will allow you to combine pretty much any tables to create one table for your whole party.

I really don’t understand what is under this tablecloth, and that’s the genius of it. It might be a rather high-end table or it might be six folding card tables end to end.

Here is my most important tip on enlarging your table for a successful dinner party: locate a means to seat everyone collectively comfortably — even if that means folding tables or placing your table at the living room briefly — and let everyone know how glad you are they arrived. Pour on the wine and unwind!

Tell us Have you come up with an innovative means to seat a large group at once? As always, I love to hear about your options and see your pictures.

Read more expansion tables at the Products section

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Give Your Hot-Climate Home a Fall Feel

Atrace

A buddy of mine who lives in south Florida joked recently that she needed to travel to her hometown in Georgia to remind herself that it is the middle of autumn. Fall is her favorite season, but the things she enjoys about it, like hot cocoa, toasty fires and apple picking, are not really feasible when the temperature is pushing 90. I am able to empathize — I know how much I would miss settling in with a mug of cinnamon-laced cider or watching the leaves take on a range of jewel-like colours. (Do not feel too sorry for her, even however; she will be hanging out on the beach when the rest people are shivering in our sweaters.)

In honor of the remainder of the ers who crave a hint of fall in a hot climate, I have assembled a few ideas for bringing that cozy touch to your home. And I would really like to hear how you celebrate autumn in your very own way that is warm-weather. Share your thoughts in the Comments!

Ike Kligerman Barkley

Insert a Fire Pit

They’re every bit as welcoming on the shoreline since they are at a mountain cabin or ski chalet. The beachfront palette warms up.

Pedersen Associates

This outdoor fireplace provides the sense of a hearth without heating up the house in warm weather. S’mores?

If a fire pit is not in the cards, then get the effect with a group of spice-colored candles.

MCM Design

Create a Position for Obtaining Cozy

Suspended from chains, this outdoor bed combines the breezy comfort of a hammock with an cuddle-up style of a cushioned chaise. A great note that is autumnal is added by the persimmon-orange fabric.

Sutton Suzuki Architects

The opinion features Pacific waves and coconut palms rather than brilliant red maples and snowy pines. But this window seat still calls out for a day with a fantastic book and a cup of something hot (or a apple-cider slushie, should you want).

GM Construction, Inc..

We are used to seeing mosquito netting draped around canopy beds in humid climates, but attempt a more significant fabric for a truly enveloping feel.

Carter Kay Interiors

Drape a Twist or 2

Sometime you may reach for a tartan blanket or hand-knit afghan in colder climates, a lightweight throw at a fall color adds a little touch of this season, even when weather is much better suited for shorts and bare feet.

Sutton Suzuki Architects

A sweater-style blanket provides a snuggly note to a cozy chair.

Bill Fry Construction – Wm. H. Fry Const. Co..

Mix at Autumnal Hues

In case you can not access to New England for foliage season this season, pretend it with colour. This bathroom feels like a giant cup of spiced cider (that is the name of this paint, actually).

Flea Market Sunday

Rusty orange-red poppies dancing across this bedroom wallpaper. Throw in the chocolate-brown sheets, and you own a palette reminiscent of pumpkin pie and molasses.

Cynthia Weber

Sprinkle in Classic Cool-Weather Accents

An antique scraped cider cone doubles as an end table in this space. You could also keep a look out for cider presses, firewood baskets and other finds.

What announces fall more certainly than pumpkins? If your landscape is dotted with trees and bougainvillea, do not miss the opportunity to pile pumpkins on your front porch. If you’re able to get them, attempt albino versions like these, that have a crisper and cooler feel compared to traditional orange kind.

Griffin Enright Architects

Stock up on apples, another of fall’s greatest treasures. Mass them at a group of boats, tuck them along bookshelves, heap them in a woven basket or organize a few on a pretty tray.

Rizzoli New York

This beautiful arrangement features kumquats, a new approach to add a shot of fall colour.

Fall leaves could be tight on the ground, but you are able to go the next best path: Buy silk ones from a crafts store or florist. All these are tucked in plain frames for an easy nod to the season.

