Summer …. It’s all about the exteriors.

I have become obsessed with gardening. I don’t know how it happened and it seemed to have come upon me suddenly. It all started last year when I decided to put in an English cottage garden at my Design Studio in Dorset. I clipped magazine spreads of beautiful, lush, yet slightly askew country gardens and brought them with me to the Mettowee Mill Nursery. Cornering Tina, the nursery’s Manager, in one of the greenhouses, I asked her how I could achieve this look, even though I was starting with a neglected plot and a beginner’s level of gardening. Tina said she would meet me over at the Design Studio to take a look.

Perhaps calling me a beginner gardener is a bit kind. You see, I am notorious killer of houseplants and have been doing so for many years. In fact, the wide windowsill in my kitchen is known as the “shelf of death” because nothing has survived on it yet. I explained this to Tina but she seemed unruffled.

We conferred on the types of plants and she drew out a floor plan of the overall scheme. It all seemed simple enough and not that different from interior design, with a well thought out planning stage followed by an execution. I was to prepare the beds by weeding thoroughly, composting freely and edging the beds away from the grass. A few days and one bad back later I was done and ready to plant. Tina brought over the plants in a big truck, unloading them onto the grass. While still in pots, she placed them in their soon to be new homes and told me to start digging. As she pulled away, it was starting to rain, and she yelled back to get them in sooner rather than later. Well sooner was in a torrential downpour but I kept going until I was covered in mud from head to toe, but the task was completed. I was quite proud of myself and wished them good luck under my breath hoping they would fair better than my windowsill plants.

They say it takes three years for perennials to really shine and I am on year two. It is a daily pleasure to visit my garden each day and see what has bloomed when I wasn’t looking. I asked Tina back this year because I am converting a barn into a shop and she advised that we should create outdoor rooms with structure, urns filled with flowers and paths of marble stone. Outdoor rooms, Grecian urns, marble? Sign me up. I better start digging again.

Something in your home is naked. I hope it isn’t your windows.

There are times when I bring up the subject of window treatments to my clients that I see a panicked, deer in the headlights kind of look in their eyes. More often than not I hear, “My spouse likes to keep the windows clear so they can look out at the view.” Fair enough as we Vermonters are lucky enough to usually have the kind of views most people in other less scenic states would envy. Nature is the best decorator, after all. But why not frame that scene with a beautifully designed, well thought out, functional window treatment that calls attention to that hard earned view. And for all you naked window homeowners out there, take notice that when the sun goes down your cold, undressed window turns into a black hole. Yes, a black hole. It happens every night.

Window treatments like most things in the marketplace have come a long way. They are no longer the little old lady lace affair with polyester sheer under drapes and the style and price varies widely to fit any desire or budget. Think of draperies and shades as clothing for your window – you can dress them up in designer duds or ready to wear. For the do-it-yourselfer, the ready-made market is the way to go. If you want a more custom approach you must go to a pro as the details to work out and the choices are endless: with a wide array of decorative rods, a world of fabric choices and trims galore.

I like to think of windows as if they are people, with strong bones to highlight and weak features to downplay, and dress them accordingly. There are many visual tricks you can employ to fool the eye. For example, if you hang the draperies inches higher than the top of the window frame and place the brackets as far to the left and right as possible your windows will look much larger and grander. All of sudden your plain, uninteresting, ‘wouldn’t get a second glance’ window becomes the star of the room.

I have seen it time and again: wonderful furnishings, carpeting, art and accessories are set in place, but a room is never really finished until the draperies are hung with care. Like magic, the draperies pull the whole scene together, raise the eye up high and wrap everything in a warm embrace. Finally your windows are fully dressed and ready for company.