Living Seasons
Inside out, outside in- through the window, you engage with spring’s new sprouts, are caressed by an elegant light dance. Light frost fades to green as the sun warms stones outside. With your first step out the door, you’re seized with cold until you find a south wall radiating warmth while you acclimatize and breathe in another transition to spring.
The aspen’s are still holding off, as lilac’s first leaves push through; green spots on vast expanses of seemingly dormant shrubs in expectation of an explosive scent through massive bundles of purple tones. As if spring didn’t come sooner each year, there’s relief in the cycle of living outside, of not being so wrapped up, fending off mud, slush and the occasional last minute sleet crushing petunia rain, that a transition season delivers. Lilac’s will shout until you are explosively excited about change. Then a few fields of poppies, until we are fully outside, drinking new color palettes from the austere white and monochrome of winter to the full sensory experience of color that embodies us.
Fully seasonal living demands that we evolve with change, we grow and expand, contract with seasons, cold and heat, stark/spare to effusiveness. Garden paths and stone walkways draw curious investigation through gardens, deconstructing the outside details of a home. Stone, wood, gravel, tile, sculpted and stained concrete highlighted by path lighting, while a large boulder pulls you out further from the house to a bench perched under a tree.
Carefully crafted pathways attune us from inside to out. They invite you to meander and explore a specific direction, with a clearly delineated rhythm, set by brick, tile, or a fine line of steel. Rough wood sets a wilder agenda, while a wrought iron table setting lures you back in time to a civilized order. Clean cast concrete slabs force a pace and direction that tames the eye from distractions.
Path lighting draws us through shadows to catch the flight of a bat or owl with a nuanced rhythm. Sconces accentuate a home’s exterior, highlights dark corners that expand the architecture and draw the eye towards balance of color and intersecting planes.
Pockets of lounging and picnicking on the lawn all provide imaginative opportunities for escape, pause, reflection and interaction. A small pool of water gathers critters at night, cats swat water insects, reflections picking up gentle waves. Meanwhile, fire captured in a sunken pit with stone surround where we elongate even the longest summer nights.
Seasonal living is a gift and often a choice. To fully take advantage, we design our outdoor spaces to lure in all facets of garden, dining, living, working and even enough room for wild to coexist safely. Textiles, patterns, and a range of durable surfaces and materials require a careful and exacting process of selection and installation that can withstand nature- winds, frosts, and the expansion and contraction of changing seasons. Our tolerance for edgy shoulder seasons grows as we hold on to being outside more, and breathe in the constant flow of life, in comfort and awe.