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On Trend: Eiffel Tower Angles Anchor Dining Tables

Atrace

Look at those legs! Every table that has been catching my eye this fall sports tilted legs and architectural metal details. As if I didn’t long for a weekend in Paris now, today all I could think about is the wide-legged stance of a popular cultural icon: the Eiffel Tower.

The arched, leggy appearance of the tables helps them seem especially sturdy — as though they could weather any mealtime maelstrom. Surprisingly, the angles and generally thin legs additionally keep things looking light in the dining room. Forget square or round; these tables mimic the Eiffel Tower’s own geometric footprint. And the angled legs give your personal legs extra room to stretch after that eight-course meal, when you’re all set to enjoy your second glass of wine.

2Modern

Magis Baguette Table – $1,979

This dining table oozes sleekness and minimalism, with legs so skinny they might disappear completely once it is surrounded with your favorite upholstered dining seats — that’s a good thing!

Room & Board

Ventura Dining Table – $1,799

The subtle arch along the bottom of the Ventura table reinforces that Eiffel vibe. But the piece feels beautifully contemporary.

Restoration Hardware

Flatiron Bar Table – $695

This table appears like it was pulled out of an artist’s garret with its own views of the Eiffel Tower. Longing to get a major loft room, it could anchor bright colours and modern objects with its industrial lines.

IKEA

Ikea PS 2012 Dining Table – $179

This cheap yet weatherproof Ikea dining table is among the best options out there. Clean and modern but still quite homeowner favorable, it is going to share space with you in the kitchen without alienating anyone.

Crate&Barrel

Taverna Dining Table – $1,499

The strong lines and sturdy angles of this Taverna dining table make it ideal for a traditional dining area. Insert a modern dose of vivid colors with attachments to brighten up things.

Pottery Barn

Hendrix Big Smart Technology Desk – $1,199

This desk has a strength that provides power to the individual sitting behind it. Sturdy and weighty, it has lighter wood tones and a rough-hewn complete that keep it casual enough for any home office, low or high.

West Elm

Mix + Match Table – $799

Mix and match your tabletops and legs with this modern piece. Straddling your dining room easily, it can hold up to the curvy modern dining chairs you have had your eyes.

CB2

Shanghai Dining Table – $699

The Shanghai table handles to station both the Paris and China in exactly the same time. Would you see the sloping angles of a conventional temple in these legs?

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Great Design Plant: Cushion Bush

Atrace

Greens and blues create a relaxing backyard palette, but they want a small light to wake them up — especially if daylight is waning and an increasing number of time outside is spent between sunset and sunrise. If you’re looking for low maintenance, high-impact white color and textural contrast, take a look at cushion Length. It looks like an extraterrestrial, adding unique beauty — and comedy — into the temperate garden year-round.

Far Out Flora

Botanical name: Calocephalus brownii (syn. Leucophyta brownii)
Common title: Cushion bush
USDA zones: 9 to 10 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Medium; don’t overwater
Sun requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 3 ft tall and wide
Advantages and tolerances: Drought tolerant; flourishes in coastal states
Seasonal interest: Distinct evegreen foliage; flowers in summertime
When to plant: Spring to summer

Distinguishing traits. Native to the coastal cliffs of Australia, this white mounding shrub is grown because of its unique, eye-catching foliage. It somewhat resembles submerged coral or possibly a leafless weed.

While the plant itself appears pleasant and defensive, pillow bush is actually pretty fuzzy to the touch — the consequence of small, narrow leaves compacted tightly against its architectural, branching stems.

Photograph byMelburnian

Kaveh Maguire

It’s an evegreen tree which grows 1 to 3 feet tall and wide. It flowers in late summer or spring, making small, button-shaped clusters of green flowers. In the winter the white coloring of the foliage becomes even more conspicuous, transforming into an almost green-white.

The best way to use it. While white in the garden is a joy any time of year, it is especially true when the days are shortening and time in the backyard is more likely to be spent in the dark. Cushion bush’s fluorescent coloring is especially helpful on a course’s edge — it will reflect light and light your way.

