The backyard of this stately 5-story Upper East Side, Manhattan townhouse was a crumbling mess when we first set eyes on it. Working with an architect and a stone mason, we helped restore the fountain and walls to their former beauty. We designed a new bluestone patio for the flooring. Our carpenter replaced the rotted …
This Clinton Hill, Brooklyn patio features custom-built wood planters, concrete-blend pavers, and a sunken deck-level planter filled with polished river stones and variegated irises. When I arrived at the initial consultation with the client, she said she was unhappy with the awkward existing layout, and the existing deck tiles were unattractive and uneven. We ripped …
This Upper East Side townhouse backyard features a bluestone patio, horizontal ipe fencing, and Art Deco vintage patio furniture. Bluestone makes a wonderful natural patio stone surface, but it stains easily. The best solution is to either seal it or clean it regularly using a bucket of hot, soapy water and a long-handled scrub brush. …
When we first met this client at her backyard in Greenwood, Brooklyn, she showed us a bunch of interesting vintage objects she had brought from her previous home in California. She asked if he could come up with a cohesive design plan that would incorporate all of these elements in a way that felt both …
Whimsical Brooklyn Patio Uses Vintage Objects as Planters Read More »
Few materials can match the natural beauty of a newly installed wood deck and fence, which were a dramatic transformation for this small backyard patio. A paraffin oil treatment brings out the rich colors of ipe, a hardwood with a 30 year life expectancy. We gave the fence a contemporary twist by running the boards …
This contemporary Boerum Hill, Brooklyn backyard features a horizontal ipe (pronounced ee-pay) fence, bluestone patio, artificial turf, and a neatly lined row of hornbeam trees. Artificial turf has come a long way in recent years and is much more realistic looking than it used to be. For urban yards that are often shaded by trees, …
Boerum Hill, Brooklyn: A Contemporary Townhouse Garden Read More »
Is your urban garden ready for spring? This season is a wonderful time to grow new plants due to the weather finally warming up after the cold winter. No matter the size of your garden, you can always take advantage of the longer days. However, you should be fully prepared for how you will manage …
Getting Your Garden Ready for Spring: 5 Easy Steps Read More »
This Brooklyn Heights backyard features a bluestone patio and custom-built ipe planters. The quiet, Zen-like setting is shaded by nearby buildings, so we picked a shade-tolerant mix of plants that will thrive here. The plants include dogwoods, rose-of-sharons, rhododendrons, and andromedas. When choosing plants that do well in shade, I find it’s generally helpful to …
This Boerum Hill, Brooklyn backyard features a cedar pergola with a tin roof. The owner of this townhouse is a Texas native, and she missed the sound of rain on the tin roofs there, so this design gave her a little comforting reminder of home. The biggest challenge to designing this space was figuring out …
Brooklyn Townhouse: A Contemporary Backyard with a Tin-Roof Pergola Read More »
We’re often asked to design outdoor common spaces for co-op apartment buildings in New York City. Spaces like this rooftop garden are meant to be enjoyed by multiple groups of people who live in the apartment building at the same time. In this situation, it’s crucial that we create the feeling of separate outdoor rooms …
