Which stone?

The Husband and I have several projects in the works for our overall Outdoor Improvement Plan.  One of the projects is to add stone mulch to the back of the house.  There isn't a lot going on in our back yard currently.  We spend almost all of our outdoor time sitting on our front porch, which we love.  In the back though there's an odd mix of mulch and grass/weeds, especially around the HVAC units.  We hope to tidy it up a bit with some stone.  I ran into the stone yard one day last week and picked up the samples pictured.  We laid them out to see how each of them looked with the house (brick foundation and siding) and the surroundings (lots of trees.) 

I know which ones I like and which one works best for our situation.  Which one do you like?

Starting Over Before Your Begin

 via Cottage Living

I've been thinking a lot about starting over recently.  A client came to me last week just as we were putting the finishing touches on the design plan and getting ready to move into the construction phase for their new sunroom/screened porch/deck to say that after "living" with the plan for a while they have now decided that they want to start over and go in a different direction with their project.  This is not what we wanted to hear obviously, but it was the best thing the client could say.  Construction hadn't started.  We weren't ripping down walls and building them back again, yet!  It is much easier for me to move walls on paper than it is to re-design a project in the middle of construction or for the client to realize AFTER the project is complete that it isn't what they really wanted. 

via Coastal Living

The client did a brave thing coming forward.  They admitted that their inital requests for the project, after some reflection, weren't what they really wanted.  By choosing to mentally live in the new space over several weeks they came to realize that the existing room we were working with wasn't big enough for how they planned to use it; that they would rather increase the size of the existing room and move the new screened porch to a different location.   Had they not thought about it in those terms they would have had a finished space that wasn't big enough to use they way they want.  All of that time and money would have been spent and they wouldn't have gotten what they wanted. 

 via Cottage Living

The trap to avoid in situations like this is to not just be second-guessing yourself though.  If you want to make a big change to your home at some point you have to say yes and make the change.  It's good to re-evaluate your choices but at some point you need to make a decision and actually do the work. 

In your own life and home do you feel like you are good at making decisions or do you always second guess yourself and hold up progress by your unsure feelings?   

Sorry no great project photos, but obviously we haven't built anything yet!

Yesterday's LoveMyHome Event

Last night I got to attend the LoveMyHome Event sponsored by HomeMasons.    Last night's lecture focused on Landscape Architecture and was held at the beautiful Charles Luck Stone Center (I want to move into this space!!) 

front entrance

So sorry that this post will be a series of not particularly fine photographs.  My camera wasn't behaving and I was trying to not be so obvious with all the picture taking.  Trust me it's stunning in person.

 side view from the stone yard

another side view

entrance/ lobby (LOVE!!)

entrance to conference room

conference room

conference room fireplace

look at that stone mosaic hearth!!  

floor transitions - hand scraped wood with white pebble border

The turn out was great and I'm really happy for HomeMasons for putting on such a great event.  I'm looking forward to the next lecture in the series. 

Bunnie worked especially hard to make things happen.  

She's standing in front of some of the stone displays.

 fearless leader Mason kicking things off

 I love the volume of the space

 Lots of light and space for all the guests

Did I mention that I want to move into this space.  I have already laid it out in my mind.  I didn't even get to take pictures of the break room and bathrooms.  STUNNING.  Here's a door leading out into the perfectly landscaped garden.  Love the peach velvet drapes with the circle patterned lining and the dark door and window mullions.  Love!

Oh, and here's a tip I learned from the landscape architect - boxwoods hate mulch (who knew!) They like their roots to breathe close to the surface and can be smothered by compacting mulch. 

Friday Field Trip

Last night the Husband had another gig at the Flowers After 5 series at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden here in Richmond.  It's a wonderful way to spend a Thursday evening tasting wine and listening to music in a GORGEOUS garden.  I feel very lucky to have such a lovely place nearby. 

 
I completely forgot to take any pictures when we were there last week (sweating in the heat!) but I had a chance to redeem myself last night. 

I also made some friends along the way

Frabel Glass Exhibit

And saw some really beautiful flowers (that were actually surviving in the heat, I will say the rose garden looked like it was struggling a bit)

the children's treehouse in the distance

peppers!

It was so hot last night (did I mention it's been hot?) that the wine and music were indoors but I did take my stroll through the garden before I completely lost the sun. 

another Frabel sculpture

Revenge of the Trees - Part 2

So far, 2010 has not been a good year for trees and my family.  In March, a tree fell on my Sweet Husband's car as he was driving on the interstate!  Thankfully he walked away with just a few cuts and bruises.  The car did not survive.  On Saturday while a thunderstorm was brewing and wind was whirling, we heard a loud thump.  We wondered aloud what it might be but didn't investigate.  Later that evening the Husband stepped into the back yard and saw this:

 
Which turned out to be this:

Which broke off of this:

See that big patch of blue sky.  That's where the big limb used to live.  Remarkably there were only a few scuffs on the roof and the edge of the back gutter was bent a little.  Hopefully we can make it through the rest of the year without another attack!  Do you think they like compliments? Or take bribes?  Or like their trunks rubbed? 

Outdoor Spaces

Outdoor spaces have been on my mind a lot lately.  I'm currently working on an outdoor space for a client and I'm contemplating our own outdoor makeover extravaganza here at the Functional Space (more on that another day).  For now I'm going to dig deep into my inspiration files for something to spark my imagination. 

 Gil Schafer

India Hicks

Kristen Panitch in House Beautiful

Elizabeth Dinkel via Two Ellie

 unknown source

Lowes Creative Ideas