When I toured the Dwell Outdoor section of the trade show at last weekend’s Dwell on Design 08-LA, the first things to catch my eye were some “flying” pots of bamboo. Suspended from the ceiling, resembling broomsticks owned by the Wicked Witch of the West, the potted bamboo plants seemed to be whooshing to and fro, by themselves.

Slightly twisted, this version of a well-behaved, dare I say “garden-variety,” plant display was the brainchild of a few folks at Monrovia. As one of the major sponsors of the Dwell conference, Monrovia was given the task of decorating the vast Dwell Outdoor area, which showcased modern living trends and hot new products.

Monrovia partnered with Sarah Graham, a principal of agps architecture, to create the “Flying Bamboo” theme. “We wanted to design a conceptual landscape for Dwell Outdoor and Monrovia, as a means for visitors to see landscape in a new way,” Graham explained in a Monrovia press release. “As plants, particularly large plants, are usually gravity based, we reversed that normal condition, making it surreal. One cannot help but to notice, to question, and to laugh.”

Bamboo foliage nearly tickled the tops of our heads while I chatted with Judy Lynes, Monrovia’s publicist from The Phelps Group, a Santa Monica-based PR agency, and Pamela Wasson, Monrovia’s marketing VP. The women said Monrovia enjoyed creating something that guaranteed a reaction (I guess the only person not excited about the installation was the local Fire Marshall, who had concerns that plants would start dropping from the sky onto conference-goers).

But thanks to secure cables and lots of other precautions, the caper worked! When I walked into the giant shell of a convention hall, the flying plants soared above the displays and visually demanded my attention.

Plenty of lush, healthy Monrovia plants were closer to the ground, too, for easy viewing, including dramatic architectural plants, water-wise and easy-care varieties. By focusing on its selection of 42 custom-blended  soil mixes (using dozen different types of mycorrhiaze, a beneficial fungus), Monrovia educated consumers and landscape professionals about the importance of good soil.

“We work with so many landscape architects and designers, we thought this would be an ideal venue to showcase our plants and soils to those professionals,”  Wasson said.

ARCHITECTURE IN THE GARDEN

Shedista that I am, I was wowed by the many great examples of scaled-down style designed for escaping to the great outdoors. There were some of the wonderfully creative shed-like structures on display below Monrovia’s flying bamboo. I daresay each was a stylish hideaway, deserving of a starring role in the garden:

MODERN CABANA

The brochure copy reads like it’s straight out of the pages of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, promising: “SPACE TO: Work, Play, Film, Paint, Meditate, Rest, Escape, Research, Read, Create.” Based in San Francisco, Modern Cabana offers pre-fabricated accessory structures made from clear cedar siding (all sorts of design upgrades are available). The clean, modern design comes in 10-by-10, 10-by-12, 10-by-14 and 10-by-16 foot configurations. Multiple units can be connected to create expanded floor plans. “The Cabana can be used as a guest cottage, urban penthouse, desert hideaway, fishing cabin, workshop, sound studio, yoga studio, kids’ playhouse, or exercise room.”

KITHAUS

I discovered Kithaus, a cool slat-sided shelter, at the CA-Boom 07 show in Santa Monica and invited the company to be part of our book. But the young shedmaker, which uses a lightweight anodized aluminum frame, Ipe decking and louvers, and a corrugated metal roof to make its nifty, freestanding room, didn’t have a completed and fully installed structure ready in time for our photo schedule. Now, Kithaus has been picked up by Design Within Reach, which is marketing and distributing the prefabricated units. “Wondering where you can use Kithaus? How about anywhere you need a fully insulated, pre-wired comfortable space.”

SHELTER SYSTEMS

Like a three-dimensional puzzle, the “Comeback Cube” by Culver City, Calif.-based artist-architect Gregg Fleishman, is undeniably part sculpture and part shelter. It is playful and interactive in its design. Yet, it is practical, and I can see it functioning as a contemporary summerhouse. According to press material, the design features: “a full-size single-cube module in 3/4 inch European Birch, measuring 9 ft by 9 ft by 9 ft, with 81 square feet of interior space and an 81 square foot rooftop deck. The single cube is permit exempt, making for a quick and elegant temporary structure, backyard studio, guesthouse, or children’s playroom.”

