You can make a party in the city just by hanging out on the stoop. But what if you don't have a stoop? Maybe you're lucky enough to actually have a city garden? Here are 10 great spaces on the east and west coasts to socialize with the folks on the block. Please, BYOB:

Above: Architect Kim Hoyt created a lush and leafy backyard retreat in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill neighborhood, with plenty of seating for a crowd. For more, see Before & After: A Brooklyn Townhouse with a Double-Wide Garden. Photograph by Dan Wonderly. 

Above: Also in Brooklyn, a townhouse garden designed by dlandstudio capitalizes on a soaring, weathered-brick wall. Pea gravel adds an appealing crunch underfoot. We source the elements in Steal This Look: Midcentury Mod Townhouse Garden in Brooklyn. 

Above: In Brooklyn's Park Slope, Kim Hoyt designed an airy steel structure that supports a deck, a massive wisteria vine, and steps that lead to the courtyard garden below. For more, see The Garden Designer Is In: Kim Hoyt Architecture/Landscape. Photograph by Dan Wonderly. 

Above: Outdoor space is even tighter in Manhattan, but the residents have learned to make do. This terrace in Harlem is tailor-made for cocktail parties. Read more in Garden Visit: 66 Square Feet (Plus) on a Harlem Terrace. Photograph by Marie Viljoen.

Above: Down in Manhattan's West Village, the space in a modest yard is maximized for family use and entertaining. Note how the espaliered shrubs turn the fence into a focal point. For more, see Landscape Architect Visit: A Lush NYC Backyard by Robin Key. 

Above: In Brooklyn, landscape designer Susan Welti of Foras Studio created this low-maintenance scheme with its handsome symmetrical beds. To navigate that crushed bluestone, best to wear sneakers—or maybe just flipflops. Read more in Steal This Look: Modern Brooklyn Backyard on a Budget. 

Above: Heading to the West Coast, we find bluestone pavers instead of grass at a San Francisco property. If you're worried about the ivy trashing the building (an artist's studio), don't: It's growing on a wire frame. Get the details at Landscape Architect Visit: Scott Lewis Turns A Small SF Backyard Into an Urban Oasis. 

Above: This San Francisco backyard was transformed by Arterra Landscape Architects with a pleasing mix of stone, steel balls, and soft grasses. Find this and other alfresco party spaces in Architects' Roundup: Our Favorite Outdoor Living Rooms. Photograph by Michele Lee Willson Photography. 

Above: To make the most of a .2-acre backyard in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood, Lutsko Associates divided it into three distinct spaces separated by shrubbery and a translucent glass wall, and kept the color palette at green, gray, and white. Read more at Pacific Heights Mystery: A Hidden City Garden Reveals Its Secrets. Photograph via Contemporist.

Above: Party in the back! An LA patio is ready to get down, with the simple addition of bright cushions and lights in the trees. Find out where to buy those chairs, that crazy "bullet" planter, and more in Steal This Look: A Mod LA Patio with Twinkly String Lights. Now, do we have enough ice?

Mandatory: Before the sun goes down, have some Cafe-Style Outdoor String Lights in place. And you might want something to keep drinks close at hand: 5 Favorites: Outdoor Bars, DIY Included. All set now?

More Stories from Gardenista

• Boston's Best-Kept Secret: Eva's Organic Garden
• Landscape Architect Visit: A Very American Garden on Cape Cod
• Outbuilding of the Week: A Norwegian "Love Shack"

Were you the kid who asked Santa for a chemistry set every year because you dreamed of filling glass beakers and flasks with colored potions that would fizz and give off puffs of acrid smoke? Or was that just me? A lust for labware never wanes; the adult way to handle it is to collect science-experiment-worthy glass vases. Here are 10 I'm coveting:

Above: Photograph via Landet Järna.

Bulbous vase, skinny neck: It's the perfect shape for displaying a single delicate stem (with or without roots attached). My own collection of labware glass includes real beakers and flasks along with some skinny-neck vases whose shapes pay homage to chemistry class.

