Old wicker, found locally, is layered with old primitive tables. Scale isn't 'intuitive', not oversized to reach for the hi ceiling. It's scaled for historical correctness, body comfort & ease of conversation.
No matter the heat of the day, stillness of the air, there is always a breeze on this porch.
With morning sun, it's perfect for evening dinner.
Tom Wilhite's book, below. Amazing how many of my clients already have this book at our first appointment. If you're thinking of DIY with stone, or not, this book is for you. Buy it here.
Sir Hardy Amies garden in England, below. With stone this good it would be difficult to get the plantings wrong.
Stone Mountain, GA, below. Nature's stone. Teaching stone. The wildflower, front of pic, growing on the stone, Mother Nature's patience adapting a root system/foliage/flower to growing in shade with trace amounts of soil & less water.
Then there is Michael Eckerman. His ideas in stone
changed mine.Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI
Sunny Wieler : Stone Art Blog : West Cork, Ireland
Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT
Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN
Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA
Jenny Petersen : J Petersen Garden Design : Austin TX
I had just designed this EXACT garden. Less than 2 hours earlier. 
Remove chunks of railing and disgusting foundation plantings, widen steps, add flagstone landing.
Now, a front porch to enjoy.
I've removed so many porch rails for clients I've lost count.
And,
off a guest room.
Tucked in a woodland, on a mossy stone, unseen by most.
Are you brave enough to put what resonates in your heart into your garden?
Directly below this deck, pathway to her rescue run. She rescues & fosters dogs.
From this portion of her deck, below,
you can see her wooded frontyard or the backyard & lake.
Birdhouse Condos. Will rent for a song.
pillows of dirt wrapped in burlap, brown/green color theme, wood chip carpet, a book for night time reading,
stone box spring, and a quilt of twigs-ferns-moss-ajuga-ginger.
SIMPLICITY. Nothing between view, meadow, lake. (Bushes seen were already there. Client asked for more bushes! Puppet Barbuda KNOWS Mr. Testosterone-On-Wheels-Mow-Blow-Go-Commodify-Everything-I-Touch would, indeed, put more bushes here. CHA-CHING. )
Those chairs? Ubiquitous plastic wally-world cheap. Painted, they become HERS.
At the top, above, of her drive, colors arranged to PERFECTION on a simple bottle tree.
Colors Echoed in the chairs beyond.
No foundation plantings, no lawn.