On his web site, Fleishman speaks further about his design decisions:

“In architecture today, the green movement focuses mostly on the origins of material and use of energy. This work proposes that there is another way to be green in architecture, a way that focuses on process in building going beyond the factory. It is in geometry, with its repeating similar forms, and smaller similar parts that we find the advantages we are looking for. These include greater structural efficiency, manufacturing economies, easier handling, less specialized work force, and lower start up costs. What distinguishes this geometry . . .  (are) the cube and the octagon, more specifically variations of a 3D checkerboard of cubes or ‘rhombicubes.’ When oriented in different ways, these cubes have provided for a veritable bouquet of new and different building types to sprout up using faceted geometrical faces that can provide a new and more natural look and feel to our buildings.”

THE NOMAD YURT

Ecoshack is an LA-based green design studio and manufacturer of architectural products such as the Nomad, a modern take on the traditional Mongolian yurt. I am fascinated by this fabric-cloaked shelter designed for use as a fully-enclosed guest room for 3 to 4, a poolside (or rooftop) lounge that seats 10 to 12, or a spa treatment room. “At night, light the interior to create a magical, private room.”

Designed by Ecoshack founder and CEO Stephanie Smith, The Nomad measures 14-ft. diameter, with an interior height just over 7 ft. Its materials include:

— Solid Core Bamboo, a renewable, flexible, strong and light material 50 times stronger than oak but lighter than steel;

— WeatherMAX FR, an advanced, exterior-grade, anti-flammable fabric that delivers “unsurpassed water repellency, mildew and oil resistance without relying on environmentally unfriendly coating compounds.”

Truly, “a yurt reinvented.”

The “Geranium Hut,” named so for the cluster of pelargoniums growing at its base. Designed and built by Jeff Shelton

Santa Barbara architect and shed-maker Jeff Shelton appears in my new column for the June issue of 805 Living, a local style magazine based in Westlake Village, California. The column is called ‘In the Garden.’ Not too imaginative, I know. I voted for ‘Deep Roots,’ but I think my editor considered that too esoteric. So like a million other gardening columns, we’re calling ours: ‘In the Garden.’

A blog reader tipped me off about Jeff and his penchant for designing and constructing cool little buildings, sending along a link to the “Huts” section of Jeff’s web site.

When I contacted him to schedule a visit, we had to work around Jeff’s grueling schedule: He was taking time off from his architecture practice between 10 a.m. and noon, four days a week, to teach ultimate frisbee at a middle school. Despite a demanding professional life, Jeff knows how to enjoy the moment. And, of course, this is why he loves creating his little huts.

If it’s possible for someone to be both intense and mellow, Jeff is it. His body language is relaxed, but I can tell his mind is working nonstop. Definitely an out-of-the-box architect, Jeff allows artistry and, dare I say, whimsy, to have a seat at the design table.

“You certainly don’t need skill to build these,” Jeff insisted, describing his structures as something a Dr. Seuss character might erect. While touring me around Oakleigh, his 12-acre family compound in Montecito that dates back to the 1890s (when it was a boarding school for boys), we stepped inside several of the structures, including his wife Karin’s art studio, shown here:

Using whatever was on-hand, working at his leisure during weekends, Jeff fashioned this light-filled room where Karin paints and draws. He appropriated and reassembled old windows and doors, hammered reclaimed fencing to create a cantilevered “porch” for their eldest daughter Elena’s shed, and mounted a mural-painted piece of plywood (originally used for the backdrop of a sixth-grade play) to form one wall of a shed called the Geranium Hut.

In appealing contrast to the luxury world of Santa Barbara and Montecito, Jeff’s little buildings illustrate his Less is Better philosophy:

“People miss out on coziness when their home turns into a status symbol,” Jeff points out. “My job is to try and reduce the size of a project.”

Sometimes, like the forts and tree houses of one’s childhood, the shed “is the answer for the moment,” he says.  

In addition to sharing this illustration of Elena’s Red Shed for use with my column, Jeff gave me a selection of his hand-drawn shed plans. He sketches the dimensions and construction details, makes photocopies, and sells a set of plans for $5. One two-page set of plans, titled “Gardener’s Hut,” includes front, side and back elevations for a cozy, 192-square-foot structure with a tiny loft and a sloped, shed-style roof.

The architect’s design notes appear in the margins, with tips such as “check dumpsters on large construction sites for good stuff,” “design around windows and doors that are available” and “stain wood with watered down latex; 1 gal. will last for years.” An area beneath the shed’s raised foundation is labeled: “place for dog to sleep.”