Above: When Scandinavian designer Estrid Ericcson got the idea in the 1930s to germinate acorns in a vase, he created a bulbous glass beaker with a narrow neck. The small opening in the Acorn Vase is useful for arranging a wildflower stem or two just so; 150 KR via Svenskttenn.

Above: If you want to get me something for my birthday, consider a clear glass Trio Vase Set designed by Jonas Wagell. Heights range from 6 to 12 centimeters; $42 from Scandinavian Design Center. (These also come in blue, amber, and green. I'd prefer clear glass, please.)

Above: An unabashed valentine to your childhood science set, the Chemistry Flask Vase comes in two sizes (150 ml and 500 ml); available for $20 and $25 at Bliss Home & Design.

Above: From CB2, a Wall Mounted Teardrop Vase is 7 inches long, with a flat back; it sells for $4.95. A group of these can be used to create an instant DIY Living Wall. See how Erin installed them in her sister's office here.

Above: A Chemistry Glass Test Tube Vase is $36.60 from Not On the High Street.

Above: Designed by Michael Anastassiades, a glass Bottle Vase with a brass knob and base is an homage to the designs of Josef Frank. The clear glass body makes it possible to study the parts of a bouquet—stems and roots—that might otherwise hide under water; 1,000 SEK via Svenskttenn.

Above: A Beaker Glass Tube Vase has a hole to attach to a wall via nail, screw, or hook. It measures 8 inches long and sells for $2.95 from CB2.

 Above: Hardcore. From designer Seletti, a trio of Interior Lab Vases is so anatomically correct that they'd blend right in at chemistry class. Sold separately, the beaker, flask, and cylinder are $60 apiece from The Uncommons.

Above: A budget-friendly alternative, the Hanging Test Tube Vase is 65 cents from Flowers & Supplies, for either the 6-inch or 8-inch version (wire not included).

Above: A set of three handblown Science Flask Vases with white printed measuring lines is $34NZ from White Villa.

Picking summer posies? For more of our favorite vases, see 10 Easy Pieces: Single Stem Bud Vases and 10 Easy Pieces: Simple Glass Vases Under $30. And Shop all our editors' favorites at Remodelista Vases.

More Stories from Gardenista

• DIY: Raspberry Sparkler for the Fourth of July
• Trend Alert: The New Classic Picnic Basket
• Shopper's Diary: Searoon Succulents

Gardening is not in my family or in my blood. But one fine morning nearly 30 years ago, the sun slanted seductively into my Toronto backyard and my garden suddenly seemed the most glorious place on earth. I knew that I could do something interesting here and—ho, ho—I would have complete control. In very short order, I moved from being a daily gardener to an all-day gardener. 

My garden measured 19 by 136 feet, and I decided to divide the space into three sections (back then I didn’t know they were called garden rooms). Each one would be dedicated to plants that thrive under different conditions: morning sun, shade at noon, and afternoon sun. For me, that was a major revelation: Different plants need different light conditions. 

Then, without even contemplating what a cataclysmic change it would make to my life, I switched from general journalism to only writing about my garden. Eventually that turned into 15 garden books for Canadians and one for everyone, Botanica North America (published in 2003, it's out of print but used copies are available, from $3.90 on Amazon).

Photography by Andreas Trauttmansdorff for Gardenista.

Above: The view from my dining room, looking toward the back fence.

My three garden rooms are the House Garden, where Japanese maples and evergreens abound; the Woodland Garden, home to massive hostas, hellebores, and arums; and Le Jardin de Refusé, which houses a small "hospital" for clients' plants that need to be nursed back to health.

Above: Le Jardin de Refusé started out as a place to put stuff I couldn’t deal with in other parts of the garden. It now has Japanese maples, Liquidambar ‘Slender Silhouette,’ and, opposite each other, a Liriodendron tulipifera ‘Fastigiata’ and Cercidiphyllym japonicum, a native and an exotic tree that look as if they belong together.

Above: My Berberis thunbergii ‘Helmond Pillar,’ a great plant that no one seems to propagate any more.

