Thursday, December 29, 2011

A beautiful New Year to You!

Here at Sage, we want to wish you all a happy New Year!

Here is a little beauty for you care of Dominique Vorillon Photography (whose work we admire very much) to carry you into 2012. If you want to while away a few happy moments on New Year's day and the Rose Parade is already over, spend some time scrolling through one gorgeous garden after another in his garden portfolio.





© Kate Wiseman 2010. In San Diego? Want your own waterwise landscape design? I'd love to help! Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Okay, I admit it

This is something that will probably get me in trouble for admitting, so don't spread it around too much: I'm getting tired of designing anything Tuscan. Really tired of it. However, the rest of San Diego doesn't seem to be, so instead of swearing off Tuscan entirely, I'm just going to try that much harder to make the Tuscan designs that much more interesting. I'm going to think of it as a design challenge to make your Tuscan home so much more unique, lovely, and inspired than the others.

Because, there really are a lot of gorgeous materials out there, materials that work so well with a Mediterranean style, that are timeless and not the slightest bit trite (unlike dated looking fake stone and tumbled concrete pavers) and this stone is one of those materials. The two pictures here are gorgeous cream limestone from the guys at Salado Quarry. I love it! Don't you think it adds a whole new level of refinement? Can't you practically hear the cicadas chirping on some windswept hill in Tuscany when you look at it? (No, really that's just me?) You can get this beautiful stone through the helpful folks at Thompsons Building Materials in Lemon Grove. I think they have the best and most varied selection of veneer stone in the city, so drop in some time and check out their display areas, or just check out their great website.

 © Kate Wiseman 2010. Want your own waterwise landscape design? Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Great color for your outdoor room: Fermob

Color: I get a little (okay maybe more than a little) tired of neutral colors. There is a lot of beige and grey to be found in your average patio, and it makes me crave color. Of course, I still want the color to be tasteful, so thank goodness for the French outdoor furniture company, Fermob.

This little bistro chair might look dainty, but it is made of solid stuff and will last a lifetime. It is sitting amongst some gorgeous Aeoniums at the outdoor showroom Chickweed (in the Cedros Design District).

Fermob's metal furniture comes in amazing colors: rich, bright, saturated, bold colors! A bistro set with four chairs and a 30" table will run you somewhere in the range of $700, so not too prohibitively expensive, and they are perfect for cramped spaces (ie think Parisian cafe).

Oh, and if it doesn't look comfortable to you, go down to Cedros and try it out. They are amazingly comfortable! And if you need them to, they fold up (even the tables).

Wanna see the colors? I like the idea of mixing and matching. How about a Fyord Blue Table with Storm Grey and Willow Green chairs?









© Kate Wiseman 2010. Want your own waterwise landscape design? Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.