Often, Jeff helps would-be shed builders to find sources for recycled windows, salvaged wood or other pieces and parts. He is the ultimate scavenger-builder who sees a good use for materials otherwise destined for a landfill. “Save it and use it,” Jeff proclaims.

A note about writing for my “local” style publications, 805 Living magazine. Our monthly magazine has distribution in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, so this new gig allows me to explore in my new backyard. I’m meeting great garden designers, architects, plantsmen and women, and I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot.

In addition, editor Lynne Andujar pretty much lets me run with the ideas I find exciting. I am grateful for the freedom she gives and it reminds me of working with a few other trusting and supportive editors in my past, including Melanie Munk at The Herald and Giselle Smith at Seattle Homes & Lifestyles.

When Lynne and I met at a press luncheon last December, we discovered that we have a common past: We both worked for Seventeen Magazine early in our careers. I’m sure she was there more than a decade after I was, but even still, there is a common language for anyone who’s done that gig. Not exactly the stuff of “The Devil Wears Prada,” but kinda.

My pals at Monrovia made sure to add me to the press list for dwell Magazine’s first-ever design symposium in Los Angeles (I think the two previous conferences were held in the San Francisco Bay Area).

Dwell on Design’s hip graphics and giant magazine covers filled the LA Convention Center. The addition of plants, provided by Monrovia, helped soften the ultra-modern flavor of the event and infuse the setting with something living and green.

The four-day conference included panel lectures, home tours and a trade show featuring the best contemporary and sustainable resources for the home and beyond. I missed Thursday’s panels, but met up with Nan Sterman to attend some of Friday’s panels and the trade show.

Having spent many hours of my professional life uncomfortably confined to stiff, industrial-grade chairs while listening to lectures, I was thrilled to see that conference sponsor Lounge22, a Los Angeles-based furniture company, provided v-e-r-y cushy sofas for those of us smart enough to show up on time and get a place near the front of the room. Sleek, low-profile sofas, upholstered in white or black leather, made sitting still an easy (and luxurious) endeavor. Very classy, folks.

Stylish attendees reclining on sleek Lounge22 sofas – it beats a folding chair!

First off, a panel of leading hotel and restaurant designers convened “Home and Away: the nexus of hospitality and domestic design.” Moderated by dwell editor Sam Grawe, the panel featured Cass Calder Smith, principal of CCS Architecture (San Francisco-based), Peg O’Brien, founder/principal of O’Brien Design, and Theresa Fatino, Chief Creative Officer, SBE Entertainment Group.

I asked myself, why do I care about hotel and restaurant design? I haven’t written about the hospitality biz since I was a reporter covering the hotel beat for Puget Sound Business Journal back in the late 80s-early 90s. But I remembered that my experiences reporting on hotel and restaurant trends strongly influenced and shaped my design sensibilities – and helped train my eye to look for creative design influences everywhere around me. I’m pleased to say, it was worth my time to slouch into the white leather sofa, stretch my legs and listen to the presentation.

Of the three panelists, it was Theresa Fatino who blew me away. She has been described as having a sixth-sense for observing cultural tastes and trends. Fatino is a passionate keeper of the faith for her current project, SLS Hotels. As a project of SBE Entertainment Group, the first SLS Hotel is slated to open later this year in Beverly Hills (Las Vegas and South Beach, Florida, properties are also in the works). 

You may ask yourself: What does SLS mean? I finally found a clever reference to the acronym on the company’s web site: Some Little Secrets. The hotel is pursuing a high-touch, but understated niche in the crowded hospitality market.

Fatino is the organization’s key collaborator with master designer Philippe Starck on its hotel, restaurant and lounge concepts. In addition to SLS Hotels, these include the Katsuya restaurant brand, recently-opened S Bar and a yet-to-be-named upscale supper club on the Sunset Strip. She has an impressive resume that includes a fine arts degree from Syracuse University, followed by design positions with Ralph Lauren, Pottery Barn and the W Hotel.

Fatino described the intricate development of SLS Hotels’ “brand” management message, summed up by a list of “emotional touch points.” I might be missing a few of them, but here are the themes I quickly jotted down during her lecture:

Conscience

No Compromise

Internal Reward

New Functionality

Semi-public

pre-Googling

Curated Consumption

Customization

Customer-made

Out-Experience-In

Niche Growth

Online Oxygen

Planned Spontaneity

Buy Now

To me, these ideas are symbolic of broader consumer trends. Far-reaching, such ideas aren’t limited to the hospitality industry. They serve a kind of marketer’s shorthand to describe and highlight the present mood of popular culture, media (and media consumption), technology, product design and art.

