I’m currently caught in the “why would anyone live anywhere else” fever dream that is “Oregon in The Summer”, and while I intellectually know there is no perfect place to live, right now, up here, it’s magical (and has been since March – 2025 was a real pretty one). This backyard is certainly serving up some particularly beautiful vibes, and we are in full hosting season. Today I wanted to do a full documentation of the backyard landscaping process, and get into the details for all of us landscape design nerds. Like most things in design – it looks a lot easier than it is, and the more expertise and experience involved, the better product you get. As you know, for this project we hired Dennis’ 7 Dees, a local (and booming) family landscaping company that now manages all our landscaping maintenance as well (besides Charlie mowing the lawn…when we are in town). They designed, planned, executed, and now care for our yard with total seamlessness – not once did I feel like I didn’t know what was happening, when, or that they were too busy with other jobs to take care of us. (Read til the end for some hot tips on working with design professionals.) January – OOF IT WAS SAD Of course, there are more “before befores” from 2019 (when we bought the property) and 2021 (aka the year of the mud before phase 1 began). But this was in January 2025, which is always a sad time of year (and before we had proper maintenance because we thought we could handle it, so the leaves were clearly a problem). As you know, the sports court was way too big – I even mentioned this in the reveal 2 summers ago. And then the area underneath the cherry trees was fine in the summer, but just not working as well as we wanted (that’s the area between the flagstone path and the sports court). So this was the main area we were working to make better, along with the outdoor grill area (which was done by my brother’s company). The Overall Landscaping Plan We worked with Eric Hagberg from Dennis’ 7 Dees, whom we loved – he had so much experience, expertise, and was so flexible – listening to us, and editing as things came up. He came up with the first plan and accompanied budget, and presented it to us (I believe this was in November). Landscaping Plan Number #1 We really loved it, but needed to scale it back for budget purposes. So we reduced the amount of trees, plants, stonework, and lighting (all the pink), and totally nixed the back area near the paddock, seeding for clover instead. One thing we were more sensitive to this time around was planting enough evergreen plants, not just perennials. I love echinacea and all these gorgeous wildflowers, but winter can be really sad here (sadder than my former California lady brain knew), so this time we asked for 70% evergreen plants, 30% perennials. Plan #2 – Reduced Plants, Lighting And Square Footage He sent through the edited plan, which reduced the scope by almost in 1/2. Sure, we still had demo, prep soil, irrigate, run lighting lines, but the scope of planting, stonework, irrigation, and lighting helped reduce the cost substantially. I mean, it’s obvious, but the less you do, the less it costs. The Plant Palette Here was the palette they had planned, which I was in love with and all came from their garden centers (which have an incredibly robust selection). While in the past I have been picky with plants, needing to love each one and feel like stylistically it was “me,” this time around I shifted my mentality. My goal was to have a cohesive color palette, sure, (no random pops that didn’t make sense), but otherwise all I wanted was for the experts to choose things that really thrived easily here, in Oregon, under our conditions. I didn’t want to make suggestions that would override the expertise. For instance, I never thought that I, Emily Henderson, would choose hydrangeas (I had wrong judgements about them, ok?), but as you can see below – they are all over our yard and so beautiful. I am a full hydrangea girly now!! I really, really trusted Eric that they would plant plants that loved living in Oregon and would be easy to manage/tend to and beautiful year-round. They understood that we like a less manicured look, less structure, lots of levels and layers (I said no to orange, sorry, and nothing oddly tropical or like red roses). I really let them do their job because everything they showed me was so aligned with what we wanted. We were speaking the same language, which is really what you want from any designer. The Schedule From Eric: “Originally, we were thinking this would be a 4-week project. But because we’ve doubled the crew size to 6 guys, it’s likely to only take about 2 weeks”. OK!!!! Let go! Concrete Demo: Feb 17-20 Green Demo: Feb 21 Stone Patios/Paths: Feb 24-25 Soil/Grading: Feb 26 Irrigation: Feb 27 Plants: Feb 28 Irrigation: March 3 Lighting: March 3 Bark/Clover Lawn Seed: March 4 (we’ll come back in April, after freezing to apply the seed) They ended up extending it a bit, which worked better for us so that we could be around to capture more of the content. But we were seriously thrilled with the speed and manpower that went into it. Again, this whole “booking in fall and starting in winter” strategy strangely sped things up because it’s the slowest time of year, and a company of 7 Dees’ size has multiple crews they employ – more manpower and time to spend on us! The Prep Work This clearly wasn’t a DIY situation, at least not for us. They moved fast, and that chunk of the sports court was gone in a matter of days. The Hardscape – Flagstone Next came the laying of the paths and landing pads (which they drew out with water-soluble spray paint). If you think it’s just putting down stones (like we did), it’s clearly not. So much prep work underneath the stones as well as leveling and grading. But still, they were so fast. The dirt/puddle areas are where the plants would go. Then, we had the landing pads and the stepping stone paths to the sports court. Now, if you haven’t done flagstone before, know that this is a massive investment (ours cost over $20k). We could have used pea gravel, but it’s a lot messier and we wanted it to be cohesive with the rest of the walkway around the house. In Oregon, due to the rain, you really want solid hardscape to walk – you can’t use DG like you can in CA. So this was a massive investment and something we knew we needed the experts to execute. The Planting Phase Eric, our designer, created the plant selection that we tweaked together. Again, it’s a combination of perennials and evergreen plants and in all the tones that I love. One of the perks with working with them is that since they also have three garden centers in Portland (well, one in Vancouver), they call pull from them as well as place the bigger orders. They are also great resources as a home gardener without a designer – their inventory and selection is huge and so well cared for. The plants went in so fast, I couldn’t believe it. Brian and I were watching from inside like it was a movie – every day there was so much progress. So many people working so hard to make our yard beautiful. We felt so grateful. After planting, they added irrigation and the lighting, as well as a French drain with river rocks along the sports court because it was flooding a lot (remember that disturbed soil doesn’t drain as much as established soil – a fun fact I’m learning over and over). The June Reveal – 2 Months Ago We shot the first round of reveals in June because, well, it was done and looked so beautiful. Check out this post to see that full reveal. We needed to shoot the outdoor kitchen, so we did a tour of the landscaping as well. But little did we know that over the next six weeks things would pop and grow in the most beautiful way. It’s honestly so stunning, I can’t even tell you. Magical, enchanted, already so grown-in (thanks to the Monrovia plants that are so healthy and thrive so well). We have been hosting like crazy back here. We had another big 75-person multi-family school fundraiser here last Saturday – I love sharing it (read: showing it off :) so much). P.S. The theme was the pig’s birthday party, i.e., the “Wine and Swine,” which I need to show you photos from – Barb and Alicia were the belles of the ball in party hats!!! The Newest Update! Mid-July 2025 summer landscaping It’s incredibly beautiful. The panicle hydrangeas are incredible – all from their garden centers (Monrovia has very healthy, high-quality plants that are locally grown, which helps), and the layering, textures, and colors feel so natural but not messy. Here you can see how the whole yard works – the stone pathways with the picnic tables surrounded by all the greenery (designed to be full but not grow too high) and with the trees that will eventually create shade for the seating areas. We are hoping that greenery will eventually take over the grout lines in the stone (left just as soil, unplanted for budget reasons). We love how organic it feels and know that once it’s fully grown it we think it will look like it was always here. They did a great job specifying plants that would be ball barriers from the sport court but not too fragile or thorny. Here you can see the river rock that covers the French drain to keep water from flooding the plants or the new pickleball court. It’s just incredibly beautiful. Over the weekend, we put umbrellas over the picnic tables to create shade, which was wonderful (and made me secretly want big comfy upholstered chairs or a sofa + 2 chairs for the middle one to be more comfortable). The entire yard gets used when 80 people come over, and it’s incredibly delightful. Dennis’ 7 Dees did such a great job of making it look like a park-like area, casual but still elevated and appropriate to the farm vibe. Jess asked where the umbrellas went, but we just couldn’t get them all straight for the photos and videos at the same time – there is SUCH a hole in the market for long-lasting umbrella stands that actually keep umbrellas perfectly vertical. But I love that you can see the full garden without them. These hydrangeas keep changing color – first bright white, then blush, and now these sweet pastel pink. I’m here for all of the shades and love seeing the yard change. The pops of these hotter pinks from the agastache surprised me a bit, and while I love them, I want to add a few more to make the other areas more balanced. All of the echinaceas (perhaps my favorite flowers) are that bright pink, so holistically the yard works together really well. The lighting is perfect. It’s mostly path lighting for nighttime without it being lit up super bright. I know that most people like more/brighter landscape lighting, but we love the string lights on the fenceline and roofline and don’t mind that the garden area is more subtle. We had some uplights in LA and didn’t really love the vibe and prefer less (as of now). I love this view – seeing the sunroom through the trees and flowers is just so pretty. I really want to add wisteria to the back porch, to grow up those posts, so stay tuned on that (although I’m not ready for a phase 3 yet, folks). A huge thanks to Eric for the design and his wonderful crew at Dennis’ 7 Dees for executing it so professionally. This project was so seamless, and caused us zero unnecessary stress, which is saying A LOT. We got all the plants from the 7Dees garden centers (one in Lake Oswego, Vancouver and Cedar Hills/Beaverton). They source a lot from Monrovia for their garden centers, who grow such healthy plants (thank you). And always Kaitlin for all the beautiful photography. The rundown pickleball wall is getting replaced today, so we are about to do a full backyard tour with the kids in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to show you how it all flows together. A Special Reader/ Follower Offers From Dennis’ 7 Dees For all of you in Portland, they are extending some pretty sweet deals. Check these out: Offer #1: Free Landscape Design with Installation, like ours below If you mention my name, “Emily Henderson” when requesting a residential landscape consultation, you’ll get a free AutoCAD landscape design (a $2,500 value) when you move forward with an installation contract of $15,000 or more. Essentially, you’ll pay the design fee upfront, but it’s fully credited back on the final invoice if you move forward with the full design (saving $2500). This offer would be good for contracted projects through August 31, 2025 (so act now!). Additionally, they wanted me to mention that right now they have fast install timelines available, which will change as fall approaches. They also offer flexible financing options to fit your budget *Reminder to use the landing page link we sent you guys for any website links. 