BlueBird Hill

DIY Water Garden

I've recently discovered the world of water plants and they are pretty cool. DIY has a fairly easy "pond in a box" do-it-yourself project to create a compact water garden of your very own.

Teeny, Tiny Anthro Grill

I had no idea Anthropolgie was dabbling in outdoor grills. Here's a tiny (almost 16" high x 12" wide) little guy in a fun, bright color. Would work great on an apartment balcony or some other small space.

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Egg Shell Sprouting Pots

Instructions from Martha here. Cool idea.

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Outdoor Showers

Since we're on a bath kick, some beautiful outdoor showers rounded up by Sunset.

Flora Grubb Gardens

Beautiful greenery from Flora Grubb Gardens and a nice interview of her on Design*Sponge.

Out-Standing

Out-Standing is a woodworking shop based in Zandhoven, Belgium. They create handmade planters, garden gates, outdoor tables, etc. See more here.

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Raised Beds

Love these pretty, planted beds...

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Outdoor Napping Spots

Sunset Magazine has a nice roundup of outdoor napping spots ranging from daybeds to lounges to swings.

Beach Towel-Bag

The HANS IM GLUCK by Jan Domaiaer, just in time for the warmer weather. I can see this being quite the easy DIY project.  Available here.

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Vertical Edible Garden

Think you don't have room for an edible garden? Think again. This French riddling rack was transformed into a vertical garden for lettuces, arugula, Swiss chard, mustard, strawberries and herbs by Anne Phillips and her landscape design firm Go Green Gardeners.

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Villa Collection

Get inspired for this coming spring and summer with some new products and photos from Denmark's Villa Collection. Sigh. Nice break from the rain...

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The Perfect Raised Bed

Attention all weekend warriors: Sunset Magazine has great instructions for creating your own do-it-yourself raised vegetable bed for $187.

Coastal Garden

It's hard to top Carmel, California. Gorgeous scenery. Click for here a great article about a cottage garden renovation and enjoy the photos below.

The Ultimate Backyard

This Manhattan Beach project (on bloomacious blog) was designed by Sandy Koepke with Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, who provided the grill, the outdoor refrigeration, outdoor freezer, keg tapper, ice maker, wine chiller, and outdoor cabinetry. Wow. This will have you looking forward to summer!

Obleeek Modern Planters

Designed by Leo Estevez for Obleeek Objects, these sleek planters are individually poured using a custom concrete blend which is 40% lighter than standard concrete.

 
 

Patchwork Office Courtyard

Look at this fun office complex courtyard. Wouldn't mind taking a lunch break here...chess games, fountains, grassy hills seating. This is part of a 12 building office complex in the Czech Republic and designed by Cigler Marani Architects.

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European Tree Houses

Baumraum, a German company, designs and builds beautiful modern treehouses. If you're interested, they also build in the US. These look really fun.

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Pretty Outdoor Eating...

Eating outdoors is the best, especially where we are: no bugs or humidity. LOVE it. Here are some gorgeous photos of al fresco eating (in all styles fancy to casual).

 

Outdoor Eating - Pretty Pictures

 

 

 

New Summer Fun

This floating party is part restaurant table, part BBQ, part lounge and part activity platform. It is an electric-powered, water-going party platform for ten. It even has a sounds system. Created by German inventor and entrepreneur Sebastian Schmitt. Found via Gizmag.

Patios and Roof Gardens

Some more pretty garden eye candy from mylandscapes.

Outside Spaces

It's so warm outside - perfect for an outdoor dinner! Here are some pretty outdoor spaces found on LivingEtc. galleries:

Gorgeous Gardens

It's too bad Luciano Giubbilei is all the way in London, because how great would it be to have a modern garden like these? His simple, clean designs have won awards by the British Association of Landscape Industries.

Have a Good Weekend!

photos from garden rooms

Massive Memphis Park

The city of Memphis held a competition to design a 4,500 acre urban park (that is 5 times the size of Manhattan's Central Park). The winner was NYC-based Field Operations (warning: their website will give you vertigo) and their scheme includes an open bison range, an arboretum, a four-mile perimeter lake, and gardens. The strategy absorbs the site’s agricultural history and the philosophy of the Agricenter, a public-private partnership that currently occupies part of the land and offers sustainable farming, RV parking, rodeos, and daily farmer’s markets. Pretty cool renderings...can't wait to see it when it's done.

Sass Up Your Patio

These are some fancy, flamenco patio umbrellas! Available from South Carolina's Warf Weft Co. and found via Decor8!

Xeriscaping

Metropolitan Home had a nice article about an architect who ripped out his old yard and replaced it with a low-water, drought-tolerant yard. It was prettier and saved tons of water. Here are some pretty photos from the spread...

Have a Good Weekend

Make Your Own Ewok Village

The ultimate tree house. These are so amazing...sister Tootie would have killed for one of these during her Return of the Jedi phase. Free Spirit Spheres can be hung from trees (as shown) or from other solid objects like buildings or even rock faces. A sphere is accessed by a spiral stairway and short suspension bridge. They even come with electricity.

Walk:Jog:Run

This cool website called WalkJogRun is a running route planner and a distance/speed calculator. It even has a calorie-burning calculator. So much easier than marking things out in your car or just guessing. Find out how long that last hike was!

Patrick Blanc's Vertical Gardens

Patrick Blanc's "Eco-Art". A good article about it all in Ping Mag.

Outdoor Rooms

If you can't go outside, these are the next best thing!

Playhouses and Treehouses

Outdoor Living Rooms

Outdoor Eating - 2

Outdoor Eating

Here are some gorgeous photos of dining al fresco!