Designer Library: Bunny Williams' On Garden Style

Since 1998, Bunny Williams has been recognized as much more than an expert on interiors and "On Garden Style" has brought to light her undeniable, deep love and understanding of outdoor environments.

In Bunny Williams' "On Garden Style," recently published through Abrams Books, she visits impeccably designed gardens around the world, shedding light on the key components that make a garden so appealing and idyllic. The chapters entitled, Imagine, Good Bones Make Good Rooms, and Planting With Style, shed light on the intuitive and thoughtful approach to the exterior landscapes that are shared in this book. 

Williams offers advice for bringing it to fruition—the garden structure, furnishing the space, and establishing an aesthetic. The book also includes plant lists, a reading list, and other useful resources.

As we begin to work on our outdoor living spaces for summer, make sure to get a copy of this book to help inspire you to create your own personal style within your home as well as outdoors. You can grab a copy for yourself here. 

 

As originally posted for California Home+Design 06/03/15

All images courtesy of Bunny Williams On Garden Style; Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2015

My Day with Traditional Home at Gerritsen Beach Community Garden with We Rebuild

If you visited yesterday, you would know that I spent the day on Thursday in Gerritsen Beach, a town devastated by Hurricane Sandy and still today feeling the pain from that event.

 



At the invitation of Traditional Home Magazine, Meredith Corporation and WeRebuild, I was able to take part in the rebuilding of the Gerritsen Beach Community Garden that flank the public library and partially open to the public.











Still, the public library for all those in this town, is a BookMobile as they still try and rebuild the space that was so badly damaged by the storm.
This touches my heart specifically, as our own town library was the only refuge my family and I had for nearly 2 weeks without power. Where we stayed warm, had a place to have a hot drink, see friends and neighbors and most importantly not sit in the dark.. which I can tell you is very difficult after days on end and when the sun sets so early.

The big problem with the gardens is that when the ocean waters came in, the salt water killed a lot of plants, trees, shrubs, etc... We had to pull out all the weeds (this may sound like an easy task, but I can assure you IT WAS NOT!) 

Traditional Home's Instagram shot of Beth Brenner & I weeding 

Our GOAL: To create a beautiful space with low maintenance plants and to add a variety of trees, shrubs, and colorful perennials.. all low-maintenance. 
So much of the garden had an underlying tarp that made it very difficult to pull the weeds out (this tarp is meant to stop the weeds from growing, but was in pretty bad shape so it became intertwined with the weeds instead.



So throughout most of the day, the Garden Team made up of many different members from the Meredith Group, all pitched in to at least allow for the garden to be planted the following day. 
We did get to plant a few flowers and trees and what a difference that made..

BEFORE

AFTER

My Partners in Crime - Kari Costas and Clara Haneberg from Traditional Home .. these girls meant business! 

We pulled out trees, and plants that were not in great shape, ..

Mountains of mulch and soil..

all made it possible to begin the replanting..

Out with the OLD.. and in with the NEW

Please Support this Cause by REPINNING this image onto your pinterest boards.. or Facebook, Twitter .. whereever you are socially.. and use the Hashtag #WEREBUILD to help bring awareness to this event and cause. Thank You!

I am so thankful to Traditional Home for inviting me to take part in this event, helping others REBUILD.

The other teams were busy rebuilding homes, the town center and the Kiddie beach.. which are up on the blog next. So stay tuned for that as well as an exclusive chance encounter with a lovely lady that invited me into her home, to see how she is still trying to rebuild After Sandy.

A Beauty in the Bronx: Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum

As I sift through the many, MANY, High Point Market photos and try and organize my thoughts about everything I saw while I was there, I wanted to share with you a wonderful campaign which came to my attention by way of  a friend and fellow blogger Lynn Byrne from Decor Arts Now.

I am always eager to help give back and assuring that my children as well as theirs and yours, get to experience and enjoy moments of joy and beauty in cultural settings. These help enrich them as whole and complete future adults and this campaign, could not help a more deserving local landmark - The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.

The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum's story, or the *Beauty in the Bronx* as it is known, began in 1654 when Thomas Pell, an English doctor from Connecticut settled on this estate. Post-Revolutionary War, it was bought in 1836 by Robert Bartow who built the present Grecian style stone mansion with Greek Revival interiors. He moved into the house with his wife and children in 1842. Nearly 100 years later, Bartow-Pell Mansion opened it's doors as a museum.

The Neoclassical style Double Parlors via

Not only are there interiors to inspire, even the youngest of designers..


but exhibitions and events are always taking place for the whole family to enjoy!