🙂 Offer #2: 20% Off at Our Garden Centers For any Portland followers that are more into plants + DIY, Dennis’ 7 Dees Garden Centers are such a gem if you’re looking for gorgeous, high-quality plants and fun DIY inspiration. They even have the cutest indoor plant shops—like their Bridgeport Village location that’s all about houseplants. You can get 20% off any in-store purchase with the code EMHENDERSON through August 31st (in-store only at any of their 5 locations). I love the Lake Oswego store (it’s such a lovely shopping experience), but I usually pop into Cedar Hills because it’s closer—plus, their Vancouver location is supposed to be huge and beautiful too! Thank you, Dennis’ 7 Dees, for your landscape magic. I’m just so grateful and proud to call this ours. Here Are My Tips For Landscaping: Be realistic about your budget up front. I still fall into this dumb mental trap – not wanting to say what I can spend for fear that I’ve just played my card and lose leverage. But consistently, it has wasted people’s time. Our first quote for the first design came in so high because they didn’t know what our parameters were, so once we cut it by 1/2 or two-thirds (which was realistic for our budget), they had to edit and essentially redesign it. I should have said at the beginning what we really couldn’t go over on the project as a whole from the beginning. When it comes to landscaping, while you want your artistic vision to be executed (farm! natural! wildflowers!), what you really want is for an expert in your region to choose plants that they know will thrive in your yard, based on your conditions, sun location, etc. Like I said below, I weighed in on the color palette but wanted them to use their expertise to choose the right plants that would help the yard look pretty year round (crucial, as we use it and stare it at allllllll year long). Plan early for spring/summer usage. Most landscapers are slow from October/November – February, and then they get SLAMMED. The second that we start fantasizing about using our yard (February/March), they get inundated with new work, so do what we did – reach out in late fall, and then you could be ready by spring!
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The other day I realized I’ve never shown you the full front of the house – nor did you get the play-by-play of the 10 million decisions we made to get here (a huge shout-out to ARCIFORM – my goodness, do they know how to nail classic design so well). Every time I drive up, or anyone does, really, it’s hard not to be impressed with how truly pretty this view is (far more of a grownup house than I ever imagined I’d own). But it wasn’t always beautiful or charming. Like many 100-year-old houses, it started simple/basic, then over the years people made repairs and judgment calls – both good and bad. So today I’m very excited to walk you through what it looked like when we bought it, what we did to it to make it this classic, charming home we have now (PLUS, what two things I have yet to add to it when the budget magically arrives, lol). These were all of the things we knew needed some help with the house and curb appeal… …and these were all of the things we did to achieve that:) Now, come read alllll about it! The Addition – A New Sunroom First things first, ARCIFORM designed my beloved sunroom to help the house look like it had a wraparound covered porch. It looks incredibly original. Thank you, Anne! The house was totally fine, a classic 4-square (where the main living areas are on the first floor, all bedrooms above). Of course, they had added a wing in the 60s, so already that style had changed, but the addition of the sunroom created the sense of this wraparound porch, which just added so much charm. I designed the sunroom windows to marry the original diamond windows (upstairs) with the newer classic grid. The only reason we didn’t do all the new windows like this was due to design and budget constraints. The sunroom windows are absolutely gorgeous, IMHO, and so having these and the entry window be custom-made felt like the right move. The Hefty Porch Railing We went round and round about the porch railings. Classic white wood railings felt basic and, dare I say, boring to me, but I couldn’t find an alternative that made sense (that wasn’t going to be custom welding metal work, which is crazy expensive). Ultimately, I trusted ARCIFORM that this was the appropriate thing to do for the age and style of the home. As far as the size, we wanted them to be a height that people could rest their butts on (we landed at 28″ high), but I thought that these were going to be too chunky, thick, bulky. I was so wrong. ARCIFORM kept telling me that with the scale of the house, we’d need big posts and big railings. They were right!! I love how they look. Our railings are 6″ wide on top with 3″ vertical square railings and 7″ square posts. Ceiling Beams And Rafter Tails I learned a ton about classic porches thanks to ARCIFORM. We chose a tongue and groove ceiling with beams that were 18″ apart, with custom rafter tails to match the original roofline rafter tails (which we tried to replicate on the gazebo but were floored by the pricing – $$$$$$). The pretty carved detail at the end is, of course, gorgeous, but very expensive. Here, you’d have to do it to match. Now I thought we were leaving these rafter tails exposed (so you could see them from the front of the house, with the gutters going on top of them) but they were covered with a piece of wood (is that called skirting when it’s up there, too?) that covered them and then they attached the gutter to that piece of wood. Ultimately, I didn’t have them redo it, but it was something that bummed me out at first. They said that the gutters worked much better this way, and with the rain in Portland, I respected that as we want the best water management here. Now I’ve gotten used to it and heck, maybe all the exposed rafter tails would have been too busy throughout the entire property? Just Google “exposed rafter tails” if you want to see what I’m talking about – it’s a different look. Cement Stairs And Black Metal Handrails Another two details that I sweated over were the cement stairs and the black handrails. We were told over and over that we can’t have wood railings or wood stairs exposed to the rain – they are sure to rot (maybe not for 10-15 years, but still!). So I looked on Pinterest for hours/days/weeks of what we could use that wasn’t wood, and I either found crazy decorative custom stuff (too $$$) or just simple/boring. I was both overwhelmed and underwhelmed, so I designed them to be thin and wide and hoped that they would just go away. I hoped that the house was so pretty that these didn’t need to be anything special. Thank god, I was right about this because even though they were simple, they still cost thousands of dollars since we needed 10 of them around the house at every entrance/exit (by code). Same with the cement stairs – cement is so boring! But because we had so many entrances (front door, mudroom, our bedroom, and the kitchen), we couldn’t really do brick or anything special due to budget. Just the cement was $10k, so imagine had we chosen to do real masonry…ANYWAY, that’s all to say in retrospect. These are the things you don’t notice – the house is so pretty, and these simple and classic elements just disappear in a good way. Vertical Wood Skirting + Horizontal Siding We chose real lap siding (not hardy board), which I think we did because it was a more authentic thing to do, but we did our garages in hardy board and you can barely tell the difference, TBH. Our siding is a 5″ reveal (so I’m assuming it’s 6″ lap siding, where the top of the first inch is covered by the next board). Super classic. Now, the vertical skirting underneath the porch threw me at first, but it makes sense as it contrasts with the horizontal siding nicely. What About Copper Gutters? Oh, you bet we thought about copper gutters, but the price difference was pretty nuts. Now I don’t remember for sure, but I think our white vinyl gutters were around $5k and the copper ones would have been $30k (or something like that – a CRAZY Difference). And the more we thought about it, the more we actually felt that our bright white house didn’t want copper gutters – that they’d get too much attention. I love seeing them on Chris Loves Julia’s house (and they broke down the process so well) as their house is so classic and moody and their patinated gutters look so good. But for our white house, having you not notice the gutters really works. Of course, the copper sconces really pop in a way that I love (and I love how they work so well with the brick landing pad, which is an architectural call back to the kitchen patio). On Mixing Stone And Brick Hardscape The hardscape gets complicated, but the reason we did a herringbone brick anywhere on the property in the first place was because of the covered walkway on the north side of the house, which was long and skinny. It felt like it needed to be a linear pattern (not organic like flagstone). And doing a rectangular flagstone didn’t sound pretty enough to me. The reason we didn’t do herringbone brick everywhere was due to the extreme cost of both the material and the install (which is saying a lot because the stone is also shockingly expensive). So we decided to mix the finishes – a more formal herringbone brick and casual/rustic bluestone. My philosophy was and remains that with older houses like ours, there is something charming about not having all the finishes match or be the same. My feeling is that over time, people in different eras added on different style choices, and that as long as they are all high quality and well executed, the hodge-podgeness of it is actually charming and feels collected over time. I think I’m right for this house, but I wouldn’t do this for a contemporary house – I would likely curate all hard finishes, with some custom details, but I wouldn’t do organic flagstone next to herringbone brick just anywhere. The Landscaping While the house is gorgeous, it’s still simple (white on white, pops of copper/brick but nothing too whimsical). At times, I was so worried that it would be boring (should the windows have been a color? The trim a color? The whole house a color?), but I kept reminding myself that once the landscaping grew in, it would be surrounded by different tones of green and darker aubergine/pinks. Cali (Studio Campo) originally selected the plants/trees for here and they have already changed a lot since install (those amarlylis just showed up this year and I should probably get rid of them before they take over). I added the hydrangeas from Dennis’ 7 Dees), but that statement cherry tree (thanks to Big Trees Today in Oregon) and all the plants really added a ton of color. Two Things I Want To Add (Eventually) I truly love our home, so much. But if I could snap my fingers and add two things, I’d add blue shutters on the bedroom second floor and custom corbels (like we did on the gazebo). I know we went round and round about shutters, here, and it was very polarizing, but I really think that this house can handle real shutters (NOT these renders, they would be the right size and REAL), with pretty black hardware in the same blue as the garage doors (Sherwin-Williams Dutch Tile Blue). And it’s not abnormal to have them only on the second/bedroom floor (since they wouldn’t work on hardly any of the first floor windows). When I had them quoted before, they were $25k (!!!), and I was on the fence, so we didn’t do it. But I do wish we had them, and I might play the lottery and go for it :) And then re the corbels, Purl made the most beautiful corbels for our gazebo, so I’m going to hire him to add some to our porches ($400 each + install, so not nothing but architecturally worth it to me). Anyway, we’ll see if I get around to either of these things (both financially and time-wise). The corbels feel easier to execute (and I love supporting Purl and his artwork), but the shutters feel like a lot. I’ve got other fish to fry (i.e., a carriage house to restore). Thanks, ARCIFORM, for helping us make such classic decisions on the architecture of our home. Everyone thinks that the front was original, and they can’t believe that we didn’t have a porch or the sunroom. Ask me questions in the comments!!
