As the weather starts to dip into the low 90s here in austin, I can feel myself starting to crave a hot tea and cardigan sweater. Ahhh yes, weather below 100 degrees: You feel like fall. Fall: I want to spend you here:
Yep, that will do.
Also, happy birthday to my sweety! He is one million and twelve today. Good thing I love him.
PS, this is Luis Barragan architecture via
It is a sweltering 106 degrees here in Austin with zero zip zilch signs that summer will end any time soon (I have my sights set on you, November) but the interwebs tell me that the rest of the world is taking that last jump off the rope swing into the lake ‘cuza schools starting soon and, for the lucky majority of you, leaves will be (gasp) changing color.
Well, I want in. I am ready for a seasonal change. One so imminent that I hold tight to the last days of summer, sadly watching them zoom by. Squeezing in one last summer vacation before I snuggle into my boots and jacket. Yep, I’m shutting my eyes tight and pretending that summer is about to end. I’m spending the last days here:
Oh, did I forget to mention that I own a fantasy summer home in Portugal. So sorry, let me go on:
Back in the real world I do actually own a giant green lamp much like this one, as well as a handmade woven stool. Maybe If I ask Erin real kind and nice like she will spend the next several weeks on craigslist finding me all the other goodies I need to bring it all together. The lamp is, like, a huge start, right?
A quick reminder: while Erin is shopping craigslist, I will be laying here. poolside. at this very real summer house that i very much own.
I also own a hanging chair almost identical to the one shown, so I’m feeling like recreating this in austin really isn’t much of a stretch. are you with me?
Look! I’m not the meany you thought I was. I’ve laid down a second towel for erin to come join me once she has found everything on my list. I’m pretty much the image of altruism.
I have always always loved tree houses. I especially love children’s tree homes in suburban neighborhoods. I love the idea that something so primitive as living in trees has found a niche in 21st century middle America. Of course, I also really love a good design hotel, so OK, I probably love a tree house hotel for it’s sex appeal alone more so than your run-of-the-mill suburban kid’s club, which is why I would be willing to ignore my no-travel-35-weeks-into-pregnancy rule if only I had the cash money to fly to Sweden to stay in this joint:
Behold, the Tree Hotel. With 7 distinct tree cabins, and a bunch of designy tree stuff, it almost makes the outdoorsy-only amenities worth suffering through. (A 6 hour nature trek is their top summer excursion? Maybe this place should get a tree pool and some tree cocktails)
Anyway, I’m never going to make it here so we’ll fantasize about the rooms only
This is what the inside of the mirrored cabin (above above) looks like. Apparently you can climb up a ladder to look out that window. This is where the tree cocktails may not be the best idea.
Leave it to the Swedes to call this cabin the blue cone. Whateves, there’s still a good chance I would pick this one.
The UFO cabin
And the Birds Nest, which has a lovely Tim-Burton-meets-Burning-Man quality. But I dig it.
So, which one would you dudes stay in?
The temperatures have finally dipped below 100 degrees in Austin, so it feels like fall is just around the corner. Since it’s labor day weekend, I plan to take advantage of the (vaguely) dwindling warmth by swanning around, perhaps taking a dip at the inlaws’ swank hotel pool, and sipping on a frosty beverage.
I hope you all have a swell holiday filled good weather, good fun, and good company!
As you dudes know, Matty and I have been hard at work making our backyard inhabitable. Over the past several weekends we’ve ripped out the hot tub, trimmed back the deck, replaced rotting trim, repainted the trim, REPAINTED THE ENTIRE BACK OF THE HOUSE MYSELF NO HELP FROM MATT, installed sun shade, and planted some green things in the grass. For the very first time ever in my life.
Because this is only a partial view of the yard, I’m calling it a sneak peek, because that’s what a sneak peek is, a preview. ahem, another blog.
Oh, this is also a before and after
Here is a nook at the back of my house as of last week. Before we took the hot tub house down I had never even ventured into this part of my yard. Once it was exposed I realized it needed serious work. First, Matt replaced most of the trim, I started doing some spot painting to fix dings and damage but quickly realized that I needed to repaint the entire thing. Had I known this from the start I probably would have repainted my house a new color but, as it stands, it’s the same old green just so fresh and so clean clean.
Once the house was ready I was ready to put plants in the ground.
I’ve always been pretty good at keeping potted plants alive but never before in my life have I planted something right smack-dab into the earth.
I did 2.2 seconds of research online and half listened to Erin as she dished out advice, hopefully that was enough to keep these babies alive.
First I spray painted an outline around the semi-circle I wanted to dig out (hello, my genius idea!) then I dug about 1.5 feet deep. I then poured in alternating layers of native texas mulch and the dirt that I had dug out. I mixed as I poured so everything got tousled. Then, voila, I threw in some plants.
