Mid Winter.... Forward Thinking 2021

Today is the first day of February. Welcome!

As I write this post, the sun shines brightly and the floor of our earth is covered knee high in snow. It’s said that in the northern hemisphere, February is considered the last month of winter. Oh really! I’ll pretend this is true and turn my attention to spring 2021 when the hellebore “spring” out of their earthly bed. I need this visual!!

Just when we think we have turned the corner on time and weather, we are reminded that we still have a way to go, a time when we can once again uncover what lies beneath the surface. This metal obelisk, sitting in my garden, peeks its head from the mass of snow reminding me of what, again, might be.

This past month has been a time for reflection and planning; a time to set my intentions for the year. To be forward in my thinking. It’s also been a time where I more fully am recovering from my bout with Covid 19 which began in November and stayed around much too long, like winter.

I think you might agree that 2020 provided many of us with a bit more time on our hands, room to reflect on what matters in our lives, and way too many zoom calls. I’d say it also took me down the road of asking many existential questions.

Nature has always been the place for this review, one where I (we) can find refuge and expansion. A place where we could take off our masks, at times, and fully stand in the magic of our landscapes, woods, and waters. A time to smell the wonders of the earth. A way to get a broader and deeper view of the natural world.

Spring Forward

Recently, I’ve found my mailbox full of garden and outdoor furniture catalogs. As I (we) begin turning their pages, tagging desirable plants and shapes of new leaves that excite our senses, we also look to the forms that might shape our outdoor living rooms and the furniture we wish to place in them. Also, we are getting a clearer view of what are becoming important elements in our gardens and outdoor loving rooms/spaces.

Whether you already have a garden, a deck/patio, or wish to enlarge, renew, or create another one, this is the time to start journaling and sketching a few ideas for what you’d like your outdoor spaces to look like; how you want them to feel, and how you wish to be in them. Where the bed lines will fall and how you will use the vertical space in your yard to connect you to the yard next door.

One thing we know for sure is, our backyards, outdoor patios and gardens are taking on new meaning. They are places where we now work from as many of us no longer are going into our remote offices. They are places we play in, dream in. They have become our dining and living rooms, a place where we can share time and break bread with our loved ones.

Here is what we are seeing as the new focus in our garden and yards….

• Weather is not a deterrent. Master the art of year-round outdoor spaces by equipping them with fireplaces, fire pits, heat lamps, fans, even outdoor cooking pits. Pizza anyone?

• Go Tall. Make use of or create vertical spaces/forms especially in smaller areas where we at times feel squeezed by adding screens, trellis’ for growing vegetable gardens, and more.

• Get on top. Rooftop gardens are all the craze. If you have a flat roof, use it as you’ll get a bit more value from your home’s structures. Benefits: energy efficiency, noise reduction, use of rain water and more.

• Build walls, creatively. Paint them. Mix up the materials they are made of. Grow plants that cling to them. Use them as a vertical garden.

• Think outside the garden. Use container gardens on balconies, porches, even place them amongst garden plots. Use them for edibles! Think of these containers as art forms.

• Think sustainably. Compost using your “leftovers” and “scraps” from eating more meals at home and in doing so you provide continued nourishment for your garden soil.

• Caring naturally. Create ways to be sustainable by using our natural resources differently …catch and store rain water for reuse in our gardens. Repurpose bath water, and more.

• Get out front. Move your gardens out front by creating quiet and intimate areas with the use of burms and outer planting gardens thus reducing the need for more grass which needs to be overly tended to.

• Turn on the lights.. Creatively add low voltage lights to the floor of your garden and/or shine them up into the canopies of your trees.

• Think local. Learn about native plants; how to develop drought tolerant gardens while being kinder to wild life. This will add substance and delight to any garden.

• Your view matters. Think about what you’re looking at through your windows both inside and out. Your natural world can be framed to offer 4 season delight.

• Floral design comes home. Flower seeds, as we know, come in those sweet packets. They are attractive, affordable, and provide an easy way to experience a new flower or herb.. One of my favorites is Zinnia. They come in so many beautiful colors and never disappoint. Stake out an area for a trial run. Add in some parsley or another favorite herb. Cut and arrange them daily to suite your fancy.

• Edibles are all the rage. They offer an easy way to get your children eating more greens while learning the art of tending to a garden. Give them their own plot to tend to. Watch the joy in their hearts.

Here’s to a beautiful and luscious 2021.

Peace

Sandy

Fall 2020

Eco Print from fall leaves by Artist Sandra Adams

As I write this journal post, the sun is bright and the skies are clear.