Fatino illustrated a few of the ideas:

pre-Googling: This refers to our reliance on the Internet as a “preparation” tool. For example, how many of us “Google” someone in advance of a planned meeting (this could be a work-related contact or even someone you might encounter at a dinner party)? We’re addicted to Google as a verb!

Curated Consumption: As a design writer, I find this one fascinating. Certain arbiters of taste are given the “power” to curate our artistic and aesthetic choices. Fatino describes Pottery Barn as the “curator of casual living,” Williams Sonoma as the “curator of the kitchen,” Oprah as the “curator of the books we read,” and Martha as the “curator of flowers.” “We are following and obeying the new curators of taste and style,” she explains.

Online-oxygen: “How many of us wake up in the morning and before we do anything else, we reach for our Blackberry?” she asked. This habit equates our need to breathe oxygen with our need to constantly access our online lives; it is shaping design decisions made for the new hotel. She illustrated this concept with a slide of a man seated in a Zen garden, using his laptop. Hmmm.

Internal reward: There is a need to balance our “wired” lifestyle with an “unplugged” response. “We need to rejuvenate, nourish the mind, replenish, engage in spiritual activities,” Fatino suggested (at this point in her lecture, I leaned over to Nan and whispered: We all need a Stylish Shed – that will provide ample internal reward, the antidote to everyday insanity!)

After identifying these emotional touch points, Fatino cited a list she called the “catalog of experiences” the new hotel will offer. I suspected her list would be geared to customers willing and able to pay for this level of luxury. But surprisingly, many of them are emotional experiences rather than tangibles. And in a way, that’s what’s so appealing about these ideas. These experiences seem to require an attention to detail rather than a big budget. Here they are:

Elegant

Timeless

Intelligence

Community

Authentic

Human-Spirited

Organic

Respect

Reliable

Humanity

Inspiration

Discovery

Soul

The challenge, said Fatino, is to “translate the ‘experience’ into a physical product,” but to do it with sincerity and integrity (people can easily spot a “copy job,” she says).  

For example, the hotelier has decided to eliminate little plastic bottles of shampoo and lotion and replaced them with high-quality, natural body products in large, glass, refillable bottles. Not only is this environmentally smart, it is a small gesture that communicates the desired guest experience. Some are tangible, such as warm, fuzzy-feeling Egyptian cotton towels or “bronze-tinted” lighting flattering to the face. Others are intangible, such as how guests’ children and pets are treated. “We know when to create a surprise and when to whisper,” Fantino explained.

HOW WILL HEARING THIS NEW INFORMATION CHANGE THE WAY I OPERATE?

I think I will come up with my own “emotional touchpoints” and “catalog of experiences” to describe how I want to live, conduct my life, work, relationships and immediate surroundings. I’ll be tracking SLS Hotels as they open and begin to execute Fatino’s vision.

NEXT UP. . .

I have two more reports to post, but this is already too long. The next one will highlight Dwell Outdoor, the exhibit area featuring landscape and garden design ideas and products. That will be followed by a report on a Sustainable Interiors panel.

Thanks to a connection made by my Seattle-based PR whiz-friend Cindy Combs, I was invited to be a guest on “Living Today,” the daily afternoon show on Martha Stewart Living Radio. The segment originally aired on April 28th, the day before Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways was published.

I had a delightful 25-minute conversation with gregarious host Mario Bosquez.  We discussed the ideas and inspiration for one of my very favorite subjects: Creating Your Dream Shed.

The “Living Today” team (from left to right): associate producer Lauren Gould, producer Naomi Gabay, host Mario Bosquez, and engineer Chris Hauselt [MSL Radio photo]

The interview was completely enjoyable, enhanced by Mario’s enthusiasm and constant affirmation, which gave the impression that talking about “elegant hideaways” was to him the most exciting topic on earth!

Obtaining an audio copy of the interview was nothing short of a miracle, however. It involved (a), signing up for a free 3-day subscription to Sirius Radio; (b) setting up my crappy little cassette recorder next to the computer so I could tape the show as it streamed live on the net; and (c) racing into the other room to do the interview by phone with Mario.

