LOVE ANYTHING WITH WINE
stone sculpture
stone & gravel
stone & gravel
Using a simple fluorescent light beneath the landing, Alper transformed the staircase into a light box that glows at night. The inside of the pickets is lined in milky white polycarbonate sheets. The box also serves another purpose, as storage to conceal the garbage bins. If you look closely, you can see a hidden door designed into the box.
AFTER: Now each step is lit with an LED strip. The strips have shields over the tops to prevent them from shining straight into anyone’s eyes. New modern box sconces help light the way from overhead.
Alper pushed the handrail 4 inches off the top rail (the requirement is at least 1½ inches). “This was a good way to keep it open and airy,” she says.
Hi, 6" rise, concrete is 12" deep with 6" of gravel in between each step (tread = 18").
steps
this curve of the railings on this grand staircase gently guides visitors up to the front door. The staircase is both impressive and welcoming at the same time.
detail
step & retaining wall
iron steps
open under deck but slats let air flow
Stairs, retaining walls. Mix of materials.
10. Work in special details. Achieving a large mosaic-paved area can be daunting and is often costly. I love this path that uses just a small area of mosaic infill amid crazy paving. Even better, it’s not just pebbles — some jewel-like stones or marbles have been added to catch the glint of the sun and create a small detail that makes this paving unique.
9. Step up (or down). Lots of gardens have level changes, which can be really expensive or difficult to deal with. In this garden, the paving has been reduced by the use of simple grass steps with stone retainers. You could easily do this with reclaimed materials, backfilling with soil and turfing the surfaces. It’s great where large steps are needed but is equally at home on narrower stairs. Just make the steps deep enough to get a lawn mower in for ease of maintenance.
5. Go freestyle. In this garden, cobblestones, pavers and gravel have been brought together to create a flowing path that leads you through the space. You can take this idea for the smallest spaces and visually pull visitors in different directions. For design ideas, think wave patterns, swirls and beach-like funnels to create freestyle pathways with unique patterns.
4. Add modern steppingstones. These large pieces of “broken” concrete create a great random-looking path across a gravel surface. Children would love jumping from one to another, while the two surface materials work together to create a path to the front door. Steal the idea with gravel and old flagstones broken into uneven slabs to create your own contemporary take on a steppingstone path.
3. Play with pattern. This garden takes the steppingstone theme one step further. The pattern of simple square pavers laid on the lawn pulls you through a border and out to a circular lawn, and then farther out to a larger lawn. Adding pavers set on a directional 45-degree angle is a simple but effective way to create motion through a garden — and the idea is easy to copy. To mow the lawn, just push your lawnmower over the entire top.
Add color and fence height
The leaning flagstone wall is another Hurd specialty. Using a palette of pastel-colored stone — Arizona sandstone and New England bluestone among them — she creates stacked walls that follow the contour of the landscape while leaning at a 45-degree angle. No need to fear slippage. The walls are built “in such a way that if an earthquake hit, the stones would settle tighter together,” Hurd assures.
On a baluster. This photo shows how rebar can be used to give an ordinary handrail a cutting-edge industrial vibe. This type of installation would be at home in a rustic garden as well as in a contemporary one.
As stand-alone art. Here we see rebar used effectively as an art installation. The rebar mimics the shape of the bamboo in this Asian-industrial garden.
outdoor lighting
HOTOS FIND PROS SHOP KITCHEN BATH BEDROOM LIVING OUTDOOR LIGHTING DECOR STORIES ADVICE Patios Gardening and Landscaping 6 Patio Cover Types to Shade You in Style Protect yourself and your deck from the blazing sun with umbrellas, cloth, built structures — or nature's perfect shading solution Bud Dietrich, AIA August 22, 2013 Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa... More Email Comment33Like13Bookmark298PrintEmbed Click "Embed" to display an article on your own website or blog. Most of us love that casual, barefoot, inside-outside lifestyle that big windows and doors and a patio or deck can provide. And for much of the year, a wonderful outdoor space connected to a home makes for a terrific living area. But when it's really warm out, uncovered outdoor spaces aren't all that much fun, especially if they are on the south side of the house. At times like these, the only way to get any use from that beautiful deck or patio is to have something, anything, that will block the sun from baking everyone and everything out there. And like everything else in home design, the type and style of your patio or deck covering will be a function of...
Cloth. A detailed and expansive structure isn't necessary for some simple sail-like shades. While you can easily spend thousands of dollars on a sophisticated shading system with guide wires and the like, a few posts, some wires and fabric will set you back a minimal amount of money and be a really nice way to shade the patio. As with the umbrellas, doing some research into the material for the shades is important. And make sure that the cloth is pitched to allow rainwater to fall off of it. Without that pitch, rainwater can puddle up in the middle of the cloth sail, causing the fabric to stretch and be ruined — or, worse, causing the whole system to collapse because of the weight of the water.
walkway
Exteriorscapes llc SaveEmail As long as we’re thinking of walls as art, why not stop by the paint store and have some fun? This eclectic, giddy wood fence illustrates how recycled boards take on new life when you unleash your imagination and untether your paintbrush. See if there are existing materials in your garden you can put back into service with a sprinkling of imagination.
Alternatively, bamboo shading adds a textural element to a casual outdoor living area and can deliver the shade you’re looking for without busting the budget.
A simple and relatively inexpensive roofing option is transparent Colorbond. Pair it with a black wood frame for a contemporary look, or opt for a tinted version if you want to keep out those harsh summer rays.
SB Garden Design SaveEmail Go vertical with your flowers. To block the view of two-story neighbors, landscape architect Bartron bolted this tall custom metal trellis onto the garage wall. She added colorful Orange Clock Vine for additional privacy.
railing
Q