The Equinox took place in September, setting the stage for a change in seasons. I think it’s safe to say, we, too, have experienced many changes in our lives as the year 2020 has turned our lives another shade, another color than is familiar. Life has morphed into something different and unexpected, just like the changing seasons, and the colors that reflected in it.

In this time of uncertainty, brought on by a world pandemic, we have longed for some stability; for a sense of comfort, safety, and definition. Many of you have left your professional workspaces and are working from home, rearranging your spaces to accommodate a small office. A number of you who have children are now faced with creating a space to teach your kids their lesson plans. And, when needing another view, many have taken to your back yards, looking for another room with a different view. Thus, the home and outdoor furnishing network has never been more looked to for guidance and resources for which to re-create these spaces.

The nature of things ebb and flow. Similarly, design of our environments, too, may need some rethinking.. What better way to use these changing times to reimagine our indoor and outdoor spaces by using nature as our guide, our inspiration. I see this as a process by which we pause, reflect and observe where inspiration comes from. When we get outdoors, we see that beauty is everywhere. Creating layers in our lived-in spaces, inspired by the natural world, offers us a chance to add color, texture and form that are reflected in nature. It may be by refurbishing the things you have collected, or in the pieces you will acquire or collect, incorporating them into your own environments.

The question I often get is where is the best place to start the design process? It depends on ones’ goals. What I encourage, no matter what the goal, is to discover what inspires you, to trust your gut when presented with many design ideas; to bring beauty to your spaces in your own way. Collaboration is my motto!

In this post, I’ll begin with color. It can set the tone for any room. Color often reflects the spirit of a space, a mood, the energy of a space.

Sherwin Williams, a premier paint company, just launched its 2021 color forecast. They describe their color mix series as a Rhythm of Color. It’s about a sense of balance. It takes shape in 40 trend colors. Have a look to see what color inspires you https://www.swcolorforecast.com.

Then, use it to guide you in your choices of fabrics and finishes. Use nature as your guide. Echo a color in your entire home by repeating it. Let its patina reflect the changing nature of plants and leaves. It’s a great start to any conversation you may have with your designer, be it indoors or out.

Enjoy the process.

Warmly

Sandra

Spring Equinox 2019

Spring Equinox 2019

The spring equinox marks one of the two times a year when day and night are nearly the same length. The term equinox comes from the Latin word equinoxium, which means "equality between day and night."

Spring is my favorite time of year. It’s a season of renewal and rebirth.

The snow has melted and the ground is swelling. I am beginning to smell and envision what lies beneath. The rich and porous earth. Big fat worms waking up. Flora and fona being reconfigured, all becoming a new song to be sung.

All of mother nature springs from a seed. Hidden in these seeds, we also find our thoughts, all of which would not be without the planting of new seeds, in ourselves, our gardens, our home, and in the communities we live. These are the places where our new stories emerge, anew and refreshed.

What seeds are you planting this Spring? What are your intentions?

Conversations offer a deep and rich way to connect. I’d love to hear from you.

Sandra

Memories

As a young girl, Sandra grew up in a home surrounded by beautiful fabrics and fibers. This was understandable as her mother was a dressmaker, and her father a haberdasher. In fact, both Sandra’s Mediterranean history as well as her home environment created endless opportunities to experiment with textiles and materials of all form. Simultaneously, she discovered the incredible beauty of plants and developed a keen fascination with gardening. It was her grandmother who expressed the value of being in nature; to dig in the dirt. To be one with nature. Little did she know this would be the basis for unearthing her relationship between what lies inside and out. The color, texture and form found in natural materials, together with her family’s cherished love of gardens, began to influence how she related to her environment as well as her choice of daily activities, and what she put in and took from it.

Today, Sandra uses her plethera of experiences and keenly developed passion for artfully curated spaces, be they inside or out, to enhance the way others can experience their environments.. She has made it a practice to collect fragments and found pieces that speak to the heart of who we are; to glean from nature its intricate design elements, and in doing so weave the outdoors into the nature of all things. Sandra’s work, and the spaces she creates, becomes windows to the natural world. Her expressions manifest themselves in colorful and highly textural offerings for you, your home, your outdoor garden rooms, and even your workplace.

Sandra wishes to share with you what she has learned along her journey...

• I believe the essence of nature can be found in all things.

• I believe nature is peaceful and soothing. With that in mind, I desire to imbue your indoor and outdoor spaces with its wonderful elements.

• The relationship between beauty and nature provides an endless outlet for expressing personal taste and style.

• Nature is a teacher. I am merely the facilitator and artist. I can offer you sage advice, yet your ideas and involvement should be the guide to your piece's success.