On view at BPMM from April 1 to July 1 is an exhibition of antique garden tools collected
by landscape architect Mark Morrison.

In every season...

With amazing details in every element of the architecture ...

to the most intricate exquisite details in every decorative piece of furniture and art within this museum as well....

Every care has been brought to preserving and keeping this haven, which is only a short car drive from Manhattan, in the best possible state.
But, they need our help ->> as The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum has this fantastic opportunity to receive $150,000 in grant funds to restore their gardens.

It is so easy to help guarantee that some funds are awarded to them, all we have to do is vote.
Show that we care via Facebook and their page.

Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum has an exciting opportunity to receive $150,000 in grant funds to restore their gardens. You can help increase our chances!

American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have selected BPMM to participate in this year's Partners in Preservation program to compete for $3 million in preservation funds.

As one of only 40 sites selected in New York City, this is a a month-long online contest that invites people to cast votes for the places they would most like to see receive the prize money. It's like the "American Idol" of historic preservation. The four sites that earn the highest number of public votes are guaranteed to receive funding.

There are two ways to vote:

1. Go to www.PartnersinPreservation.com. Once you register on the site, you can easily vote once a day through May 21
2. Vote at facebook.com/partnersinpreservation, once a day through May 21

* all images courtesy of Bartow-Pell. First and last images by photographer Richard Warren.

Pinterest Week: Tips for Great Outdoor Living

Today is a big day, as I end my day with a talk about Pinterest and how to use it to grow your small business in Westchester at Crush Wine Bar from 7-9pm. (rsvp please!)

This week, I have dedicated my posts to sharing some of the ways and ideas that I have using Pinterest as a tool for my design business.

Whether the images begin on Pinterest, or whether that is where they end up as someone pins them from this post.. both ways, traffic is being driven to both my blog and my pinterest boards. It's a Win / Win!

So, continuing on from yesterdays' theme of outdoor design... I wanted to share some inspiration images that helped me this week discuss ideas about what we wanted to achieve when thinking about the decking and garden design of my client's home.



There are 3 main themes that I like to introduce when I am designing an outdoor space that help create a very inviting and interesting setting.

1. Contrast, Color and Texture

It is so easy today to be able to introduce great fabrics as pillows, cushions and rugs, as most brands have introduced indoor/outdoor collections. Sunbrella and Quadrille / China Seas are two examples that come to mind, however almost every brand today will have a few pieces to choose from or would be happy to create an outdoor quality fabric run of their fabric for a minimum quantity.

Also it is important to remember to add a variation in heights and textures to make sure that every detail pops!

2. Lighting
One of my favorite movies is the film "Stealing Beauty" with Liv Tyler in Tuscany...
Those fanastic dinners and lounging outside, just makes me want to spend a summer there.
Lighting is a crucial element to use and appreciate your outdoor living space during all hours of the day and night.
It doesn't have to be very high tech, or even very costly. Fire pits, candles and lanterns are a fantastic way to bring a little shimmer to this living space.

2. Repetition
Repeat patterns, objects, plants.. in multiples to create a great visual.
Introducing planters as an addition to your planting options in your garden, adds a layer of structure and sophistication to what can otherwise be a sense of visual caos.

I would love to hear how you are using Pinterest to help you and your business grow... or how you would like the design of your outdoor living space to look like.

Hope to see you all in Larchmont later tonight!





*all images from very old cut sheets, and I don't have original source. If you know who they are from, please shoot me a note! Thanks.



Pinterest Week: A Hunt for Outdoor Design Ideas

Preparing for a design presentation is always fun .. but using Pinterest as one of the ways to save time and effort in searching for that *special* picture that shows your client exactly what you hope to achieve is a fantastic use of the time you spend "pinning".

They say good things come in 2's... well, thankfully over the past 2 weeks I have had the chance to present 2 new interior design concepts, and both have had outdoor areas to work with.

One - a small outdoor patio in a New York city apartment...

The other - a great wide open space of green...

So, when I begin to think about how I am going to incorporate the 'interior' design with what we are trying to accomplish on the exterior as well, I tend to start with the details.

The mood.. The concept.

Architectural details... slate, stone, walk ways and paths..

Trellis.. woodwork.. natural materials....

Do I want to introduce pattern, as well as texture? Are we close to the sea?

How can water become a feature?

I love being able to share some of these images with you (and my clients) and hope that they spark a conversation about what kind of outdoor living space you want to have this summer...