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Iam a new person. Transformed! The fact that there aren’t more before/after shows for the “chronically disorganized” (me!) is a real missed TV opportunity. Now, I do give myself grace because the amount of stuff one has to have to do this job, run this company, and create so much design content so frequently is extreme (occupational hazard – just the way it is). And even with a team of people, it’s impossible to keep it organized unless you have what we now have – a dedicated space, with IKEA shelving and cabinets, labels, color-coded shelves, THE WORKS. Without systems, there is chaos!!!! And Houston, we now have systems. For those of you who want to jump to the reveal, you can watch our latest YouTube video right here. I couldn’t love it any more. 2019 – The BEFORE before When we bought the property, this was the garage – full of potential and spiders/dampness. We always knew that one of the perks of buying the property with so many outbuildings would be that we could have prop storage within reach (crucial to running the business), but not when they looked like this… She was in rough shape. A slab had been poured in the last 20 years (we think), but otherwise it was “vintage”. So my brother’s company, Afore, set to restore and repair it, using the existing footprint and structure (and slab). They reinforced the framing, scissoring where they needed to, replacing other boards, but we really tried to save money by using the original wood. We opted to get rid of the broken windows, choosing functional wall space over a weird fence view. We updated the simple electrical and panneled it all. January 2025 – Construction Progress As you can see, the four bays remained the same, just fixed for new garage doors. The two on the left would be furniture store, holiday, and “Henderson life stuff”, while the two on the right would be smaller props, tools, supplies – all the stuff that needed a true dedicated space. Brian’s truck would go on the far left (and to save money, we made it just a covered carport without a slab, electrical or garage doors, and just a corrugated roof). Initially, we were going to leave the original ceiling (it was pretty!), but we ended up cladding over it just to keep it as clean, insulated, and simple as possible. We needed to add recessed lighting so the paneling covered up the wiring, and honestly, we just didn’t want to deal with spiders and the potentially ickiness ever again. The Old Prop House – Carriage House As a reminder, we had everything on shelving in the only “not-totally-damp” room in the carriage house. Things were not staying in great shape, and we needed to start restoring this house, so it was time to fix the garages so we could have safe, dry storage. June 2025 – DONE!!!! And I’m So Happy Last week, I showed off the prettiest garage doors ever (by Clopay, installed by local company Ponderosa) that we are legit obsessed with. Head over to this post to read alllllllll about our doors and the color, etc. Once open, those doors really create this indoor/outdoor workspace which we all love being in (besides the fact that there is spotty wifi out here – fixing that asap). It’s a huge garage, extremely functional and tidy, and I spend far more time in here than predicted. The After After…My New Favorite Space It’s so much space, and so organized with the right dedicated storage for every type of thing. We have three sides of storage – the shallow shelves on the left, the deep closed storage on the back, and then deep shelves on the right. I mapped it all out beforehand, and I think I did a fantastic job if I do say so myself! In front of the PAX units (which I want to discuss more below), we have our old vintage kitchen table from LA that I have been hoarding, and my beloved Cherner chairs (which admittedly shouldn’t be in a garage, but they aren’t comfortable enough for our day-to-day chairs – so squeaky!). We use this table to pull props and pack them up, but also we have been meeting out here while the kids have been running feral all summer. It’s oddly peaceful and quiet out here. While it’s likely not our year-round “studio,” it’s reallly nice not to always work in my sunroom and have some separation (we are hybrid, so unless we are meeting or shooting, everyone does computer work from home). Are The IKEA PAX Units Good Enough For Garage Shelves?? I saw a lot of comments after I posted about how we had installed the PAX units. A few of you mentioned they aren’t strong enough for true garage storage (based on your experience). So before you do what I did, do more research (than I did). So far we are fine, but as you can see, we do have some stacks of dishes which are rather heavy, and I think I’m going to disperse based on your advice. For the most part, what is in these units isn’t heavy, but if you have heavy bins of garage “stuff,” then based on the comments, you’d want to get the kitchen cabinetry from IKEA. This is our tabletop cabinet as you can see, pared down and super organized. The labels are my boss!!! In the other prop house, these were stacked in a bookshelf and were a total disaster. Here they are stacked perfectly and dust/spider-free. I bought the IKEA organizers for inside that work fine for the flatware. On the left is oversized art and mirrors (which I organized in that cute little wall-mounted art organizer). More IKEA Shelving! This is my favorite wall – so many pretty things that we pull for shoots, rotate in and out of my house, and I think I have a story about every single thing (not saying it’s healthy, just giving the facts). Most of this is vintage or one-of-a-kind (with a decent amount of really useful Anthro, CB2, and Target mixed in here). I had so much fun organizing everything by color – forcing Marlee and Gretchen into a personal show-and-tell monologue about each thing that had a story. Yes, I’m a hoarder of pretty things, and I accept this full accountability (I also purge a lot – and trust me, you want to be friends with “purging Emily”). I’m glad that most of you are likely design enthusiasts and aren’t judging but instead admiring (but it’s ok if you don’t get it, too!) Let me be clear, this is post-purge. As in this is the stuff that made the cut, either because I use it a lot, or it’s somehow special to me, or it’s new and I haven’t found its permanent home yet. On the other side is “Lamp Land,” which houses (you guessed it) all the lighting, as well as art and fabric. How can a photo of shelves of stuff make me so happy???? I guess I see years of collecting (dopamine burst after dopamine burst) mixed with excitement for future projects. Now that I can see everything clearly, I can really place them in future projects (that I know of). I’ve gotten pretty great and knowing what I should keep versus what I really don’t think I need to store any longer. All of this made the cut. Lamps, baskets, small inside pots, and large vessels – everything has a place, and it’s visually so clear. On the bottom row lie row after row of fabric bins that I bought specifically to fit in here side by side, and with a vinyl window to show me what is inside. Admittedly, they look squished, but they do the job assigned to them so well and can fit a LOT. I’m pretty obsessed with these art dividers (pot lid organizers work, too). I bought these from Amazon, with the larger rolling ones here and the smaller art dividers here. These make me feel on top of the world, TBH, and I’m so excited that my art will stop getting damaged by being thrown around. How smart are these rolling art carts? Very specific to my needs (not an every garage staple), but they work so well for our needs. We keep them in front of the door, which we aren’t really using (we might in the winter) because the garage doors open so easily and quickly. It’s such a dream. And a big shout out to the Clopay garage doors that open and close so quietly and, as you can see below, honestly look pretty lovely when closed (the windows help a lot). We’ve been leaving the doors open while we are in here, and it really stays cool (no direct sun, north facing) and is just so nice to get away from the free rein kids running around our property all summer. It’s also fantastic that cars can pull right up to it, so even in the winter we have very little excuse to not put things away (but we can also just stack everything on the table if we are in a hurry – a dedicated staging spot). We put in a cadet heater that is behind the art, leaning on the floor, so we’ll see if we use it in the winter. I think at minimum I’ll set it to keep it 50 degrees so that it doesn’t get too cold in here and warp the art. That white door leads to the other garage, which is full of samples of something I’m very excited to show you, but can’t yet. So more to come from that garage soon… A huge thanks to my team for helping me with this. I know that it’s technically part of their job, but reorganizing your boss’s life (while also shooting a YouTube series about it) is definitely both hard work and very personal. And thanks to my brother’s company, Afore, for making these garages so beautiful, safe, dry, and polished. They are such a dream. Now go watch the fun/fast YouTube to see the full tour (including what is in the other cabinets).