Here’s what I planted (all plants are texas-weather friendly):
lily of the nile
fortnight lily
Canna lily
Stella de Oro Daylily
Australian Canna Lily
Bamboo Muhly (not bamboo) (also the coolest once it gets big)
Plumbago
The rocks that are outlining the little garden actually came out of the ground when I was digging. We’ve got a ton of limestone around here and while it’s a pain to dig it up, I didn’t have to spend a dollar on edging
If I’m a really good plant mommy, one day it should look like this Texas landscape. You know, in like a week or something.
Ever since the back porch demo last weekend, my mind has been racing with ideas for our backyard. Seriously, I woke up at 5am Tuesday (thank you Rowdy!) and I could not fall back asleep because my mind was racing with ideas on how to best beautify our new outdoor retreat.
Due to an annoyingly intrusive work schedule, I have yet to lay hands on the newly exposed soil but (hooray!) Erin and I have an outing to the Natural Gardner scheduled this week. I’ll give you a full report provided it’s the shangri la of landscaping that I envision. While I’m there, I plan to keep a few images from my outdoor spaces inspiration folder in mind:
Let’s keep in mind that it’s the feeling of these spaces not the exact look that i’m going for. Much as I would love a crazy stairwell over my lovely exposed concrete wall, I don’t think I’m going to get either structure.
I have wanted a pergola covered in vines for as long as I can remember. It had been my plan to build one at this house. In fact, part of the reason our backyard demo took so long was that I was waiting for my husband to have the time to build one. Reality finally set in and I realized that my children’s children would probably off to college before Matt ever had the time to construct the pergola of my dreams. I decided the sun sails I bought were almost as good, and the fact that they can go up immediately make them even better.
Oh, but for the record, don’t you love this picture?
I can’t even find a spot to hang my new chair, much less a crystal chandelier, but I do still love the structured greens in this photo.
I want a pool.
This is my very favorite style of landscaping. Slightly structured chaos, lots of overlap, mixed textures, native grasses, lush without being tropical, zero shrubs and not too many flowers. It’s pretty much perfect. Raise your hands if you think a novice planter like myself can recreate this look.
And here are a few more random images I like:
And that is that, I will keep you dudes posted on progress. But I do promise that this won’t become a landscaping blog.
Spaces I wouldn’t say no to.
In no particular order.
Are you guys starting to get that I really love to lounge around water?
This one just makes me giggle. There is no way I would swim in that green lake, but that pool has my name written all over it
I would also settle for this:
It’s come to my attention, by way of my own observation, that our interior design blog has brought you very little in the way of interior design lately. I know we’ve shown you some stellar stairs, and lots and lots of updates on my own house but so far as simple, well appointed interiors go, well, I’ve been slacking. What can I say, I love random crap and I usually force you to look at it. Today I’m going to set the horse lamps and melting chairs aside and take a lazy stroll through some houses I can’t afford. I’m pretty sure that everything in these BNOdesign homes is out of my price range, so it fits the bill just fine. Let’s have a look-see
A west village home:
A home in the Hamptons. You all have one of these to decorate, right?
Ok, good. Now I am guilt-free and can return to showing you lightning bolts and sweaters made from dog fur.
Come on back by tomorrow to take an aviary tour of the design world with DC fave, le petit oiseau
For this very, very brief moment in time, the weather in Austin is perfect. Last week dumped buckets of needed rain on the city, leaving such swaths of pastoral verdure (not to be confused with its close friend manure) all around town that I fully expect to see a flock of sheep crossing Congress Avenue whenever I drive downtown. It’s so lush and atypically green that I want to live outside all day long. And so the Hunny and I have worked in the yard, barbecued, dined al fresco on patios, and generally lounged like lizards in the sun.
All this is well and good, but by the end of the week it’s going to be in the mid 90′s (yep, it’s Texas) and the glory of air conditioning will be our only saving grace. I think what I really need is a glass house so that I can enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors from the temperate, bug free comfort of the cushy indoors.
I suppose this would do for a start.
The Jodlowa House in Krakow, Poland, would suit my need for an interrupted view, plus it has a few added amenities that I think I could make quick use of.
Honestly, I’m not sure how I have lived my entire life without an indoor pool. I have obviously been sorely deprived.
It’s ok to be naked in front of the tiny woodland creatures, right? I dream of having a house with neighbors so far away that curtains are totally superfluous.
Also, I feel that if I had such an awesome view, my fingers would be magically inspired to bust out some Beethoven — never mind that I am musically challenged.
Still I personally like a little more pizazz in my pad, so I’m all about the L House designed by Philippe Stuebi.
I’m not usually into big box houses — generally preferring low, sprawling structures — but this house has a seductive mix of light and color that makes me want to break in and lock out the owners. Shouldn’t be that hard to get into a glass house, right?
Hubba hubba, do you see what I see?
Yes, that is a glass walled LIBRARY, folks.
And I really don’t have the guts to paint a room fuchsia, but it looks so fabulous in an architecturally appropriate setting.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle keeping me from living the outdoor dream is my damn computer, which I am tethered to 24/7. A glassy office would at least allow me to daydream about escape.