Its purpose for salt makes it a fantastic pick for saltwater pools or aquatic banks. It looks amazing in coastal gardens, in planters and alongside succulents.

Photograph courtesy of Chris.urs-o

Planting notes. Cushion bush thrives in beachfront conditions, and growth improves in direct, salty wind. It is, however, sensitive to humidity and irregular temperature swings.

Plant it in direct sunlight in sandy, quick-draining land. It’s very drought tolerant and prefers not to be overwatered; keep a look out for fungus.

Cushion bush is hardy to 20 degrees Fahrenheit but is slightly frost tolerant. By mulching its origins over the 6, it will be given a better prospect of surviving.

As the tree matures, make sure you cut out the deceased and woodier parts and trim spent flowers. It won’t react well to hard pruning, but you are able to pinch young stems to promote fuller growth.

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Animate Your Garden With Matisse's Colours

Atrace

Pinks, lavenders, light blues and other pastel shades have, in recent times, become the preferred choice of garden designers and gardeners when determining the colour schemes because of their flower beds. Even wow-factor plants of recent years, such as ornamental alliums, typically fit to this trend of colour usage. But there is a French builder that I feel may also influence the way we look at using colour in our garden — and that time it isn’t pastels but bold, vivid colours.

Henri Matisse is generally thought of as the best colorist of the 20th century. As one of the early postimpressionists, he’s perhaps most known as the pioneer of the French art movement called fauvism. (“Fauvism” comes from the French phrase “fauves,” meaning “wild beasts.”) Fauvists used colours to express emotion for their subjects, not to reveal them realistically.

Matisse’s colour choices still affect our use of colour today in several places, including the garden. We can also see their usage from the Pantone fashion colour options for fall 2012, which can impact both fashion and lifestyle designers. We can use the exact same bold colours to invigorate our houses both in the plants and planting schemes we use, as well as our choice of colours for outdoor accessories.

Below are some inspired garden and planting designs with Matisse’s color thoughts.

jenny_hardgrave

“It is insufficient to put colours, however exquisite, one beside another; colours must also respond on one another.” — Henri Matisse

Ordinarily in addition to climate and situation, basic colour theory comes into play when selecting plants for a garden. Color selections could be compatible, monochromatic or, as with Mastisse, complementary. The fantastic contrasts of colours within this border are increased by the monotone evergreen planting behind.

The New York Botanical Garden

One of the signature logos of Matisse and fauvism was using complementary colours. Complementary colors are opposite each other on the colour wheel. These are high in contrast and can add excitement and drama to a garden.

Combinations of yellow and violet, orange and blue or green and red plant varieties are popular examples of complementary colours frequently used collectively.

jenny_hardgrave

Plants that love sunny situations are perfect to use in a Matisse-inspired garden masterpiece, since they tend to have brightly coloured blossoms; pastels in bright sunlight may look faded and washed out. Reds, oranges, vivid yellows, deep blues and purples in swaths and cubes of contrasted colour put the identical sort of energy into a planting that Matisse placed to his paintings.

jenny_hardgrave

Not just seasonal bedding plants supply these beacons of colour. Here we see that a vibrant bed that uses herbaceous perennials to create the identical effect. Perennials in orange, red, magenta and bright yellow are certain to energize your garden. These daring colours constantly tend to steal the show, so don’t try to combine vivid colors with pastels.

Vintage Nursery & Landscape Co. / Alan Burke, asla

“Seek the strongest colour effect possible.” — Henri Matisse

This container indicates the spirit of Matisse in its lush setting. The mixture of cosmos, impatiens and verbena in an everyday mass clearly reveals how the complementary colours work together.

vernardakis george – avantgarden athens

Matisse’s health declined in his later years after an operation. He could no longer paint, so he turned to paper collages, guaches découpés, which he called “drawing with scissors.” His cutouts of brightly colored shapes usually followed natural forms.

This intriguing cactus garden’s colorful circles of gravel possess a similar daring and playful appeal.

