“Look, why don’t we move out some of those colors (the magentas, soft pinks and some chartreuse) outside and create sort of a framework, or hedge if you will, of lavender as the backdrop?” It was a sort of a contemporary place, so I designed these planter boxes, which defined the edge of this large outdoor living space. It was kind of like a wall, defining the area where we placed comfortable furnishings upholstered in fabric that complmented the interior and that accented the space. We used bubble-gum supertunias in single big
pots clustered together in groupings of three or five to pick up the pinks and reds. The variegated Agave americaina added the muted grays and that touch of chartreuse, with the gray tones also in the laven- der. It was a really simple palette with those three plants. It worked with the earth tones of the stone terrace, which emulated the earth tones of the inte- rior rooms. You know, it’s just simple things like that which tie things together and the client loved it. And you know you can change the look by what you plant in the pots; you don’t have to use the same plantings every year! It seems like you are moving professionally a bit more toward interior design, is that intentional? I love interior design; in fact, my mother was an
ou talk a lot about the idea of a garden home a lot, can you tell me a little more about what that means?
I really believe that the exterior of our homes are an underutilized asset and you don’t have to have a lot of space, but with a creative eye, you can come up with really interesting outdoor living areas—particularly in California. That is so relevant, especially out here on so many lev- els—residentially, commercially on a corporate level—it frustrates me that there is still such a separation. I was just going to say the same thing, people
stay boxed up—you know, I drive through neigh- borhoods and I see these garden spaces, well they’re actually yards. You know my grandmother used to say, “Listen honey, a yard is for a chicken, this is a garden and we’re not chickens.” So for me, to have that outdoor space and to not use it, is such a waste of a real asset—particularly in this economy. We are all reeling from both the housing and financial downward spiral. To not look out on what we already have and say, “How do I extend my living space?” is a missed opportunity. Interesting, I have always said that being a good designer
44 RAGE monthly | MARCH 2012
means that you have to look at the whole picture, exterior included, especially since it is the first thing that people see! That’s very true, I’ll tell you about one of my tech-
niques. I’m sure other designers use it as well. I design from inside of the house looking out. I will walk from room to room with a client and look out the windows or stand in the doorway and say to the residents, “tell me what you
see...now tell me what you would like to see.” or “how do you use this space?” That’s one of the ways I try to blur the lines between indoors and out—to really make people understand that there is (or can be) life beyond those doors, windows and walls. The advantage of being a good designer—you are able to see the overall concept, the big picture. It’s a challenge for most consumers to grasp that don’t you think? To a designer, it’s a walk in the park because we
think that way. Most people don’t. We really do try to look at the broad view. I remember working in California a while back; this was several years ago when I was working on a project in Carmel. We had a certain color-way (palette) going on in their great room: muted earth tones with a splash of reds and pinks that were coming through in some of their art. They had some lovely lavender in place, so I said,
interior designer and my grandmother too—which goes way back. You know in the south, we say, “we’re too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash.” My grandmother made all of the slipcovers for her furni- ture for the summer, when we would roll up the rugs and lay down the jute rugs—it’s a southern tradition. They were very good at coordinating colors, and my grandmother was also very good with flowers and was constantly “doing” flowers—she was even a florist for a while. Can you tell me a little about your background? In college I studied garden history and design,
then in graduate school I studied English gardens and sort of fell in very good company with Nancy Lancaster who owned a British decorating firm by the name of Colfax and Fowler. It was a wonderful association and she had lots of designer friends who I enjoyed working with very much. I worked with Mark Hampton also, he was an interior designer who had a huge interest in gardening and he even wrote a book about it. Nancy also had a large garden connection, so I think that they go hand in hand for most of us. So much of what you are doing seems to be rooted in history, things that have been around for a very long time and have just fallen out of favor. It’s interesting that you should point that out Joel, because a lot of what we are doing is not new at all. We tried to consider these things with this Garden
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