Formula: 2 Chairs + Table

Woodland, palace, mid-century modern, cluster, townhome, shotgun, split-level ranch & etc.2 chairs + table; works every time.

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Of course, you must choose the correct vernacular.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Another pic from MIXSON at my job in Charleston, SC.

Fabulous: Front & Back

Adore the asymmetry of doors, windows, shutters, steps, below.Complete follow-thru, below, at the back of the home. RARE !
From the landscape there are NO unconsidered views of your home.

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Front, back, sides. Hop on it.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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More pics from my project at Mixson in Charleston, SC.

Big Impact Little Input

Interior design & landscape design share templates.Most garden magazines waste my time. Neglecting to educate, inspire or widen my horizon.
Instead I look to other realms/arts for landscape design inspiration.

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Color, form, contrast, texture, scale, flow, focal points, high density, low density, invitation, joy, peacefulness, simplicity & more; this interior design, above, speaks.

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It would be pure pleasure to design a landscape flowing from the views of this window. My inspiration? Easy. Color, form, contrast, texture, scale, flow, focal points, high density, low density, invitation, joy, peacefulness, simplicity & more.

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Landscape designed in conversation with interior design. Vanishing Threshold.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Another pic from my project at Mixson in Charleston, SC.

Simplicity

Simplicity, below.
With very little, much is created.
Without moving my feet, above, another pic of the same space. Leaving this wall bare, eyes flow to the garden & sky.

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This is a model home at Mixson, a project I'm working on in Charleston, SC.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Lucky me, I get to design a landscape in conversation with this development team. Of course I'm biased, there is a huge dog run already constructed and most members of the development team do, indeed, own dogs.

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Gardens & interiors are a flowing conversation. Seeing this model home helped me know how to proceed in my landscape design work for this company.

Copy

Because it's new
doesn't mean it must look new.

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Copy. It's one of the 1st rules of Landscape Design.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pic taken last week at Mixson a project I'm working on in Charleston, SC.

Don't Use This Type

Don't use a single wheeled wheelbarrow.
Double wheeled demand less physically + don't compact the soil as much.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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This girl has been ridden ROUGH. She's not old but already retired. Found at a jobsite I was working on in Charleston, SC last week. Adore the lines of a good wheelbarrow. Evocative.

Another Sign

A sign in Buckhead last week, where I lectured.
'Wine', written larger than 'program'.
Women with
priorities.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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They ignored the ladies bringing the sumptuous food.

Conservatory: A New Way To Cook

Greek salad with shrimp, vegetable soup with Gruyere cheese, last week's luncheon in the Conservatory.Sitting down to lunch,
desert waiting on the sideboard,
is when I put the
kettle on top of the stove. Boiling water for the French press coffee pot.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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NEVER, ever saw myself cooking on a wood stove. Can't wait to make a real meal on it. College Boy cooked this menu upon my request; inside the house. A request including when I wanted it ready and when he needed to "disappear". He performed each task beautifully. More about the cookies & biscotti, above, soon. You have no idea how special they are.

Don't Let This Be You

Too small, not centered, typically rotting; at least this doormat, below, isn't rotting.BAD doormats set me off. Disrespect.

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Is your foyer beautiful? Is the doormat outside disgusting?

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A stupid or ugly doormat makes the 1st impression, not a gorgeous foyer.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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You have no idea how many times I arrive at a 1st time client & they open their front door to see me holding their disgusting doormat between 2 fingers like rotting fish.

No Date In The Garden

My garden pics tell me the season. They date themselves.
At this angle, below, it doesn't matter the flowers are in plastic pots. They aren't visible.
At terrace level, below, there was a pond. I moved it.
Dwarf mondo will be planted between the stones, matching the rest of the terrace.
Duck Foot ivy will be planted on the riser to the greenhouse, hiding the timber & adding lushness. (Lushosity?)

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Soon, French doors will be painted BM-HC- 77. Didn't realize I was building a space for the pot cluster with the Conservatory. Adore happy surprises.

Lunch In The Conservatory

Choosing: menu, dishes, silver, linens, making a fire. Anticipating guests arrival. We walk in the garden, lunch, conversation, laughter, & hard truths too. Life is welcomed in my Conservatory.
Preparing to carry desert & decaf to the Conservatory, above.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pic taken in my kitchen. Ancient soup tureen bought in Augusta, GA ages ago when I lectured there; been filled with fresh apples ever since.

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You should see the floor, counters, sink, each a disaster.

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Wise women know, build the Conservatory first. Priorities, priorities, priorities.

How To Make Tulips Last Longer

From a distance, white tulips are most visible.These are getting rattier by the day.
Doesn't matter, from the house they look fabulous, their rattiness doesn't show.
Tulips last longer when you keep them in your conservatory.

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Another bundle of tulips, bought the same day, placed inside my home are long gone.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken this week. List of reasons you NEED a Conservatory has today's factoid at #6.