I think the most practical solution to that particular dilemma would be to construct a glass office in the woods like this one, designed by Iwan Baan.
Don’t these poor workers look like they are suffering terribly, what with the sunny yellow floors, mod furnishings and gorgeous views? Alright, maybe it’s better that I don’t work here, because I’m quite sure I would be too distracted by the beauty to get anything done.
Luckily, there is an escape hatch for when the going gets tough. Wouldn’t want anyone to feel cooped up, now would we?
Since my yard is actually starting to look like this, I think I’m going to use my own escape hatch (ok, plain old door) and do some relaxing outside before the temperature becomes insanely unbearable and the mosquitoes carry me away. Ah, sweet, sweet nature.
Last week, Sherri requested that we post more bathrooms. I was all geared up to fulfill that request today, however, whilst searching the interweb for glorious potty pics, I stumbled upon a Riad in Morocco that was so stunning I had to do the unthinkable: give a raincheck to a fellow blogger.
So sorry, Sherri, I promise to post bathroom decor porn next week.
There’s lots to love in this Moroccan guesthouse, the tile, the wood work, the greenery. But what I adore most of all is that you can sleep outside without having to deal with, well, the outside.
I LOVE sleeping outdoors but I absolutely HATE camping. My idea of a perfect night’s sleep is on a comfy daybed on a screened in porch during a moderately warm summer night by the ocean. See: I’m outside, but totally protected from the bugs and the elements. I may even have a latch-hook on my screen door, so there.
Each of the rooms in this space is openly connected to the outdoor courtyard but (yay!) they have real beds and roofs.
Enough small talk, let’s collectively drool:
I know you all remember the time we had make-believe ladies night at the Goldbar, and the other time we went out for cocktails at the Barcelona Ravel, right? Well, from here on out, whenever we go pretend camping, this is where we will be staying.
Welcome to the first day of Spring, everyone. I know I was Debbie Downer mid week with all my talk of snow fall and icy slopes. But I got my fix and I’m ready to admit what the calendar tells me is true: it is officially spring. The Southern California-esque weather here in Austin is absolute perfection and I’m not so mad to see my plants coming back to life. Of course, I would be really, really not mad if my yard looked a thing like I want it to. While I am blessed with a lush layer of deeply saturated green grass, and have a few trees to hold up my hammock, my yard is light years away from the landscaped wonder of my dreams.
While I have confidence in my interior design choices, landscaping is an entirely different story: plants and yard layouts are magical beasts that I can’t quite figure out how to tame. Whenever I talk with one of my plant-friendly pals I simply say “I want my yard to look like the Hotel San Jose”
The San Jose is an adorable hotel made up of several bungalows here in Austin. The cocktail patio outback is open to all, not just hotel guests and is one of my favorite spots to get a drink (psst, try the champassion, it will rock your face off). Cool cocktails on hot summer nights are just a front: I really go to this place to admire the landscaping.
None of these photos do the space the justice it deserves, but trust me when I say: it is freekin awesome. Until now, I did not know who the genius was behind the landscaping, I didn’t even think to look it up. I suppose I assumed that grounds so lovely just magically appeared after the Gods waved their hands over the land or something. I guess I was wrong. There is a designer, and he has a name:
Meet Mark Word. While I had never heard of him before today, almost every outdoor space in Austin that I adore can be traced back to him. His mix of wild grasses, over sized agave, and invasive (but stunning!!) ivy have me week at the knees.
Uhhhh!!! My dream front yard. My house is on a small hill, so this vision isn’t totally unreasonable. Well, unless you factor in the whole Karly doesn’t understand how to layout plants thing. I think it’s a fair guess to assume that Mark’s services are out of my price range, but what if I were to ply him with vodka?
I tore this image out of a magazine ages ago, not realizing that it was even in Austin, much less the work of my new yard hero. I would love to have a little cubby bench surrounding loose gravel behind my house.
Or, maybe a little grassy platform is right for me? I love how he mixes structured spaces with wild growth.
While several of you may be able to attest to my dislike for water features, especially when they involve fish or loud motors, but I find his custom metal pieces quite charming. Ok, I’m starting to see a formula surface: rusted industrial + minimal structure + some wild native Texas crap= Karly’s heart literally bleeds. Maybe I can try to pull this off on my own?
Ok, maybe I can’t do this myself. This is another picture I tore out ages ago, from a different magazine than the last one I pointed out. Seriously, how did I not figure out who this guy was? Oh, and just incase you’re wondering, here’s what the front of the house pictured above looks like:
Funny story: I actually made the final decision to buy the house I live in now because my entry walkway is not unlike the one pictured above. Just a thousand times less cool.
This seems a bit more attainable, but still light years beyond my landscaping ability. So if any of you readers out there happen to know Mr. Word, and, if, by chance he owes you a favor, how about you go ahead and hook a sister up?