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Now that our latest construction project is done (the garages) and until we start the next one (the carriage house), we have fewer trucks, cars, and equipment wreaking havoc on our property, which made me stare at our regrind driveway with fresh eyes. I just reread the original article, from three years ago, debating all the driveway options and unsure if we made the right decision. We compared concrete (too expensive), gravel (would wash away in rain), chipseal (would also wash away with rain), asphalt (cheapest but very black and new-construction-esque/wrong vibe), and regrind (compacted recycled asphalt with a layer of loose gravel on top). We chose regrind, which was $2k more than asphalt (done by our asphalt contractor). I left that last post on a cliff hanger – did we make the right $40k decision???? Three years later, let’s see. Before – 2019 As a reminder, here’s how busted it was before – SUPER BUSTED. And I wish I knew the exact square footage of our driveway, but I’d say it’s around 1/4 of a mile (at least it feels that way when we take the trash cans to the street – so freaking long). While I had hoped to not invest in the driveway (boring way to spend money), we had to and belabored the decision of what to do. Read the article where I break down all our options, with the pros and cons of each. First Year Of Our Regrind Driveway – 2022 As a reminder, we wanted something that felt older, appropriate to a 120-year-old farm. Listen, however fancy our house has turned out, it still has a casual vibe, and we were (and still are) afraid that asphalt would not be the right choice, style-wise. And as a reminder, gravel would have washed away because we are on a hill and we live in the Pacific Northwest, where God blesses us with months of rain every year. Our initial reaction was “it’s fine,” then months later, “it’s actually GREAT”. And since then, it’s honestly not something we ever think about. It’s just our driveway and I give zero attention to it. Listen, I barely know which of our two cars I drive (not joking, I have what the kids call “car blindness” where I get into the closest black SUV), so we all have the things we care about, and driveways aren’t one of mine. Now, Our Regrind Driveway in 2025…3 Years Later It looks mostly the same but dirtier and looser in parts. I just asked Brian what he thought of it now, and he said, “I don’t know – I guess it’s fine?”. That’s kind of how I feel. I still prefer the charm of the gravel sound under my feet. I love that it’s more rustic and not a harsh dark new color (or broken concrete). You can really beat it up without leaving a trace. I do fear that had we done asphalt, we would have to have it redone already since we deal with so many trucks here, likely damaging it. Over time, some areas have gotten a tiny bit “bald” of loose gravel, but the compacted asphalt underneath is still there. I didn’t even notice it, to be honest, until I forced myself to look. I think it’s mostly the same, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the top layer of loose gravel is shaken up a bit. My Official Verdict – Regrind Or Asphalt? Regrind is still the best choice for us, even if we aren’t vocal Regrind enthusiasts. It’s just great, appropriate, and works here really well. Listen, if we didn’t have an older, more rustic property AND have a sports court for biking/roller blading, then I think asphalt would probably have been our choice. If you have young kids and want a place for biking or blading (or playing basketball), then regrind isn’t the best for that. They are about the same cost, so like most things, this is a personal preference, and we are happy enough with what we chose. We have zero regrets, but really don’t think that asphalt is a bad choice, just stylistically not what we wanted. We don’t love dragging the trash cans down to the street (feels like 1/4 mile) on the regrind driveway, but it’s better than gravel. But the look and feel is worth it to us. Will give you an update in another 3 years :)
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Inever thought I’d be this excited to show you the prettiest garage doors ever. When we finally agreed to invest in making our garages better, our goal was to make them functional, but we had very low expectations on how beautiful they would be. Our garages aren’t on a street where neighbors can see (only friends and our trusted FedEx guys would see them), they aren’t part of our curb appeal (not attached to the house), so our goal was “better and basic” (along with “dry, not disgusting, less spiders and mold,” and ultimately way less dangerous). But today we are talking specifically about the doors – what we now call the best garage doors ever. And because I clearly have a disorder where I can’t do anything simply or “without obsessing about how pretty it could be,” therefore I ended up choosing these pretty doors that make me so happy – far happier than predicted. Before we get into the full post, here is a fun little video (just wait for the ad to play:)) The Before Here is where we started 5 years ago. We knew we were lucky to have this huge garage at all (right?), but they weren’t in the best shape, and everything needed repair. We ignored them for a couple of years, finally hiring the most affordable painter in town who was willing to just paint without any prep (a real literal lipstick on a pig situation) because they were such an eyesore after our house was finally done. But we knew they were not in good enough condition to invest in scraping and painting properly. The fresh coat kinda helped, but otherwise we didn’t touch them for another 3 years. Starting in January, we knew that we needed the storage soon because we wanted to start restoring the original carriage house on the property. We’d need the garages to be our future and permanent storage space for my vintage hoarding and any future product lines (not to mention life and holiday stuff). So we hired my brother’s brand-new company, Afore Construction, to fix them up, and new garage doors were a clear must. I received multiple word-of-mouth recommendations for Ponderosa, a local (and experienced) garage door installer. I reached out and really loved their customer service, speed, communication style (fast and personal with easy text notifications), and variety of great door products. After telling Ken, the owner, that I wanted carriage-style doors, he suggested we work with a company called Clopay because they are meant to be the best garage doors, with a massive variety of customization and styles (ours are vintage style, but they certainly have very contemporary and modern as well). They range in price, as expected, and ours are more than average, but for our style of property (more historic and antique), we felt we needed to pick something that really aligned with the property. Turns out even though I promised myself “I didn’t care”, more focused on function and speed – turns out I always care, always. I chose the Canyon Ridge Elements garage doors, and to get all specific about them (should you want to copy them exactly), they are low-maintenance, insulated steel garage doors with composite overlays. We chose Design 22 (how the diagonal lines are designed) with the SQ23 windows (size and configuration style) and had them all painted SW Dutch Tile Blue (they can match any Sherwin-Williams color). My goodness, are they beautiful. Ponderosa installed them in one day – ONE DAY!! They arrived, a team of 3, and powered through without me having to do a thing. And they were extremely professional, knowledgeable, and just so impressive. 10/10 service. They texted their eta, and were so easy to communicate with, with everything being electronic (so not a lot of annoying contracts and paperwork at the end). They offer a 5-star service program which provides annual maintenance and has the quietest motor (and it’s oddly quiet, not something I thought I’d care about, but it’s really lovely). They are also very hard to break into with high-end steel and mechanisms, which is clearly important. We added the faux handles and strappings in black to make them look more vintage, working with the farm design of the property. And we wanted windows on top to add natural light inside (and charm). They had a lot of options for all of these elements, both in style and color (we chose the spear style strap). I literally couldn’t be happier with what we chose and how they turned out – they add such charm and are super high quality. And there is a slightly “faux” wood grain finish to the garage doors that adds a really nice texture, which I was SO relieved looked fantastic in person (I’m always nervous about faux anything, but this is not cheesy, just subtle and nice). We chose to have each controlled separately, with individual codes, and inside, there are convenient buttons to open and close. The garage doors on the inside are clean, and the windows add nice natural light. Ponderosa really nailed the execution, and they function so perfectly, quietly, and just so seamlessly (zero annoyance to me and super intuitive to figure out). I wish I had more drama to tell you, more things I wish I had done differently, or lessons I learned. But I have zero regrets or lessons on this one! WAhoo! Just the best garage doors executed perfectly. We left the last bay open as a carport. It was the original sheep’s barn and was never a garage. But we did this mostly for budget purposes. We saved on not having electrical, simple framing, finishes, and no cement floor (just gravel). It’s super bare bones, which we are fine with (we almost just tore it down, but my brother convinced us to keep it, just not really invest in it). Ultimately, we didn’t need a fifth garage, just a covered carport for Brian’s vintage truck and a great space for messy painting projects. And heck, a future owner might have a boat or something they want to store here (no intent on a future owner, but we always consider all the possibilities). A few quick and dirty facts: The doors themselves would typically cost $18k for 4 doors. Choosing a custom Sherwin-Williams paint color adds $10/sq. ft. to the door cost and a few extra weeks. Remember ours were on the higher end, and they have a lot that are much more affordable with fewer design details and general bells and whistles. The install for these four doors would typically be around $11,340, which covers the cost of the high-end Liftmaster motors, all the elevated, premium parts, and extended warranty that comes with the 5-Star bundle that Ponderosa provides, and of course, the labor to install everything. You get what you pay for, and we are thrilled. You wouldn’t buy the doors separately or anything, but just giving you the breakdown so you understand the overall costs. The cost didn’t include the new framing and the electrical prep. Since we were fixing our garages, not just changing out the doors, Afore worked with Ponderosa to frame it perfectly and prep all the electrical in advance. Ponderosa measured and ordered the doors after the framed door openings were finished. NEW FEATURE ALERT! We now have before and after sliders. Just use the arrow toggle button to see the transformation:) When they arrived, I was oddly delighted by these garage doors, and I remain so happy every time my eye lands on them. The happy blue, the windows, the decorative strappings, and the super smooth, quiet function – truly the best garage doors. I feel extremely lucky and grateful. A huge thanks to Ponderosa for their excellent execution on our doors. Thank you, Clopay, for partnering on these beautiful garage doors, and Afore Construction for doing all the prep work and helping us fix up the garages. Interior reveal coming soon, I promise.