Above: In the Woodland Garden, I went though a collect-every-hosta-possible phase. Now I live with this choice: The hostas get massive, I forget to divide them in spring, and then I can’t bear to whack at them later on. Despite their size, the hostas are in scale with everything else that lopes along.

Above: The view from the House Garden, with my house in the background. In the foreground is my first Japanese maple, an Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum Atropurpureum,’ which I bought 25 years ago for $20. It would cost thousands now. It needs constant haircuts and is pretty much perfect.

Above: Closeup of my Chiononanthus virginicus, or fringe tree.

Above: A Sciadopitys verticillata grows against the fence.

Above: A ginkgo tree (L) beneath the Japanese maples, and (R) a closeup of the ginkgo's leaves.

As I changed, so did my garden. Now I know how to layer plants, what grows where, and when things will bloom. Back then I only knew how to love the plants. But my eye had been honed by years of working in an art gallery: Scale, harmony, and planes were things I understood. So why not apply them to gardening? This was like collecting and displaying sculpture. Gradually, I learned that succession is everything in garden design. 

Above: A variegated dogwood lends pattern and texture to the garden.

Over the years I've become more interested in foliage, patterns, and small moments rather than swathes of blooming color. I have a passion for trees—especially gingkoes, Japanese maples, dogwoods, anything native to the Carolinian forest. It’s impossible to have too many of these in a garden. I indulge my love of perennials when I design other people’s gardens: Let them do the deadheading. I just want to watch my living sculptures grow old with me.

Above: Variegated hostas (R) and Hakonechloa (L) against a background of foliage.

I'll buy any plant designated for any zone (I’m in US growing zone 5) and try to make it comfortable. But I’m fighting the impossible: I live on a flood plain once held in check by hundreds of trees. Most of these have long since been replaced by parking pads and patios. The flood happens annually and we're perpetually devising new ways to deal with it. I am Queen of the Sump Pumps. Then the water drifts away and we have dry shade the rest of the year. If a plant survives in my garden, it will survive anywhere.

Above: Pergolas designed by Toronto-based Earth Inc. support shade-tolerant Clematis ‘Betty Corning’ and C. fargesiodes. 

Above: And then there's my front garden . . .

Everyone lives cheek by jowl here in downtown Toronto, and we respect each other. Except for the guy who ripped out his garden and put in plastic grass. Him we don’t speak to. 

For other Canadian gardens, see Earth Inc. in Toronto: A River Runs Through It and Steal This Look: An Airy Outdoor Shower.  And read more about Marjorie's garden at Marjorie Harris.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Garden Roundup: 10 Perfect Party Spaces in the City
• Boston's Best-Kept Secret: Eva's Organic Garden
• Landscape Architect Visit: A Very American Garden on Cape Cod

I still remember the first time I saw roofs made of red clay tiles. I was visiting my grandmother in Santa Monica one hot summer, and I was enchanted by the city's combination of terra-cotta roofs, stucco bungalows, cracked concrete streets, and tall, skinny palm trees. Santa Monica seemed warm and gracious, and those tile roofs evoked a feeling of permanence and craftsmanship. And in fact, as I've since learned, they actually are permanent. With care, a tile roof will last forever.

Besides their longevity, clay roof tiles are also insulating and fireproof. What's more, they can be reused and recycled. Why don't we see them everywhere?  

Above: When Dutton Architects renovated a historic Spanish adobe house in Santa Monica, the roof got covered in reclaimed clay tiles. Tour the project, Historic Adobe + Modern Architecture, on Remodelista. 

What is the history of clay roof tiles?

Clay roof tiles date to the ancient Persian and Mesopotamian cultures. Prized for their ability to withstand the elements and resist rot, they have been used for centuries throughout Europe and Asia. After European settlers brought the craft of tile-making to North America, clay tiles started to appear on the roofs of Jamestown, Roanoke, and St. Augustine. By the mid-1600s, building codes in New York, Boston, and other cities encouraged the use of clay tiles due to their fireproof properties. 

Above: Photograph via Dutton Architects.

How are clay roof tiles made?

