Before. And. After.

 
Lately my life has been divided into two categories: 

Before the rattlesnake bite. And after the rattlesnake bite.

Before the bite, I was working on my friend’s front yard—after she remodeled her house.

She wanted some succulents somewhere in her yard. She wanted me because I was her friend and because I’m sure she sort of felt sorry for me.

How do I know this? Well, I did a couple of drawings for her and when I presented my ideas she said suddenly “I don’t want my yard to look like the one you did two streets over.”

Alrighty then.

My friend has very good and very specific tastes. She is very much on the contemporary side while I am very much on the traditional side.

She doesn’t like clutter.

Clutter seems to follow me where ever I go.

She dresses nice and keeps her clothes clean all the time.

I dress...in clothes...that sometimes happen to be...clean.

Her car is always washed and her carpets are always vacuumed.

I can write my grocery list on the passenger door of my car and I think my car has carpeting...somewhere.

She has a girl.

I have two boys.

I could go on.

But I will stop to tell you that I ended up designing a minimalist yard for her.

Clean and green.

Her house is very geometrically bold, so I decided to use curves in her garden to soften the look of the house. If I had used more straight lines for the garden it would have looked too stiff and unwelcoming.

Here are the Before and After pictures:

 

 

 

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Comments

[GIna Bommarito]

It looks great and yes, clean but inviting! I love it!

[chigiy]

Gina,
Thank you!

[Loree / danger garden]

Well done! And I love those huge floating stairs. Sexy.

[Jean Maniscalco]

Chigiy,

Love the design! I am a minimalist at heart...but I can't seem to get rid of the clutter.

Love reading about your daily escapades & glad to know that you have recovered.

I must say that I wish I had gotten to know you better over the years. You have a unique perspective which I adore.

[chigiy]

Loree,
The stepsare my friends design. They are wonderful.

Jean,
I'm sad you live so far away. If you and/or your family are ever in California, you have a place to stay.