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Ifeel like I’m about to step into an opinion minefield today. Deciding to do a clover lawn in one area of the property has been oddly polarizing. I’m not an expert, so don’t use me as your sole point of research, but we did opt for a clover lawn instead of traditional turf this time, and today I’ll talk about why (and how I feel about it). I’ve wanted clover forever, but I was alone in the past. So many experts (both in person and online) think it’s a fantastic new alternative to lawns, and other experts in the field (LOL) say it will ruin your landscaping that you’ve just invested in. My typical approach (on anything) is to do a ton of research and then realize that, like everything, it’s nuanced, depends on a lot of things, and lands somewhere in the middle. I also generally try to listen to people with the most real-world experience in anything, and yet sometimes old-school folks don’t want to risk something new because they’ve been trained to hate it. With clover, apparently, farmers used to love it, then “big herbicide” demonized clover as a weed, and the rest is history. Four years ago, during phase 1, I proposed a clover lawn after being heavily influenced by commenters during our artificial turf conversation in Arrowhead (which I don’t regret for one second, btw – it absolutely made sense for the no-irrigation-allowed dry landscaping). Up here in Oregon, I was met by “Clover instead of grass? Are you nuts?” But I was uneducated (outside of internet searching) and outnumbered, so I didn’t fight for my clover lawn. Grass it was. And listen, grass lawns thrive in Oregon, we have a lot of rain, 8-9 months of the year, and many people don’t irrigate at all. I love our grass lawns, mixed a bit naturally with clover, and totally imperfect. Last weekend we had six families over for a full day BBQ that went until 11 pm, where 16 kids played ghosts in the graveyard, gymnastics, soccer, frisbee, and football for HOURS. Grass is best for this. Does it take a lot of water in the summer? Yep. But we invested in recommissioning our well, which is what we irrigate with. Could we have done a clover lawn instead? Maybe! But we recently seeded clover by the paddock, and today we are discussing it all. Keep reading to check it out. What’s The Beef With Real Grass Lawns??? clover lawn There is a new movement that is certainly against the traditional lawn. Like so many things right now, the loudest voices seem to be passionately against what most of us have deemed kinda normal, causing us to critically rethink it all. From what I’ve researched and learned, here are the points that seem to make sense to me: Grass lawns are high maintenance (daily watering and weekly mowing). They create a monoculture (one species, not creating a biodiverse environment for bees and butterflies, and other native plants to thrive). They deplete resources (water). They are often treated with chemicals (fertilizers and herbicides – glyphosate from Roundup are seen to be universally known as AWFUL and possibly one of the worst demons to our environment and our bodies). Oh, but then there’s the “no-lawn” movement, which is a mix of pea gravel, DG, and low-drought shrubs, which can look great in a front yard, but doesn’t make sense for a lot of families. Clover lawn versus a grass lawn felt like a real alternative. I’m sure in many areas, all the above points are very true (I’ve never been a “perfect green lawn” person, I’m from rural Oregon). But, the vibe of many of the articles can often be pretentious, as if those of us who want a lawn are just for “suburban show” – it’s not. For us, at least, so much life happens on lawns with young kids, and in Oregon, it thrives without extra water almost year-round. It is mostly set it and forget it. Or maybe we are just basic :) Let’s Go Clover Lawns! The hype towards having a clover lawn is this: Low maintenance because it requires far less water and mowing than grass. Eco-friendly, using nitrogen that acts as a natural fertilizer in the soil. Attracts and feeds pollinators like bees and other beneficial insects. It is soft, cool, and pretty! I love the look of clover. In fact, I love the look of clover mixed with grass (so sue me). And in hot summers it’s way cooler on feet :) It is evergreen or semi-evergreen. Year-round without irrigation for the most part – it might go dormant in August, but otherwise requires very little once established. Super cheap – once the soil is prepped, it’s just seeds, which can be under $50. The Cons Of Clover: This seems to be more anecdotal, but both a traditionally trained former landscaper of ours and our trusted maintenance guy, Domingo (who has been taking care of Oregon yards for 30 years), both painted a potential horror picture of intentionally using clover. They claimed clover lawns will take over everything – lawns, garden beds, and would choke out pretty shrubs and annuals. And when you have two experts with decades of different types of experience warning you not to do something, you listen, right? But what if they care about lawns in a way that I don’t? We like a more natural, rustic vibe. I don’t mind clover mixed in with our turf – in fact, I LIKE IT. We like overgrown and wild. We do NOT like manicured (I even hate when they edge the lawn, TBH). At the same time, we planted these gorgeous beds full of perennials that need to thrive! P.S. This is our new area that I really don’t want to get ruined, and you can see the clover in the back just starting to grow. Stage 2 Landscaping – We Went With A Clover Lawn (But Not At First) As you know for stage 2 of our landscaping, we hired Dennis’ 7 Dees to redesign the area under the old sport court and to make the area by the barn and paddock simply better (and truly couldn’t have been happier). Eric sent through the design plan below: We loved the original plan – a mix of flagstone, trees, shrubs, and perennials. But the $$$ numbers were higher than we wanted, and Brian and I panicked. We quickly prioritized our budget and deprioritized the area at the top, along the split rail fence by the barn. It just wasn’t that important to us. Sure, we didn’t want it to look like garbage, but that area in and of itself was going to cost $40k – demo, irrigation, a ton of stonework, planting, trees, shrubs, lighting, etc. Here’s what that area looked like before: Every winter it was green, wild, and full of weeds (which we didn’t mind, TBH), and every summer it was so dry and ugly (which we did mind). But this area is more utility – it’s where Brian wheelbarrows the food to the animals, and kids stand on the fence to feed the animals. It didn’t need to be pretty, just better than it was. Could this be the clover opportunity I’ve been waiting for?? So this time I relied heavily on Dennis’ 7 Dees to help us make our clover decision. They confirmed all of the above and gave us even more insight. Clover changes throughout the year—lush and blooming in spring, thinner in summer, then rebounding in fall. (Fine by me!) They confirmed it needs reseeding every 2–3 years to stay dense (Easy! Especially since they are also our maintenance team, so they’ll stay on top of this) – P.S. More if there is harsh weather. Less ideal for heavy play zones without occasional mowing (true, which is why we also love having a traditional turf lawn for kids to play). Maintenance in Oregon is low: Watering: Needs only occasional water in dry spells after it’s established. Mowing: Optional—some mow every few weeks to manage blooms, others let it grow freely with minimal mowing (that’s us!). DONE. We were into it. Let’s save some dough, make our yard look more natural, and feed those bees and soil at the same time. The Process And What We Chose: Eric and Dennis’ 7 Dees came back with this specific recommendation (because they are pros): “PT 755 Fleur de Lawn, a premium eco-lawn seed blend that includes micro-clover and a mix of flowering, low-growing species. It’s designed to be drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly, and soft underfoot—perfect for areas where a traditional lawn might not make sense”. Sounded GREAT to me. This whole area cost $3k, whereas the original plan was obviously much much more. Since we were hiring out for this, they did it professionally – demoing out the lawn, bringing in new/better soil, leveling it all for draining, soil, then waiting for spring to spread the seed. No irrigation. Our job would be to mist it daily for 10 minutes when it didn’t rain to establish the seeds (which was hard to remember, TBH). Here’s what it looks like 3 months in: I LOVE IT. It makes me so happy. This is probably because I’m from rural Oregon and it just reminds me of my childhood. Here are a few things to keep in mind from the experts: Maintenance in Oregon: Watering: Needs only occasional irrigation in dry spells after it’s established. Mowing: Optional—some mow every few weeks to manage blooms, others let it grow freely with minimal mowing Reseeding: Expect to overseed every couple of years, especially after high foot traffic or harsh weather. Seasonal Care Rhythm: Spring: Let it bloom and thrive with seasonal rains, mow down and allow grassier look to develop. Summer: drought tolerant clover will take over to compensate for lawn dieback. Irrigated as desired. Fall: With rain, it fills back in like a soft green carpet lawn look. Winter: It may thin or get mucky, but bounces back in spring. Why Dennis’ 7 Dees Recommends It In Certain Projects: “Clover and eco lawns aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution, but they’re a great option for large, low-traffic areas where sustainability and simplicity matter. We’re always looking for ways to reduce inputs (water, fertilizer, labor) and support pollinators—this choice checks all those boxes while still feeling beautiful and thoughtful. It’s a ‘Design with nature, not against it’ approach.” If you aren’t done talking about clover yet, here is more from our current account manager, Emily Smiley (how great is her name??): “The great clover debate is real. Lawn purists say it’s weedy and wild; environmentalists say lawns are outdated, period. I say: know your goals and choose what serves your space best. Sometimes that’s a manicured lawn. Sometimes it’s a pollinator meadow. And sometimes, it’s a patch of clover that costs a fraction of traditional landscaping and makes your yard feel intentional. Clover isn’t perfect, but neither is turf. As a landscape designer and gardener, I believe in designing with nature; not against it. This specific choice softens the space, supports Natural Pollinators(!!) and reduces our environmental footprint without giving up on aesthetic beauty.” “This isn’t a turf replacement—it’s a true eco-lawn that works with the seasons, not against them.” So How Do We Feel About It? I couldn’t be happier. BIG FAN. In some places, it’s taller? Other places it’s more like ground cover. I love how it looks soft and natural, bright green, and easy. Imperfect, wild, but not out of control, and just so appropriate for our space. It is taking over the boxwood a bit, which we can’t tell if we care about (we put in those shrubs after the clover as a ball barrier), so we might carve out a moat around those plants with mulch. Easy fix. All in all, we love it. Now, if we could just plant it in that brown paddock, without the alpacas and pigs eating it before it could grow (which would never happen – such pigs!).