Once my segment of the show was finished, I returned to my office and rewound the recording of the interview. Not only was it kind of scratchy and there were all sorts of pinging sounds from my computer (probably some kind of AOL affectation that lets you know if a new message has arrived), I also discovered that the tape ran out before the interview was over. I begged my publisher to try and obtain a professional recording from some kind of media monitoring service, but that request went nowhere.

So, finally, thanks to my wonderful collaborator Bill Wright, who figured out how to convert a cassette recording into a digital file (and who, I’m sure, devoted many hours to clean up the poor quality sound captured by my amateurish recording), we have a reasonable facsimile of the interview. Thanks, too, to Bob Meador, aka the web guru, for further enhancing and editing the file, filtering out background noises where possible, and posting the audio to my web site.

Thanks to the support of my friends, I actually have the interview to share, albeit more than a month after it originally aired. Click here to listen: Debra on MSL Radio.

Frette’s luxurious Bohemian pillows, featured in a Betty Wasserman-designed living room

New York-based interior designer Betty Wasserman, whose redesign of a one-car garage and potting shed into a gorgeous guest cottage is featured in Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, has been named JUNE Designer of the Month by the luxury linen firm Frette.

Profiled on Frette’s web site (photo above and at left by Frette), Betty is described as “a rising designer who has made her mark by fusing original art, interior design and home furnishings into a complete and modern approach to lifestyles.” The article continues: “She takes a warm, minimalist approach to design to create an environment reflective of modern themes while concurrently expressing the lifestyle and needs of the client.”

In “Second Act,” our chapter about her inviting backyard destination, Betty plays the role of designer and client. Bill Wright’s photos capture the spirit and flair of Betty’s creative work. In my text, I tried to sum up her acumen as an artist and designer:

Where others saw “potting shed” Betty Wasserman saw “guesthouse. She renovated the barn-shaped structure with her signature “country modern” style, using furniture and art to create a cozy backyard getaway.

There is a pleasing asymmetry to the gambrel-roof garage with the small attached potting shed [William Wright photo]

This talented young woman breathed new life into a 1930s Hamptons garage and created a serene guest cottage for weekend visitors. Bill and I still talk about the day we arrived at Betty and her daughter Milly’s  Southampton backyard in May 2007. Situated behind her 1930s farmhouse, which Betty also renovated with a refreshing face-lift, the 600-square-foot garage revealed undeniable charm. A gambrel-style roof hinted at the building’s history. The original barn-style sliding door was mounted along the outside, as one would expect. But there was a promise of something new and exciting on the face of this little brown building.

A pair of horizontally-divided French doors enliven the front of the building.  Square, cottage-style windows give it a welcoming, wide-eyed personality. Tidy evergreen shrubs anchor the foundation into the ground. Square paving stones punctuate the lawn with a checkered pattern. Everything is crisp and confident. And that is just the exterior.

The original beams look rugged beneath an open ceiling [William Wright photo]

The interior is, as Bill likes to say, “magazine picture-perfect.” When we walked inside, it was so understated and classy that we honestly just stood there and pointed the lens. That’s not to say it was easy to photograph because like anything done well, we had to light the interior and compose our shots. We also had some kind of insanely short deadline, since weekend guests were expected to arrive in less than three hours. The picture-perfect room would soon be filled with their luggage and tennis equipment.

Somehow, thanks to a year of mentally communicating with one another on our locations, Bill and I whipped into high gear, angling furniture, and running into Betty’s house to borrow accessories like pillows, vases and candles. Her daughter Milly, who reminded us of the storybook character, Eloise, alternated between hanging around to watch, posing on the sofa in her party dress, and racing around the garden in “superhero” mode. We could have used a superhero to make time stand still and allow us to work at our leisure.

Miraculously, we shot something like 11 images in that three-hour window. Serious record, folks. Bill likes to say, “we did our best work in the shortest period of time!”

We have to give much of the credit for our awesome photos to Betty herself. After she was through with it, as small as it was, the serene guesthouse gave no hint that it once held a truck or tractor. This woman has incredible vision. To Betty, what once was a 200-square-foot lean-to style potting shed appeared just the right size for an apartment-efficient kitchen and even a postage-stamp-sized bathroom.  The garage ceiling was stripped away to make room for earthy beams overhead. A Murphy bed, hidden behind a custom door that Betty created by “weaving” walnut veneer strips over and under steel rods, was just one of her innovations. Betty designed much of the guesthouse’s custom furniture, similar to pieces in her line called bettyhome.