Terra-cotta is Italian for "baked earth," which is a fairly accurate description. Most manufacturers extract clay from a nearby quarry, press it into molds, and fire the tiles at high temperatures. Tiles can be glazed or treated to withstand freezing or excessive heat. Check with your roofing contractor to make sure you're choosing the right type for your climate.

What colors and styles of clay tiles are available?

Historically, tiles were the color of whatever clay deposit was nearby, ranging from buff to reddish brown. These days there's a wider variety of colors, but earth tones still predominate. They may be uniform or have a range of color within each tile.

Above: The style is defined by the shape: rounded, flat, or ridged. The familiar Spanish tile is the rounded "barrel" tile; the flat English style might be mistaken for another material if not for its ruddy hue. Graphic via Free-Ed.

Above: The Roman style, common in Tuscan architecture, alternates barrel tiles with flat tiles. An expert at Cooritalia, a specialist in reclaimed clay roof tiles, says there's no advantage to this system; it is purely for aesthetics. Photograph via Cooritalia.

Above: Traditional Flat Clay Tiles in a red textured finish have been laid in a staggered pattern similar to that used with shingles. Photograph via Keymer Clay Tiles.

What kind of house looks good with clay tiles? 

Americans tend to associate a clay roof with Spanish or Italian stucco architecture. But the wide selection of shapes makes clay tile suitable for many architectural styles. It pairs well with stucco, stone, or brick siding. Flat tiles work particularly well with wood siding, and in both traditional and modern forms.

Note: Slope is an important consideration when planning a clay roof. Typically, clay roofs are only used for roofs sloped from 20 to 50 degrees. 

Above: An example of traditional flat clay tiles on a wood-sided house. Photograph courtesy of Traditional Clay Roof Tiles of Kent, UK.

Above: Traditional materials—stone and clay barrel roof tiles—come together in a modern setting in this house by Bay Area architect Ken Linsteadt. 

What maintenance does clay roof tile need?

Clay roof tiles are durable and long-lasting—manufacturers often give warranties of anywhere from 50 to 100 years. That means the tiles can last longer than the house they're covering, but there are issues to keep in mind. For one thing, the material beneath the tiles must be able to support the weight of the clay tiles, and often needs to be waterproof. To last as long as the tiles, flashing should be lead or copper. In a clay tile roof, leaks are generally caused not by broken tiles, but by substandard or incorrectly installed flashing or metal fasteners underneath. 

While its insulating properties make it an ideal choice for hot climates, a tile roof can also perform well in snow country, as long as the structure is engineered to support the weight of both clay and snow. 

Clay roof tiles never should be walked upon—they can break. Luckily, if a tile does break you can replace it individually. It's not a complex job, but you should hire a professional to do it. And obviously, the repair will match better if you have extra tiles saved from the installation.

Above: A roof topped with reclaimed flat clay tiles from France, paired with copper gutters and downspouts. Photograph via Cooritalia.

How much does clay roof tile cost?

For a new clay roof, let's just say that the adage "Buy quality and you only cry once" applies. Professional installation can cost from $12,000 to $25,000, depending on the size and pitch of your roof. Higher-end tiles can push the price to $70,000, plus the cost of extra structural support if needed.

Above: A white brick house with clay roof tiles with red chairs by Jessica Helgerson.

Where can I buy clay roof tiles?

Manufacturers in the US include: Altusa (based in Florida); Ludowici Roof Tile (Ohio); MCA (California); Boral Roofing (Georgia) Gladding, McBean (California), and Santafé Tile (Southwest). Spain's Tejas Borja exports clay tiles all over the world, and has a US distributor in the Northeast Tri-state area.

Another desirable option: reclaimed tiles, often available from roofing installation companies, salvage yards, or through Craigslist. San Francisco-based Cooritalia specializes in Spanish, Italian, and French reclaimed clay roof tile (they also offer new Roman barrel tiles). 

Above: The UK has several companies that produce handmade tiles. Keymer, for instance, makes the traditional tiles shown here, and has a US distributor. 