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While Caitlin writes hilarious posts against curved sofas, I’m over here doing the opposite and bringing awareness to an oft-dismissed piece of outdoor furniture. As the self-appointed PR ambassador for “big picnic tables,” I wanted to answer the 3-4 people who are curious why I like them so much. You see, the basic, pedestrian picnic table isn’t a typical designer move – no fancy wood grain, barely mixed finishes (silver screws could count?), neither trend forward nor extremely comfortable. They are literally everywhere you look – at public parks, churches, and schoolyards. And yet, they are so perfect for us and I don’t know of a solution that would work as well in our parklike backyard. So the question is: Why should I get a picnic table? Followed up with a round up of a few with different styles (some fancier, I promise). They Work On Every Uneven Floor Surface I believe it was 3 years ago when I bought my first picnic table (seen above). We had this pea gravel area in front of the mini-gym (near the mini-pool), and pea gravel is notoriously annoying for chair legs (they get stuck, hard to move each chair, off balance, and they look dumb/sloppy because they are never even). So it was a no-brainer – what table and chairs would work on such a precarious floor? An attached bench picnic table. I ordered these from Wayfair, and I remember they weren’t cheap ($750), which is admittedly a lot for a wood picnic table. But I liked the cleaner lines of the shape (see how they are finished all straight?), the tone of the wood, and how it was assembled. I ordered 2 so we could put them together for bigger kid parties. They Sit Evenly On Flagstone I moved two of them onto the flagstone landing pads that meander through our newly finished area in the backyard (thanks to Dennis’ 7 Dees) and LOVE THEM. Here, our flagstone is perfectly installed and very flat and even, but still it’s not like it’s a concrete pad – it was done organically for a reason. If we had dining legs, they would for sure get caught in the gaps, which would be annoying on a million levels. I love that these have attached benches that make them only have four wide points of contact on the floor. Wait, I Have A Grassy Backyard! Can I Have A Picnic Table? Yes! You too can enjoy the life around a picnic table. They also work GREAT on grass and are easy to move around, should you not want to ruin the grass underneath. I love them near a tree for shade (thus our huge trees from Big Trees Today nearby). I also love that they are easy to move – two people can easily transport them around the yard, should we all want to be closer to the trampoline or something. FURTHERMORE, for bigger dinner parties, we can put them into one long table on the grass in the evening, either with or without a gap in between. In conclusion (I feel like I’m writing a term paper in 7th grade), here is why I love picnic tables: The vibe is casual, classic, and inviting, and says “all are welcome to sit here and enjoy a day in the park together”. They are affordable because a table + 6 chairs would be FAR more expensive. They age really nicely, should you leave them out year-round (like we do). If you buy pressure-treated wood or paint them with the right paint, you don’t need to cover them – they just live, and honestly, they create a nice-to-look-at wood sculpture (that might be a stretch, but it works for me). They work almost everywhere – flagstone, pea gravel, grass. I wouldn’t put them on a fancier back patio (they do make a space look instantly casual, so if that’s not a vibe you want, then yea,h they might not be for your space). I didn’t choose them for the kitchen patio, which is herringbone brick – but I think with a cute umbrella it could work there, too! They are extremely flexible – can be dressed up with a pretty table-scape, or just sit as-is with a potted plant in the center. They can be beaten up with food, crafting, science experiments, and feel less precious. Great crafting tables! They are a kid magnet – for whatever reason, kids love to sit around these and since we have like a billion kids playing here at all times, many multi-family bbqs, we can designate these tables for the kiddos, which they love. They look great pushed together – a big old farm table for charming dinner parties. You don’t need to store them – keep them out and use them year-round! The Portland EHD team works out here at times, and while they don’t have back support or cushions, we find them perfectly comfortable for a few hours. We also have this more high end version from Rejuvenation which I like a lot (that joinery is really sweet) but the detached benches do get wobbly on our flagstone and they made the benches less wide that the table which reduces the amount of people who can sit (thus the chairs on the end). Listen, I don’t think this post is going to blow up the picnic table market, but the function + good vibes of this lowly classic outdoor table is one that I really think could work in other, even more elevated home yards. I personally think that the rustic versions are sweet (and some are so affordable – see below), but if you wanted to guarantee they’d be standing in 20 years, you could go for POLYWOOD, which comes in a few colors. We rounded up a few below, should you be in the market (and yes, you can totally paint the wood ones a pattern or a color should you want to make it look more fun, just research the right paint to leave out year-round). Our tables have grayed out a bit which we like and really do stand up to grime with some seasonal cleaning. Now head out to your backyard and see where you can put one of these charming little schoolhouse picnic tables :) And no, we don’t typically all sit on the same side, shoulder to shoulder :)
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Ican’t tell you how happy I was to fix our own HUGE mistake – 1/3 of the sports court is now gone in favor of a lot of greenery, flagstone, picnic tables, and trees. We hired Dennis’ 7 Dees to design and execute, and it went SO WELL. Started in February and done by late April (P.S. a great hack for speed is hiring them in the winter when they have more crews available, FYI). I couldn’t believe how fast and great they were, the yard transforming every single day. Brian and I were in awe. It turned out so beautiful and I feel extremely lucky and grateful. Weeks have gone by since we shot this, and it looks even more beautiful now, growing in so well. In case you are new here… we once had the world’s biggest run-down tennis court (see below) that stretched from the still-existing run-down tennis wall to the far edge of the split rail fence – MASSIVE. And after 4 years, it’s now the size that it should have always been. When we bought the property, the entire width of the backyard was a broken asphalt tennis court. What a crazy transformation… The thing is, when we first walked on the property, we loved it as-is. Truly. Sure, we knew we were going to transform it over time, but we had no idea what a beast it would end up being (a “where is the end of the string” panic for years). Once the construction around the house ruined most of the yard near the house, we enacted the landscaping phase one in 2021-2022, and it made such an incredible difference. But then we cut it short due to budget and renovation exhaustion. We knew we’d readdress it at some point (which apparently was this winter). This is what it looked like summer of 2023 – so pretty and usable and honestly wonderful. But the sports court was still too big, so as we planned for the outdoor grill area, we decided to pull the band-aid off and hire someone to make all the changes we wanted to this area. Let’s back up a bit, in 2020, we hired Cali from Studio Campo to design our backyard with a separate landscaping construction team to execute it. It was very wild-flowery, which we loved, and was a great year one impact (when we needed to shoot the Soake pool). During lockdown, she moved to Colorado with her new baby, and while she still takes jobs in Oregon for this phase, we wanted a design-build team to fully design and execute phase 2 (versus hiring a designer and hiring a separate contractor). We needed to streamline the work, with a design lead and one project manager who worked for the same company and knew each other (and had a shared vision). So we hired Dennis’ 7 Dees, which did such an incredible job (and fast), more on that below. The “sports court” (we never resurfaced it, so it was really just concrete) looked fine in that shot because it was brand new, but most of the year it looked like a dirty parking lot. It took a full 2 years for me to convince Brian that it was too big. The kids did love it, sure, but I also knew that they would love it if it were slightly smaller. The kids will be just fine, lol. We made sure we left it big enough to have a pickleball court with space around it to play and hang out. The winter view is farrrrrrrr less inspiring. We also learned the importance of evergreen plants, so we ended up having Dennis’ 7 Dees switch out a lot of the grasses and perennials for evergreen shrubs. 2025!!! We are SO incredibly happy with how it looks and how speedy the entire process was. Eric (designer at Dennis’ 7 Dees) did such a fantastic job selecting evergreens that still felt farmlike (we have some perennials, but we asked for 70% evergreen). You can’t have fast, cheap, and good, but we sure did get fast and good, so I’ll take it. While I really did like the idea of the perennial wildflowers along this fenceline, they looked so sad in the winter and out of control in the summer, so we kept the cherry trees and whatever that purple ground cover is, and Eric planted evergreens and some flowering perennials along this fence. Excited to see how it grows in. The flagstone looks so natural and like it’s always been there. We didn’t need more lawn, nor did we want unusable greenery in between the pool and pickleball area, so we asked for landing pads for picnic tables when we have large groups here (which is frequent). The picnic tables are great because the organic shape of flagstone that we love can be wobbly with dining chair legs, so these are so easy to set it and forget it (and it’s the vibe we wanted, too). It occurred to me the other day that what we’ve been calling our “mini farm” (3 acres) now has a “mini pool” (our Soake pool), a mini gym (literally 10×12), and now a “mini tennis court” (aka pickleball court). The fact that we didn’t opt to adopt mini donkeys or miniature goats is CRIMINAL. There is still time, Farmer Brian Henderson. The pickleball court finally got properly surfaced right after we shot the kitchen, and my goodness, it’s awesome to have. At the last minute (before the court was resurfaced) we found a team to throw up and screw in those cedar boards on our totally