This is the pool house that’s got it all: entertainment, dining table, bar counter, storage space, showers, and restroom. The kitchen boasts a wine conditioner, beer taps, warming drawers, a gas grill and lots of storage. There’s radiant heating for cold nights and a ceiling fan for warm days. Not to mention a great view ofContinue reading “The ultimate pool house!”
Author Archives: mike
A new evening structure for warm summer nights
Most people think of shade structures, but what if you don’t use your patio at noon, especially in a place with hot summers? Maybe you like to see the evening sky, too. The solution? An evening structure, designed to screen late afternoon light but let the glory of the night sky shine through. When weContinue reading “A new evening structure for warm summer nights”
A new landscape takes form in Davis
The concept was to have overlapping hardscape – concrete and flagstones – alternate with vegetation and water. This project is a remodel, so we wanted the new landscape to look as though it was designed with the pool. Sweeping curves nestle around the pool, leading the eye to a sitting area at the back ofContinue reading “A new landscape takes form in Davis”
Art in the Garden!
Sac Open Studios has been a fun event. On the first day, people walked through the gardens, friends stopped by and other friends chipped in to keep things organized and greet visitors. Yesterday started ominous with thunder and a bit of rain – even though every weather app we viewed said, “it’s sunny and beautiful!”.Continue reading “Art in the Garden!”
Sac Open Studio 2018 art ready!
We’ve been thinking of participating in this event for a while, and this year finally decided to pull the trigger and exhibit our art in the garden. After years of plein air painting, we’ve got a lot of paintings – over 150 from loose art to matted to framed and ready to hang. The showContinue reading “Sac Open Studio 2018 art ready!”
Paris!
The city loses its bustle in August, a time when many businesses are closed and people are relaxed. A main street running along the Seine river closes, transformed into “Paris Plage” a pedestrian oriented linear park. Gardens bloom, the Seine takes on a translucent viridian hue. We start our days with a café crème inContinue reading “Paris!”
Crust is great on baguettes. Not so much on tile and stone
Sometimes you have the space for a splash zone, sometimes you don’t. Following some simple guidelines can keep your water features less crusty and lower maintenance requirements. Some design guidelines can help to alleviate this kind of thing – something to consider when designing a water feature. This is kind of like a situation fromContinue reading “Crust is great on baguettes. Not so much on tile and stone”
New Concepts for a sloping front yard
The current synthetic deck is disintegrating, there’s not enough space for a table, and some excitement in the landscape will be welcome. This solution removes a major stairway (there’s an alternate path), clears out tall vegetation near the house and terraces the slope to extend the patio area, adding a (very) contemporary shade structure, aContinue reading “New Concepts for a sloping front yard”
It’s white, it’s round, it’s underground. But PVC pipe is not all the same
Choose well when installing PVC pipe for your irrigation system. The two main types of pipe are class 200 and schedule 40. The former carries more water for a given pipe diameter, with the annoying trade off that it’s more likely to break. The older the pipe, the more brittle it gets – and theContinue reading “It’s white, it’s round, it’s underground. But PVC pipe is not all the same”
Using orchid cactus and succulents to cover a wall
Typically designers use use trailing ground covers to cascade down walls, the most common plant probably being rosemary. But what about something more interesting, something that does not require as much pruning back? Something that will make people stop in their tracks and say, “wow!” Something like, say, orchid cactus (Epiphyllum)? Epiphyllum, true to theirContinue reading “Using orchid cactus and succulents to cover a wall”