We have been working very hard at making our upstate wilderness a little more tame. I love this outdoor living room featured in Elle Decor. The sunken firepit is wonderful and the curve of the bench is very inviting. I may want a few more cushions though…
The details are what make a good house great. I was drawn into many of the residential projects done by Shipley Architects, but the detail above is one of my favorite things. So simple and beautiful. It is what separates the meh from the amazing.
One day I dream my “pond” will look like this. Yes, this is from Sunset, what can I say, they have a lot of great ideas!
In the spring and early summer we have some major water moving through parts of the property which can make areas so muddy you risk losing your shoes if you don’t watch your step. We have already talked about drainage options and how we can bury a french drain to encourage the water to move along a certain path, but what fun is that? I think it would be cool to have a river of rocks to show us when the water is flowing and of course we will want a way to get across this rock river and what better than stepping stones. For some reason I haven’t been able to get this across to anyone yet but luckily Sunset has a picture of almost exactly the thing I am envisioning.
While out little house in the big woods is coming along, I feel like we are still missing a comfortable outdoor hang out space. We just recently finished the deck which is a big step forward and we have another deck under our gazebo roof started (and it is about time!) but we still need some outdoor furniture. Sunset Magazine is a long time favorite of mine and while I don’t get the print version I do like to poke around online and see what is cooking. I found instructions for this outdoor lounge made of PVC pipe and curtains, but to me the framework is not the most wonderful part. The chairs pictured here are fantastic! Low to the ground with pillows as back cushions they seem like just the think to sink into at the end of a day of work. I can’t see the couch in this view, but I imagine it to be a longer version of the chairs. And the coffee table is so simple but fits in perfectly! I have no idea where to purchase these beauties, but I am already figuring out how I can make them on my own.
As the weather gets warmer I start to think about what projects I would like to complete this year. Now that we have a place to sleep that isn’t a tent, I am sure we will be Upstate more often this year. If you live in the Northeast, you are familiar with hazy, hot and humid summer days. The type of day that requires a cold shower, especially when you have been working outside getting dirty. At this moment we do not have running water, but we do have a rain barrel so I am thinking we can finally get an outdoor shower set up even if we don’t have traditional plumbing this summer. There are so many things I love about this house, the way the walls open up to the outside, the rough concrete paths and bridges, the floating deck, but I think the thing I love the most is the bathroom with wood floor over dark stone and ofuro tub. Although this bathroom appears to be indoors, this is what I am going to shoot for in my outdoor shower.
OK, so despite the fact that I just saw a flurry of snow outside my window, spring is here and I am thinking about my upstate paradise. Please stop laughing D! It will be a paradise one of these days… Now that we have our little 10×10 up and running, it is time to carve out some outdoor space that is junk and poison ivy free. This weekend M&I will be going up to get the foundations of a deck in place for when Dad, Grandpa and maybe my Uncle Joe come up in a few weeks. I have big plans for this deck. At the moment when we break for lunch or for the day we don’t really have a nice place to sit, relax, and have a drink. The spot I have picked out is next to our tiny home (right off the sliding glass door) and under the shade of a few tress so we will be out of the heat of the sun. If you face in just the right direction you can’t even see all the of stuff scattered around. We already have an IKEA table and chair set we got on sale a while ago so I won’t be getting the lovely green chairs in my inspiration picture, although I have had my eye on them for a while so they may find their way upstate yet. picture via
If I ever have a house with a second floor, I totally want one of these! How fun would it be to slide down the stairs in the morning? Although maybe not head first… via
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