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Home Challenge house we are building, it’s only 1,600 square feet and we are building it for only $150,000—which is kind of incredible. It will be very green also, with all the measures that we have taken to really try and conserve energy. The best way to reduce the cost of energy is to save the energy that you already have. This means to take a look at where your energy losses are and assess what needs to be done to reduce that loss. Things as simple as a porch and where it is placed


can make a difference to consumption, shading the south side to keep it from heating up the interior too much, or the use of dormers in the roof line to bring in natural light. I think it’s time for all of us to recalibrate our use of energy. We are having record weather changes all across the country, even here, where I live. Other things like the materials you should use, why


you should place solar panels on the south side, or that you should protect the windows from the west sun, plantings and shading to protect the house at the proper time of day, where the prevailing winds are, the grades, the elevations...all those ideas have been around for hundreds of years. Your ability to keep costs down can be applied in many ways; can you talk to me about more ideas around that? We recycled many things to keep costs down,


things like doors and fireplace surrounds and then we use locally sourced products. For instance we are us- ing yellow pine for the flooring, which is indigenous to our region. It’s not necessarily my favorite but the price savings are significant. We are also using plank lumber for the walls for the same reason because it is far less expensive than drywall. Dry wall has its place, but by the time you haul it, then have it hung, taped and applied three coats of plaster to finish, it’s expen- sive. We are hanging the planks horizontally and it creates a cool look, I think—kind of farmhouse chic. Another fun cost-saver is that we are using what I


call “oops paint.” Oops paint is what you get when you go to your local home improvement store and buy up their color mix mistakes. You can usually get them for $3 to $5 dollars a gallon and then you take five or six colors, mix them all together with ten gallons of white and paint the entire room with that paint. You get a sort of beige or dove gray, because when you mix all colors together you end up with a nice gray. Do you have suggestions for people who have smaller spaces? There are three different ways that I think of gar-


dens in small spaces: One of them is to garden on the vertical. You can


have a long container against a wall and you can grow things that tend to grow up or are columnar in shape. Another one is to utilize the wall in a limited space


MARCH 2012 | RAGE monthly 45


to create a sense of perspective. To actually grow something on the wall itself rather than on the floor opens up the space. Another idea is to use lighter colors, because it will make it feel larger. Avoid the hotter colors like reds and oranges, because of their intensity, they tend to shrink an already small space. That works for the inside as well. If you use cool


colors like lavenders and blues and lighter tones, it will make the space feel larger and more expansive. Using standards like these and the ones I mentioned earlier effectively carry that aesthetic throughout your home. Again your concept of merging interiors and the exteriors. What I try to do is to sort of help people see things


differently about the way that they live—that’s what the garden home idea is really about. We all know about bringing houseplants inside and we can place furniture outside, all those kinds of things. I really like


the idea though and hopefully this will resonate with your readers. If you have a certain color-way or color palette that you are using, say in a great room or living room, the standard design idea is that you carry those colors into the next room. Beyond that, I get them to carry that whole concept through, the look, feel and colors, out the glass window or through the doors. This has been very enlightening, Allen. I appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas with us. My pleasure, feel free to keep in touch and keep


an eye on our eHome project, there are many more things to come!


P. Allen Smith’s Garden eHow Home Challenge can be followed at: youtube.com/ehowhome. For more lifestyle and gardening information check out his website at: pallensmith.com


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