Holiday Travels

photo courtesy of Anna Wolf

We are packing up and getting ready to go see family for the holidays, and will not be back until 2010. Hope you have safe travels and happy holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Georgia Home Show

The Georgia Home Show is January 9-10th at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

Visit the website and buy your tickets now to come see our office's exhibit.

We are forcing bulbs and getting ready... less than a month until show time!

Favorite Christmas Decoration Ideas

Christmas is officially just around the corner, and I love seeing all the Christmas decorations everywhere you go. Here is a collection of some of my favorite Christmas decoration ideas.

IVY! Topiaries, wreaths, etc. make great decor year round, but tie a red bow around it and it is perfect for Christmas!

This moss wreath is amazing...

*Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Paper Whites! Great for decor and also a great gift to give friends.

*Courtesy of Coastal Living

Christmas trees outside. Not everyone has the space, but I love the creative idea.

*Courtesy of Coastal Living

M E R R Y C H R I S T MA S !

2 Discoveries...

I was catching up on my blog readings last week, when I saw Silver Bottom South had a post on One Kings Lane. Then the next blog that I read was Continuous Thread of Revelation, and they also had a post on One Kings Lane. I immediately clicked on the site, and was thrilled by what I saw.

I know that we are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but when marketers have pretty pictures and well designed logos, I am just about sold. As I began to explore the site, I loved everything that I saw. The site has different brands of home goods and accessories at a whole sale price. Click this link to check it out and become a member.

It would be a great place to get some christmas gift ideas!

Discovery #2... another product with gorgeous marketing photos, Ego Paris. Last week a lovely french woman who is a rep for Ego Paris, came to our office to introduce their outdoor furniture.

Although, I usually have more traditional taste, I was very impressed with the line.

It is all very well designed and engineered.

And could be perfect for a more contemporary setting.

With pretty marketing pictures like these, how can you not love it!

Stop and Smell the Roses

I apologize for being so absent lately. I have had my nose in a book or have been hunched over a drafting table for the past few weeks, studying and working practice problems. I took section E of the L.A.R.E exam yesterday. Five hours spent on four vignette problems has left my brain exhausted. Now, I am just glad that it is over, and I am going to take a break to stop and smell the roses. I will get back into the swing of things with more regular post beginning next week.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

And don't forget to stop and smell the roses!

Timeless Design

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis = Art is long, life is short

After reading a post by Style Chronicle and Things that Inspire about trends that define the 2000s and The Trends of Tomorrow, I began thinking about trends in landscape design.

Gardens pictured above: Versailles, Filoli, and home designed by DLA in Atlanta, GA

Although we have had the famous names of those we remember as altering landscape design as we know it, (i.e. Olmsted, the first landscape architect and Thomas Church with the modern movement) I believe that one of the great things about garden design is that well designed gardens last forever.

Ars longa, vita brevis is from The Aphorisms of Hippocrates meaning that life is short, but art will live on long after we are gone. A well designed garden built with sustainable materials can last forever. There are several world famous gardens that we continue to study and learn from that prove this theory. Although they may be on quite expansive scales, the basic elements are still the same components that we use in garden design today.

Claude Monet's garden at Giverny

Gardens, of course, have altered somewhat through the years. As our lots get smaller, gardens become more of an extension of our home. So build a porch, extend a patio, buy some classic outdoor furniture, and watch your garden spring into life.

"Haul out the Holly...

Put up the tree before my spirits fall again now, cause I need a little Christmas, right this very minute!"

Now that Thanksgiving has past, it is time to get out the Christmas Decor! At our house, we picked out a tree and decorated it last night.

(image courtesy of Country Living)

We still need to get a wreath to decorate our front door.

And maybe add a few more touches here and there.

I love this red bow shown above on a wreath at the White House.

The last picture is my sister's house decorated for Christmas. You can hardly see the lights in the palms in this picture, but they look great at night.

'Tis the Season!

Home for the Holidays

Today we are headed south for the Holidays.

We will have a our family Thanksgiving meal here...

(The two little ones on the blanket will be the guest of honor.)

We will be eating here quite a bit as well...

The girls will be shopping here...

While the guys will be out doing this...

And that is a few of the reasons why we love Thomasville, Georgia. Check out Garden and Gun for even more reasons.

If we are really lucky, we may even get to go peak around at some of the old Plantations such as Millpond (pictured below.) This one is particularly special to us, because this is where we had our wedding reception.

The last four pictures are courtesy of Garden and Gun.

Hope you have a wonderful Turkey Day!

In the Garden

Architectural Digest recently featured an article titled "Stars in Residence; Unforgettable Portraits of 12 Silver Screen Immortals, Each Captured in the Private Comfort of Home."

The two pictures below especially struck me because they were taken of famous people in the comfort of their own garden.

Above, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, who were married over 50 years, pose on their daughter's backyard swing set at their Hollywood home. From this picture, you would never know that they were oscar winners; it is nice to see such well known people so understated and seemingly accessible.

Actress Doris Day (pictured above) is quoted as saying “From the time I was a little girl, my only true ambition in life was to get married and tend house and have a family.” She was said to have a great interest in design, which is evident in the above picture of her Los Angeles's Toluca Lake area home. This photo reminds me of the picture below from Sea Island.

When looking at pictures such as these, I have to throw in a few by Slim Aarons (via Photographers Gallery.) These garden parties captured by such an amazing photographer seem indicative of a more glorious time.

Sweet November

It is hard to believe it is November with this fabulous fall weather - today high of 74 in Atlanta!

*I dont have the source of the picture... sorry!

If this keeps up we could have Thanksgiving dinner al fresco. The screen porch above looks like the perfect place!

Screen porches are a simple way to extend your home outdoors.

They can become a second living room in your home, and create a great place to cozy up by a fire place.

OR a great place for outdoor dining.

Just over a week away - What are your plans for Thanksgiving dinner?

* last three pictures courtesy of Cottage Living

Barkitecture

If you are a dog lover, than this is the coffee table book for you. Barkitecture by Fred Albert is full of a variety of dog houses. Some are quite the monstrosities, and some are so perfectly designed that they fit seamlessly into the garden. The cover of the book illustrates a great example of this.

This thatched roof dog house is one of my favorites in the book. It reminds me of the play house at Old Westbury Gardens.

How funny is the one?

The book is just full of interesting designs that are very entertaining to look at.

The above picture is not from the book, but does it remind you of something? Maybe a post earlier this week... It is from Boutique Tents! They even make a dog version.

The last two pictures are of Mosley's house (my parents dog.) The shingles and the paint color match the house perfectly. Although it is tucked in a corner it still becomes another garden element or focal point instead of an eye sore.