The garage-turned-guesthouse is popular with visiting families and their small children, usually playmates of Milly. It’s also a private retreat for mother and daughter, Betty says. “Sometimes, Milly will say, ‘Oh, Mommy, can we sleep out here tonight? She loves that whole feeling of it being our separate getaway.”

If you click over to the Frette web site, you will read a Q&A interview with Betty. Her answers to two of the questions struck a chord with me:

Q: What advice would you give to other young, up and coming designers?

A: Determine what your tastes are early in your career and focus on what you love doing. Only do what you love doing. Specialize and do not try to be everything to everyone; then you are no good to anyone!

Q: What do you look forward to accomplishing in the next 10 years?

A: Besides raising my 5-year-old daughter Milly to be a confident, happy child who is proud of her mom, I also look forward to seeing the business grow to another level in terms of project type and scale. I enjoy having our projects published, and I would like to consider producing a book about my work some day. We appear in a new book just released called “Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways,” by Debra Prinzing. Milly and I are featured in our Southampton guest house and that has inspired me to want a book published about my work soon!

Congratulations, Betty! Thank you for sharing your talent with us and here’s to your future success!

“Shelf Life,” by Adrian Tomine, from the February 25, 2008 cover of  The New Yorker

Only a writer (or possibly an editor or book-seller) could appreciate the ironic narrative played out across the nine frames of cartoonist and illustrator Adrian Tomine’s spot-on perfect cover for The New Yorker earlier this year.

Yup. It starts with an author, toiling away at her laptop, alone in her little office. Nothing but a cup of coffee (tea, in my case) and a bare window to stare out of when she is searching for the correct word or phrase. Next, we follow the further adventure of a book’s life: When the agent presents the wonderful, finally-completed manuscript to the editor; when the editor gives it a thumb’s up; when the book is printed and bound (probably in Taiwan); when the bookseller displays a stack of crisp, fresh-smelling, just-published books; when the beloved customer first buys, and then actually sits down to READ it.

But then, as is depicted in frame number 7, we arrive at the waning years of a book’s life. The period of time from a book’s conception through gestation to its birth may seem to drag on forever, folks. Yet the final days of a book’s life can occur at lightening speed, as is witnessed here. Perhaps its owner needs to “simplify” or “clean up the clutter,” thus: the tome is set out on the curb in a cardboard box filled with other household discards. But someone reaches for it. Has the book gained new meaning? A new purpose? Yes, indeed. That hard-back cover and high-quality paper makes for great kindling on a cold night. As it burns away in a metal drum, in a desolate urban alleyway or corner, perhaps this frame can be described as “book cremation.” Its ashes live on. Somewhere.

My friends Robyn and Don framed the cover, entitled “Shelf Life,” as a gift commemorating the publication of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways. Along with other dear friends, they signed the huge white mat-board that surrounds the artwork, wishing success with sentiments like:

“While you have always impressed me as a ‘can-do’ girl and accomplished your goals, this tops the cake – Stylish Sheds is a Big Deal!” (Robyn)

 

“Cheers to your biggest, best and brightest, with many more to come. Can’t wait!” (Braiden and Spencer)

 

“You’ve always been the ‘bright’ light in our neighborhood, but baby, you’re on ‘fire'” (Don)

 

The print is now hanging in my office, a tribute to the highs and lows of this rare creative process, one that’s still steeped in something more tangible than letters appearing on a flat-screen monitor.

But how do others see the product of the heartfelt efforts to which Bill Wright and I devoted several years of our lives? It’s a useful tool, all 224 pages of it, according to my blogging friends. Here are two observations. It’s pretty funny when you think about it. The life of a book. I’m happy mine gets around, even in nontraditional ways:

Lydia Plunk, whose blog A Very Good Life is all about living, gardening and loving her Southern California backyard and home, used Stylish Sheds as a distraction during her exercise routine (see her photo above). She posted a shot of the book, resting on the handles of her treadmill. In her May 17th blog-entry, entitled “Perspiration and Inspiration,” Lydia had this to say:

By slowing the pace, the layers of visual pleasure are better appreciated for their individual flavor components. That is why Stylish Sheds became my companion on the treadmill the past few weeks. It was a delightful companion, helping make the road back to my pre-accident self enjoyable. . . . Perspiration mixing with inspiration, I began to re-imagine my own shed. Using the matrix Debra used as an executive summary for each project, this is how I plan to make the highest and best use of my own shed.
Mission: My shed is the playhouse I always wanted, but growing -up never had. Think denim and lace for style. The shed serves as a big treasure chest of the parts for the hobbies integral to my lifestyle (doesn’t that sound so much better than “storage”)? Started with great intentions, it is in need of tlc. . .