falling down tennis wall fence, flanking our green tennis wall. It helped a lot (and we gave them one coat of a gray stain to take down the orange and gray them out a bit). Of course after after we did that, we resurfaced the floor, and then the green wall looked so old and we realized it’s clearly falling down. Maybe we’ll tackle next summer – it’s fine enough for this summer, and I’m done thinking about this for a while (I much prefer lamps and pillows – this is Brian’s domain). We ended up needing to put in a French drain along the side of the pickleball court because the drainage was awful during a weekend of super harsh rain. You see, the concrete that was demo’d left really, really hard soil underneath that they prepped for planting, but the extreme rainwater couldn’t absorb into the dirt fast enough. To avoid ruining the court (which I don’t even know if that’s a thing) Dennis’ 7 Dees threw in a french drain along the court edge with river rocks on top (when I say “threw in” I mean everything costs thousands of dollars in landscape design but it sure happened quickly!). Eric, the designer, selected most of the plants, and we tweaked very few of them. They sourced most from Monrovia because they are high quality and grown locally, and Monrovia was able to give us slightly bigger plants at a discount, which was lovely and appreciated. Everything is so much more grown in now. We opted not to plant between the flagstone (for budget purposes). I have a few more posts I want to write about that will show how it’s growing in, what plants we used, what’s up with the clover field, and what the step-by-step process of this looked like for those who might want a similar huge revamp. I will say that while Dennis’ 7 Dees gave a discount for trade (photos, reels, etc.), I feel compelled to unnecessarily gush about them loudly because they were so awesome. They designed, executed, and we’ve hired them for maintenance. They were crazy fast, super experienced, and I felt generally so taken care of. And if you are in Lake Oswego, Vancouver, or Cedar Hills (not far from us), their retail nursery is awesome. One More Quick Before (2020) Not exactly the same angle (will get this summer) as Kaitlin has to stand on our roof (terrifying) and I’m not exactly going to micromanage her, but what a transformation! Human for scale (the pool can be confusing, lol). A big old thanks to Dennis’ 7 Dees for landscape design and construction, Monrovia for a lot of the plants, Big Trees Today for the larger trees (will show you more soon of those). Excited to dive in more this summer as things grow in more and talk about why we put in a clover field, why we don’t love mulch (never will), as well as lighting, drainage, the construction process, and plant selection. So the first reveal of phase 2 is done, folks. More to come (always) but loving it so very, very much. Feeling so grateful to live here, and when the family is out BBQing and playing pickleball with all our friends, it feels actually surreal that this is ours and I’m this much of an adult. Like real simulation type stuff :) Thanks for reading. xx Oh, and Dennis’ 7 Dees is offering our readers 20% off retail purchases at our 5 garden center locations (valid in-store and online). Just use code: EMHENDERSON.
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Ithink I can say that the majority of us love looking at beautiful homes filled with beautiful things that are often outside of our budgets. It’s both aspirational and sometimes a bummer because WE WANT THOSE BEAUTIFUL THINGS TOO. The good news is that there are so many products on the market, including so many incredible dupes or near dupes to give us the same/very similar look…but for smaller budgets. And I’m sure that it’s no surprise that Wayfair is the place to find them. I’m never not pleasantly surprised that when I’m creating a “look for less,” Wayfair always comes through. It’s actually wild. So, since summer is upon us, we thought we’d put together a very compelling “look for less” of some of Emily’s favorite pieces. Let me show you that you can easily get “the Emily look” for an affordable budget:) Let’s take this awesome sectional from Wayfair. It’s big, has that great slatted back detail (so it’s pretty at any angle), and I love that warm medium-toned wood color. The only thing that could be a little tough, depending on your budget, is the pricetag, which comes in at $3,199. But guess what I found after an easy little search on their site… …these much more affordable beauties!! I know that they aren’t exact replicas (which is good TBH), but they give the same vibe/look/feel. The Suvada Wide Outdoor L-Shaped Patio Sectional has that sweet wood “X” detail that is perfect for a farmhouse, casual traditional look. I also love the long bench cushions. Oh, and not for nothing, but there’s a savings of $2,459 compared to Emily’s. Then the Acacia Outdoor Patio Sectional is a little more expensive, but you’re still saving $2,299 (!), and it has the wood slate detail. This one leans a little more modern if that’s what you’re looking for. They are also both highly rated! Let’s move on to her poolside lounge chairs. Emily has the loungers from Neighbor, and as someone with an outdoor sofa from them as well, I can attest to their quality… and their heftier price tag. The lounger is currently priced at $1,475. So I went on a mission to find a couple of affordable options that looked extremely similar, and here’s what I decided on:) I love the Strausbaugh Outdoor Acacia Chaise Lounge because the wood tone is similar, and it has back wheels like Emily’s for moving them around easily. Then personally, I really love armrests, so that was a factor too:) But we’re here for savings, and boy, are these much more budget-friendly! These loungers are $1,170 LESS. You could get four and still not pay as much as her one. But if you are someone who doesn’t like armrests, the Scheiner Outdoor Acacia Chaise Lounge is so great. They have over 600 4.5 stars, and the savings are even better since you get two for $449, which, if you were able to buy them individually, would be a difference of $1,251. If you’ve been following since the mountain house days, then you know Emily Henderson loves hammocks…a lot. Emily originally paid almost $400 for the one in the photo, and that’s without the stand! So these two options are not only really cute, but they are more than half the price. If you’re looking for an EHD-approved, affordable hammock, then look no further than these two. Your summer will absolutely be upgraded if you can nap in the shade while gently swaying:) Another important Emily outdoor tip is to have a patterned moment like this umbrella. Emily tends to be partial to a bold stripe:) But her umbrella was almost $400. So when I found this one on Wayfair for a fraction of the price for the same size and tilt function, I was beyond excited. Yes, you would also need a stand, and this cutie is only $42, so done and done. That’s still more than a $300 saving on the original. Another item from this part of Emily’s backyard are those sweet folding dining chairs. I love the mix of wood and metal, and these ones from Wayfair are almost identical…but of course, more affordable. Emily’s were $300 for two, so you can save $50 with these. Every dollar counts, and these have a perfect 5-star rating:) Lanterns (especially black metal and glass ones) are another Emily Henderson outdoor staple. As you can see above, she styles them in outdoor entries, dining areas, by lounge zones — there isn’t an outdoor area she won’t try them, ha. But some lanterns aren’t cheap. Luckily, I found ones that look expensive but aren’t, AND come with candles. I’m sorry, but being able to purchase two outdoor lanterns with candles for $38 is WILD. The small one in the photo above is $88, and that definitely does not come with a candle. So yes to lanterns, and YES, to affordable ones. They just add such a great amount of visual interest and layering, plus, when lit, a pretty ambiance! Another outdoor decor piece that is super impactful but can easily get pricey are tall planters. They are so helpful in framing a doorway, an entry, a zone, etc. Emily uses them all of the time, and Exhibit A is by her front door above. Those were bought at a local nursery, but let’s just say she wouldn’t have categorized them as affordable, as opposed to these ones that I found… The white ones are made of resin and are that sleek shape that goes with any style. They also come in a few other colors if white doesn’t look best with your home. I also wanted to show you these black ones because they could lean a little more modern traditional and are such a great price. For a set of 2, both of these options are at least half the price of many on the market! For Em’s newest outdoor space, her outdoor kitchen, she chose those awesome POLYWOOD counter stools. Wayfair sells this version too! Oh, and if you love the style but need a dining chair height, they have these:) However, to save some more dollars, I found a really great option that’s $64 less per stool. And here they are! Slightly more modern but still has the slatted look and green color. I think these look great, but they also come in a few other colors! Another common dream I feel many of us have is a porch swing. I’m not sure what movie or show infiltrated our brains, but boy, do I want one someday. This light wood one Emily has is great, but as you can imagine isn’t the most budget-friendly, coming in at $2,195. Let me show you what Wayfair has:) Well, what have I been tellin ya? That wood bench above is so pretty and almost $2,000 LESS than what’s on her front porch. A total steal! But if you are worried about wood and harsh weather, we know that POLYWOOD is maybe the most durable outdoor furniture available, so while not a natural wood tone and a little more expensive, the cream one on the right has the right style look and is still over $1,500 less than Em’s. This little upper deck patio is one of my favorites, too, so I had to include it. This chair is also a favorite. It’s comfortable, so chic, and of course, not inexpensive. But that’s what’s also awesome about Wayfair, they have pieces like this one from Blu Dot, but if you want something similar in a different budget, you can find this… It’s not “the same”, but also feels the same, you know? I love how this chair is also low, has a similar metal frame, and while it’s a different material, the natural fiber also wraps around the frame. Oh, and it’s also $1,345 less than the Blu Dot one. Not bad! Hope this was helpful as you’re gearing up for the warm weather! What’s also great about Wayfair are those fast shipping times, so no time wasting waiting for your dream outdoor space. Thanks to Wayfair for sponsoring this post and for making it so easy to create a truly great space. Happy sourcing, everyone! Love you, mean it.
