Friday, April 8, 2016

Front Door: A Course in Beautifully Scaled Details

Off the edge of perfect, below, beyond perfect.
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Have never understood the predilection for oversized lights at a front door.  Studying historic gardens across Europe for decades, diminutive lighting, compared to USA, is the memo.
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Tara Turf, below, to the foundation.  Alone, enough to instigate a nastygram from any HOA.  Here's the deal with Tara Turf, it's a rich way to live, according to Providence.  And me.
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Opulent patina, not pressure washed away, on the walls, below.



Pic, above, here.
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Who knew I would ever think a collection of little green meatballs was charming?  Indeed, these are.  Here, they are a whimsical pun.  You already thought the same thing, right?
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The pair of small spheres.  Swoon.  Their plinths, double swoon.
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Notice the climbing roses?  Not the physical plant but what they do for the design.  Taking very little space, espaliered, they give maximum lush.
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Tiny gravel, above, color of the house, drifting into most-of-a-circle tiny flagstone, again colored to the house, terrace.  With no edging between gravel/plants or gravel/flagstones.  Your already picked up on this huge detail, edging, right?
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Enfilade, above, is something we have at our ca. 1900 American farmhouse.  Ours, 80' long, with heart of pine floor, I'll have to figure out how to get the shot, we even have the trees in back, but our pond is behind the trees.
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Our house, now, has a small gravel parking court in front, we kept the previous owner's half-round of bricks at the front steps.  Unbelievable, the vernacular language is the same, this home, above, and ours.
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This front door, above, says the most important thing, "Welcome."  And, "You want to come inside, this house is interesting, the people who live here I want to know and see more, the garden, and....."
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Garden & Be Well,    XO T
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Beloved is a pressure washing fool.  One of these days, at present I leave the premises when he pressure washes, I will stand my ground, and instead of crime scene tape outlining a body on the ground, Beloved will pressure wash around my body on the wall of our home.  If this were our home, above, I know his pressure washer would have something 'wrong' with it each time he tries to use it.  Buy a new one?  It would have something 'wrong', always, too.

5 comments:

JudyMac said...

Of course you're right, Tara. No question about it.

Unknown said...

Ahhhh men, they want to be helpful...
Love the image of the crime scene victim!!

elizabeth said...

What do you do about cats and that tiny gravel?

Tara Dillard said...

Elizabeth, so true.

More than cats, living with this combo of tiny gravel near front door, it is the humans having issues. Of course we removed shoe treads able to pick up tiny gravel, yet it still comes in 1x/week, at least.

Ironically, a client just mentioned same issue at her family's barn used for human events, not livestock. Solution is to put lovely oriental rug, or whatever suits, inside the front door. And, that idea is what I had already done in our home, and indeed where we get the last of the tiny gravel caught.

With joy, I toss the speck back into the parking court, whence it came. I've chosen this life, and am honored to have a bit of what I've chosen arrive.

XOT

La Contessa said...

I LOVE THIS ENTRANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT is the problem with CATS>>>>>>>>>>??PEE!
GOOD GRIEF!
XX