Daniel Mount, a gardening and writing pal in Seattle, confessed to NAPPING with my book (see his photo above). In his May 26th blog-journal entry, entitled “A Nap in a Shed,” Daniel had this to say:

I decided to treat Memorial Day as at least a half-holiday and left Michael out in the garden planting and came in to the house, on a sunny day no less, and napped and read. I read Debra Prinzing’s Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways. I had already wandered through the pictures several times, envious and awed at what passes for a shed these days. Many were better than our house. But it was Debra’s writing on the subject and the inspiration she found when visiting these sheds, that caught me on fire.
I always though of my suitcase as my home away from home. But as I get older and travel gets more expensive, I realize the necessity of retreat space in my own back yard. Well now I have a back yard. Of course living in a flood plane makes siting such a space complicated, but Michael had the idea for a tree house high above the floods grasp, where we could monkishly retreat together or separately and leave the messy kitchen, the paper work and the shovels behind, without getting into the truck. . . Maybe you will start to dream about a shed of your own, too.

 

I have to admit, reading as a prelude to napping is one of my very favorite activities. Just ask the males in my family. “Mom’s napping,” is an oft-uttered Sunday afternoon phrase around here. So of course, I love the image of Daniel, sprawled out on his sofa, with this book propped up on his chest, alternating between snoozing and dreaming about the future incarnation of his backyard treehouse-shed! I also love the image of a slim, trim, healthy Lydia, jogging away on her treadmill, her imagination miles away from that grind as she mentally redesigns the storage shed for a more personal expression of her design style. The creative mind doesn’t stop working, even when the body is sweating!

I’m so curious to see what other activities this book inspires. What other “chapters” it lives, all before landing in someone’s bonfire as a source of heat. For now, one of the best uses seems to be stashing Stylish Sheds inside a one-gallon zip-lock bag (to keep the soil off the cover) and taking it with me to the garden! That’s what I’ll be doing this summer.

Liz Lyons Friedman, at the easel inside her studio [William Wright photo]

Liz Lyons Friedman, artist and printmaker extraordinaire, creates joy-inducing pictures in her boathouse-turned-atelier in Aptos, California (near Santa Cruz). Her vibrant artwork documents life, love, food, wine, home, garden, travel and more — all those pursuits cherished by lovers of beauty. The stuff of which memories and friendship are made. One of her recent series of prints is aptly entitled “Celebrations.”

After we discovered Liz (thanks to Christina Glynn of the Santa Cruz Tourism Bureau), Bill and I knew we would have a blast photographing her gallery-like studio. We arrived v-e-r-y early one March morning in 2007, in need of caffeine and hauling all sorts of camera equipment and lighting out of my Subaru stationwagon.

Boathouse-turned-art studio, enhanced by a cactus garden designed and planted by Liz and her partner John Gavrilis [William Wright photo]

We shot the exterior of Liz’s studio at dawn, the filtered light gracing a sculptural garden of cactus and succulents. Inside her 10-by-25 foot “shoe box,” Liz has created a gallerylike space for making and displaying her artwork. A 16-foot-long bank of windows faces the garden and ocean, drawing much-desired natural light to the interior spaces where her easel and printing press stand. Plastered walls, finished in a warm golden hue, highlight the framed prints that hang in nicely-organized groupings. French doors, worktables and a printing press finish the space.

Liz describes it this way:

“I go inside and it’s so peaceful there,” she says. “I think back to the French ateleirs, and that artists have always wanted a place to get away from everyday life and its distractions – and focus on their painting and drawing.”

“Gardening Tools,” Hand colored linocut  © Liz Lyons Friedman

Liz says that the idea for one of her more recent pieces, “Gardening Tools,” came from spending a day with Bill and me as we photographed her at work, carving a flower with U- and V-shaped knives as she sliced sections of lino tile to reveal the beautiful flower she had designed. She reminded me of the story in a recent email:

“We were chatting about pouring a glass of wine and then going out to the garden in the evening to water or putter. I always point out that the glass of wine is the most important gardening tool in the piece!”

