Greg Santoro's Ideas
3. Cook up a rustic flavor. For a traditional look, go for an old-fashioned wood-burning stove like this one. A brick oven provides an ideal spot for outdoor cooking, with plenty of space below for the log supply. Keep it simple or add on extras like the work surface and sink in this design. You don’t have to build something as elaborate as this, however. A simple rectangular construction with a grill on top of a recess for charcoal will work just as well.
Plants make Houzz user Judy Arrand‘s home feel lively.Like Mother, Like ChildIn some cases, an heirloom or decor element wasn’t passed down, but the younger generation still imitated Mom’s style. Tweedpatch shares that she once spotted an Ethan Allen Old Tavern pine furniture set just like the one her mother had owned, and had to have it. Some of the drawers still had the same furniture polish smell she remembers from the 1970s. “It wasn’t her furniture, but having it is the closest I’d felt to her in a long time,” tweedpatch writes.Others have taken after their mothers by filling their homes with flea market finds, chinoiserie dishes or houseplants.
Photos by Dana O’BrienBackyard Shed at a GlanceWho uses it: Vanessa Henson and Pete RioloLocation: Los Osos, CaliforniaSize: 90 square feet (8.4 square meters); 9 by 10 feetDesigner: Dana O’Brien, owner of A Place to GrowThe tiny structure sits at the back of Henson and Riolo’s property on a hill and serves as a “we shed” shared by Henson — who uses it to relax, study and sometimes enjoy a glass of wine with Riolo — and Riolo’s daughter, a schoolteacher, who takes advantage of the quiet space to grade papers.For the backyard sheds and other structures they create, O’Brien and her husband use vintage windows and doors and “urban forested” lumber — wood they mill themselves from downed trees that have succumbed to storms, disease and other maladies. For this shed’s front entrance, O’Brien used a wood door she found in a field, replacing one of the panels that had been a pet door with a pane of glass.
“The property is a long rectangle,” Klopf says, “so while the house is square at the front, we twisted the back glass wall 90 degrees to create a long bar for the interior spaces and take full advantage of the pool and backyard.” The 49-by-12-foot wall of glass from Western Window Systems lets the homeowners, family and friends flow freely back and forth from the house to the pool, hot tub, lounge chairs and barbecue. The kitchen cabinets are cherry with two stains: espresso, shown on the tall cabinets, and warm brown, seen on the island. The kitchen countertops are Caesarstone in honed Sleek Concrete.
The front of the house maintains an understated profile similar to those of other Eichler residences in the area. Klopf selected the exterior paint color, Iron Mountain by Benjamin Moore, to “let the other materials and colors stand out, such as the cedar trim, orange front door and black aluminum windows, like a true midcentury house,” he says. “The front is very private and closed to the street; then the house really opens up in the back.”
End the day with a tisane or cocktail with fresh muddled herbs. Snip a few sprigs of mint from the garden to make your own herbal tisane (simply steep in hot water) or muddle it for a cocktail. Other herbs make intriguing cocktail ingredients as well — rosemary in a simple syrup makes a fine flavoring.Tell us: Does it feel like spring where you are? How do you like to welcome the season?More: How to Grow Your Own Cocktail Garden
AFTER: Giannasio initially considered a layout consisting of a sofa and two chairs. But after meeting with Kunis and reviewing her ideabook of inspirational images, she didn’t feel that would be comfortable enough. “The sectional is more family-friendly, and that got me back on track prioritizing comfort over everything else,” Giannasio says. The new floor is French oak. Hattie side table: Arteriors Home; Richmond swing-arm floor lamp in antique brass: House of Troy; ceiling paint: Strong White in flat finish, Farrow & Ball Watch now: See more of this surprise makeover
Have fun with salvage. Find ways to use old storage boxes and other containers found at antiques emporiums or junk shops — and mix up the look with bold colors in combinations you haven't tried before. Look at your doorway and entrance garden and make an effort this year to have fun using unusual textures and colors in containers like wagons, wheelbarrows, wine crates and old boots.
Photos by Lee KlopferHouse at a GlanceWho lives here: Manhattan empty-nesters, as a second homeSize: 1,852 square feet (172.1 square meters)Location: Santa Fe, New MexicoArchitect: Stephen Beili of Studio Beili For their second home, these Manhattanites wanted something completely different from their urban loft in SoHo — at least for the exterior. On the outside, their newly built home, with its traditional adobe styling and low-slung roofline, fits in well with the other houses in the neighborhood. The interiors, however, are a streamlined mix of concrete floors, blackened steel doors and minimalist furnishings. The homeowners reached out to architect Stephen Belli to create an energy-efficient house with photovoltaic panels that soak up the sun and a courtyard layout that brings in natural light.
The front door also opens to a floor-to-ceiling view of the lake. “We needed a large volume in the great room to capture the lake views,” Dirkes says. The massive fireplace of gray-toned ledge stones in a dry-stack arrangement anchors the space.A custom-built bar in the back right corner of the great room is a popular spot for the homeowners and their adult friends to gather in the evening.
Blue pendant lights for the kitchen
This is what the room should look like at the bottom of the steps in the basement
Steps
Countertop
Wine Room
My new powder room
Change my office to look like that
Great idea
Q