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As I was designing this “kitchen gazebo,” I found almost no inspiration that looked and functioned like I wanted ours to look/feel. They were mostly big boxy McMansion-looking Texas-style structures or hexagonal sweet old timey gazebos, but I found almost no images of rectangular covered structures that looked charming and pretty. So I knew that it would have to be done in the details – i.e., custom rafter tails, or in today’s case, vintage-inspired corbels. A corbel is a structural and decorative bracket that connects the beams to the posts in the corners, creating a stronger structure and, for me, softening the harshness of the strong lines. It was a perfect opportunity to add some sweet charm and make this structure less boxy. The Original Corbels On The Covered Walkway I got the idea for them from our very own covered walkway that had corbels between each post and beam, as you can see above. I loved the sweet scrollwork and wanted to mimic that, but bigger for the gazebo (we also had four small ones leftover from the part of the walkway that didn’t make it that we put on the island – I’ll show you later). Time To Shop… So I went down to Aurora Mills, my favorite architectural salvage place, 1/2 hour outside of Portland, and shopped. My hope was to get 8 large corbels that matched, but of course, we had specific dimensions we had to stay within, and obviously, stylistically, I had my dream corbel in mind. I knew it would be a shot in the dark, but I didn’t know where else to start. If nothing else, I’d come back with some inspiration and firmer ideas. Aurora Mills had a ton of antique corbels, saved from vintage Victorian houses. It was super inspiring, and I got to really dig into their whole inventory to see if I could make anything work. I collected every single option that would fit size-wise (we needed them to be at least 4-5″ thick, at least 11″ deep, and the height had some flexibility, but the structure was big, so I was hoping for a 12×16-sized corbel. I was obsessed with all these carved out details – we just don’t do this anymore (OR – spoiler – DO WE???? :)) We tried hard to find four that matched and couldn’t. Then we were like, what if we found some that were close enough and when painted, would work together? Could 8 different corbels, all painted white, look charming and eclectic? Or just really amateur? I also took note of other architectural design elements that I liked – this is the best thing about shopping vintage, you are forced out of a box because you are beholden to what is available. I LOVED the floral design on this salvaged piece of gingerbread, and tried to make it work a few different places on the property. I LOVED the one on the left, with that sweet and simple little cut out and there were a few that were similar to it, but they were in pretty bad shape, meaning they would need repair on their own before they were even painted (this kind of work can cost a lot of money in my experience). The simpler brackets on the right were strong (and there were tons of them), so we even thought about combining the two – see below. I think the (desperate) thought here was to buy vintage/reclaimed, do something creative to make it work by taking the floral cutout and pasting it inside the simpler bracket. This is where you start realizing that you are complicating your life so much just to use something vintage (I’ve done this MANY times, with varying degrees of success/failure). We still brought them all to our house to check them out (Aurora Mills knows me and let me borrow them for a day). I LOVED how it looked, and that’s when I made the smart (albeit more expensive) decision to hire a local maker to make 8 new ones, based on the vintage design. Purl To The Rescue! I called my friend/frequent collaborator Purl (follow @total_nonsequitur) and asked him if he could make these custom corbels. He is just one of those talented makers and artists who can figure out anything and loves the challenge (he made my coffee table, my huge paint brush and pencil, my sofa table, and I have so many of his paintings). I showed him a picture of the corbel and gave him the dimensions to make sure it was all doable before he came over. Then he popped by and we went over it – in a perfect world, we would have eight large ones and four small ones, the large ones being on the main posts and the small ones on the overhang. It was a big ask – that’s 12 custom corbels, two different designs that all had to look good with each other. I wasn’t looking for a new design, though; I really just wanted that simple floral Scandi corbel replicated. So he brought that back and used it as a template to create a new one. Purl shopped for and used reclaimed wood (both for cost purposes and the make it look a bit less polished/perfect/new). He created the cut-out design with a special tool for both ends, then stacked wood in between to add the thickness that we needed. I was so excited as he sent me photo after photo. I approved them, he dropped them off (this was while I was in Belize), and my brother started hanging them. In a perfect world, they would have been done in time to paint, but we had to stick to a schedule, so our painter painted the structure and planned to come back to paint these separately. I think he used massive screws to scre them in? Not totally sure. All I know is that I came back from Belize, and it looked like this: I was THRILLED!!!! They looked SO GOOD. Once painted white, they looked sweet and pretty, but not too fussy. They actually scaled down the gazebo in my mind, softening the lines. Next up were the smaller ones to go on those ends – we had waited to start them, unsure that we 100% needed them, but once these 8 were up, I really wanted the final four small ones to make those corners even softer. I just LOVED the vibe it was creating and wanted more. I gave Purl the creative control to make the smaller ones however he wanted to work with the larger ones – he knows more about the process of making them and what would actually work based on his learnings on the larger ones (without needing to buy new equipment or experiment more). Here you can see how they all look together (and you can even look closely to see our vintage small corbels holding up the island countertop). I LOVE how they look so much. Purl did such an incredible job at making them look original and vintage – they are scaled perfectly to the gazebo and definitely soften all the rectangular lines. And then yes, my brother painted the glued the old covered walkway corbels onto the island to make it look like it’s holding up the countertops. It’s a sweet little detail that I love a lot. And that’s the story of our custom corbels. If you are wondering how much they cost, I think I paid Purl $2,900 for all 12 of them (including materials and labor). It’s not nothing, but felt fair for the amount of time and talent that went into making these custom. By the way, I looked online a lot before and found some pretty great vintage-inspired dupes on Etsy (that were around $400 each, so not that much less), but they weren’t as sweet as ours, no cut-out flower. The only thing I regret is not paying the dough to do custom rafter tails (the part of the roofline that juts out that you can see from this angle). We did them throughout our house, but it’s a substantial cost (about $1k each), so we didn’t do it> But if I could snap my fingers, those ends would also be softened by a carved out curve. More To Come… We still need to hang our pendants that didn’t come in til a week after we had to shoot. We have big 20″ copper ladies from Rejuvenation that are rad and going to be hung pretty high, so you see them but still have a sense of airiness and space. For now, the string lights provide enough light, but the pendants will look so pretty. Additionally, we might add heaters to extend our time out here by months on either end of summer, and we might have to add gutters (but really hoping not to have to spend the money). Oh, and we did buy the big custom island cover that RTA makes for each – it’s a big U-shaped cover (in addition to grill covers) that you can put on the entire thing all winter long.
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