“The use of expressive colors is felt to be among the fundamental elements of the modern mindset.” — Henri Matisse

The use of strong colors in the garden needn’t be limited to plants. We can observe how these brightly colored cushions, scattered round the horseshoe-shaped seating area and backed by lush foliage, and bring this garden.

Exteriorscapes llc

Occasionally it’s a good idea to step back from reality and use colour just for the pleasure of it. The usage of the Matisse design of colour with this hardscape — fencing, seating, wall as well as the birdhouse — is balanced by the easy, virtually random planting of the garden.

Event: Matisse comes to the Met. From early December 2012 during March 2013, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is holding a exhibition, “Matisse: In Search of True Painting,” which will explore the artist’s methods.

More: Lessons From Monet’s Garden

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Homes

Atrace

Some of my favourite designs are coming out of Australia. Whether it’s stunning contemporary architecture, just the right quantity of collected/eclectic within an inside, a verdant landscape or charismatic bloggers full of creative ideas, the ideas coming from Down Under are inspiring and unique. Get inspired by these five houses which include all of the above and more.

More Australian design: Sydney | Melbourne | Brisbane

Sam Crawford Architects

1. A improvement in Sydney. This house’s new wing was created by Sam Crawford Architects. This open, light-filled space serves several functions, including living room, art gallery, library and dining area.

Sam Crawford Architects

1 stunning design detail in the space is that this laser-cut timber panel. The design was swiped in the customers’ collection of Scandinavian hand-painted ceramic tiles.

Sam Crawford Architects

Using natural light and opening to the outdoors drove the design, which carefully considers all of the relationships between inside and out. As you can see here, doors completely open up the space to the courtyard, and the border between the two serves as a bench.

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Jennie Hunt

2. An eco-friendly retreat in the bushland. Traveling to another side of this island, this lovely home is located in the bushland, on the northern outskirts of Perth. The construction is rammed ground and has been designed for maximum energy efficiency.

Jennie Hunt

The living area’s chalkboard wall is constantly shifting, depending on who is visiting.

Jennie Hunt

Sited close to the Indian Ocean, sets of natural objects picked up on shore strolls decorate the home.

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Atypical Type A

3. A couple’s brilliant townhouse in Adelaide, South Australia. Intelligent blogger Atypical Type A’s home is full of midcentury modern locates and smart DIY projects. In the master bedroom, then the wavy lamp on the right came , then she found the bedding which coordinated with it.

Atypical Type A

Instead of registering for a ton of cut vases, salad tongs and platters as wedding presents, the couple’s guests produced a pool of cash for them to commission a work of art from an artist that they loved (Danish artist Pabi).

Atypical Type A

An inviting patio provides a secluded spot for dining. It is quite a transformation; when the couple moved , the spot was”devoid of anything living.” They included the planters and bamboo screening, the mirror-backed iron candle sconce holder along with the outside dining furniture, which includes curvaceous Panton chairs.

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Secret Gardens

4. A stunning landscape style in Sydney. This website presented spectacular views and a series of challenges to landscape design firm The Secret Gardens of Sydney.

Secret Gardens

Connections between the terraces as well as opinions from inside to out were considered in the design of this landscape.

Secret Gardens

The website contains a series of outdoor rooms at several degrees, surrounded by lush plantings and comfortable outdoor furniture like the Orbit from Dedon. This round lounge even has a canopy you can pull up to provide shade and solitude.

A Beach Cottage

5. A shore cabin makeover in Sydney. Among our very first Tours has been with Sarah, the blogger behind A Beach Cottage. While her home (and our interview arrangement ) has evolved since this meeting posted, I love perusing her easy-breezy beach style.

A Beach Cottage

Painting a vintage trunk and suitcase white and stacking them created a unique and functional nightstand.

Utilizing a simple neutral palette of white and tan allows a variety of interesting textures to stand out.

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More:
Interview: Vivian’s Delightful Sydney Home
The Outdoor Comes Inside Down Under
Interiors for Easy living in Australia
5 Inspiring Homes in the Chilly North

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