This charming print is the result of her imagination, artistic inspiration and fond memories of time spent in the garden. It makes me very happy to look at, as I imagine Liz puttering in this garden scene. Lines from my chapter about Liz are appropriate to share here:

“In designing this studio, my motive was to make it a happy space, because I make happy art.”

Thank you, Liz! It is a joy to have you in the pages of Stylish Sheds! 

Thanks to Jane Berger of Garden Design Online for an endorsement in her blog today. The sublime shed is the new alternative to a plastic backyard storage unit, and Jane makes this point for her readers:

Once you’ve taken a quick look at this book, you’ll never again recommend a lean-to potting or tool shed or one of those abominations that they sell in the big-time lumber and hardware stores.

Sunni Rudd’s delightful backyard getaway

Filled with timeless character, John Barham’s potting place is at home in his sculpture garden

She singles out some of her favorite shed destinations featured in the pages of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, including our friend Sunni Rudd’s rustic but feminine hideaway in Seattle and the gracious John Barham’s weathered shed in the Hamptons, inspired by a historic fisherman’s shack. Each is unique and highly personal. And that’s the point of using this tiny architecture to make a big design statement in the landscape. Adds Jane:

Prinzing paves the way for an entirely new way to think about garden structures —  to make them very special places that fit the owner’s personality and add a touch in the garden that no one else can duplicate.

This book belongs on every designer’s bookshelf for inspiration … easily gained from the scores of photos by William Wright that illustrate every project. 

Thank you, Jane!

I’m joined by my friend and party hostess Kathy Fries. We’re standing in front of her rustic shack-turned-Doge’s Palace, built by John Akers

The Seattle sun was shining, perhaps a little too brightly, on Saturday, May 17th. In fact, I heard later that temperatures reached close to 90 degrees, a record high for that date in history.

Kathy Fries, aka Shed Diva (she owns four of them!) and her cast of talented gardener helpers, nannies and caterers, threw an unforgettable garden party to celebrate the launch of Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways. Scheduled as an open-garden, which encouraged guests to stroll the peaceful, shady paths through the Fries property, the party paid homage to the fanciful little buildings we captured in the book. The man of the hour, shed-builder John Akers, was “missing,” but we know he likes to avoid crowds. His artistry was well received, oohed and aah-ed over, and festooned with bouquets and champagne. Good job, John! Wish you had come!

The menu included plump strawberries with brown sugar and Devonshire cream, meringue cookies, little sandwiches, iced tea, champagne . . . all served on Kathy’s potting bench-buffet

With more than 120 in attendance, the three-hour event was a bit of a whirlwind. Bill Wright and I felt like we signed books nonstop, greeted friends, hugged and thanked the owners of no fewer than 10 of the sheds featured in our book, and then signed more books. Gillian Mathews of Ravenna Gardens was our cheerful bookseller. She figured out how to get a copy of Stylish Sheds into the hands of anyone who wanted one, even if that meant raiding Kathy’s personal stash or taking orders once she ran out of inventory. We were truly touched with her support. You can find signed copies of Stylish Sheds at her stores.

Xander Fries, collecting eggs for the pages of our book [William Wright photo]

Thank you, Kathy and Ed: you threw a doozie of a party. I have spent many fond hours in this magical landscape, but honestly, it has never looked more beautiful. The flowers bloomed larger and brighter, the vines threw out new, spring-green tendrils, the ferns glistened in the dappled light. Our guest-signer, Xander Fries, who is featured on page 73 collecting eggs from the Palais de Poulets, charmed guests by autographing “his page” of the book.

A highlight for me was seeing so many dear friends in my (former) Seattle gardening community. It has been nearly two years since I left for LA, and it was a treat to return for this celebration. Owners of all nine Washington sheds featured in our pages came to help celebrate. Without them, we wouldn’t have completed this awesome project and we are honored they came and helped mark the publication!

Bill, Steven and Sylvia Williams, and me

But the prize goes to Sylvia and Steven Williams, who traveled from Texas to attend the party! Only two weeks after throwing a party for us at Stonebridge, their garden in Bertram, Syliva and Steven flew to Seattle to join us. They represented their home state in Texas style, dazzling everyone with their out-sized friendship, not to mention cowboy hats.

The party treats were simply fabulous, including Kathy’s elegant version of my amateurish “shed cookies.” She gets the “Martha Prize” for decorating with a piping tube and marbling the frosting. Really, Kathy. You are amazing.