Clay Tile Roof Recap

Pros:

• Sustainable—clay is a natural substance and tiles can be reused
• Lasts forever
• Excellent insulator
• Protects against rot and insect damage 
• Fireproof

Cons:

• Expensive
• Can break if walked on
• Heavy; can need extra structural support 
• Underlying material sometimes needs to be replaced 
• Limited aesthetically

Researching roofing material options? See our earlier features:

• Hardscaping 101: Standing Seam Metal Roofs
• Hardscaping 101: Green Roofs
• Hardscaping 101: Asphalt Shingles

For a fun addition to your clay tile roof, Michelle found a Roof Tile for the Birds. And over on Remodelista, take a tour of Norm Architecture's Vedbaek House, a traditional fishing cottage outside Copenhagen with a minimalist interior—and yes, a clay tile roof.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Steal This Look: Guest Cottage Kitchenette by Ikea
• Hardscaping 101: Seashell Paths and Driveways
• 10 Easy Pieces: Black Wharf Lights

High in the hills above Barcelona, floral designer Manuela Sosa works in a tiny glass greenhouse, with the sky for a ceiling and expansive views of the city below. A recent story about Manuela's unusual workspace on Freunde von Freunden piqued our interest, so our friend Mimi Giboin took her camera to Spain to investigate further. Serendipitously, she arrived in Barcelona on the day Manuela planned to host a dinner party for friends and colleagues. Here's the report from Mimi:

Photography by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista except where noted.

Above: It turns out that a tiny glass work studio can be easily transformed into an open-air dining room—emphasis on open—with a few stylish and simple accessories. Here's how the studio looked before Manuela began setting it up for the party. Photograph by Silva Conde via Freunde von Freunden. 

Above: When Mimi arrived, Manuela was preparing for a "Welcome Summer" dinner party. The guests would be some of her favorite wedding planners, florists, and friends. 

Above: Manuela is a former furniture designer who went to florists' school in Uruguay, where she grew up. She came to Spain out of curiosity, liked it, and stayed. 

Above: In Barcelona, Manuela decided to start working with flowers and plants, but she kept the name of her furniture design business—Gang and the Wool—for her new venture.

Above: To reach Manuela's place, you take a train ride from Barcelona followed by a bus ride on a small winding road with the most beautiful views of Barcelona's hills and houses. The bus drops you right in front of her little bungalow.

Above: Manuela's view is outrageous.

Above: Manuela grew up with greenhouses, since they're common in Uruguay, and always wanted one. One day a friend called from England to tell her about a company that made greenhouses; Manuela bought one a week later. (Unfortunately, the company is no longer in business.) 

Above: Manuela assembled the greenhouse herself. "That's why the door doesn't close properly!" she says.

Above: Manuela's grandfather was a carpenter, and this carpenter's work table, bought from a local antique store, reminds her of him every day.

Above: This is Manuela's workplace; you don't pop by here to pick up a bouquet of flowers. But she does welcome visitors who call ahead.

Above: Manuela stockpiles dishes and crockery to use at the frequent events—from dinners to weddings—she holds at the greenhouse.  

Above: To organize and store her tools, Manuela uses glass jars, wooden fruit crates, and old drawers.

Above: Mimi watched Manuela make table arrangements for the dinner, putting moss and sea holly on slabs of tree trunk, then covering them with glass domes. "I love the little drops," she said when condensation formed on the glass.

Above: Manuela loves the whole life of a flower: from its young start to the days the petals fall off.

Above: Manuela's next big project will be to landscape the yard the greenhouse overlooks, adding English pathways and lots of flowing water.

For more of our favorite Outbuildings, see Artemis Russell's Tiny Garden Backyard Studio and A Garden Workshop in Cambridge.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Hardscaping 101: Clay Roof Tiles
• Steal This Look: Guest Cottage Kitchenette by Ikea
• Hardscaping 101: Seashell Paths and Driveways

This week, Remodelista editors have been celebrating the start of July by rounding up the ingredients for easy summer gatherings: screened porches, parade stools, folding tables, and festive bunting. Here's what readers have been talking about this week:

Above: An airy conservatory kitchen and dining space were added when a Victorian house on the outskirts of London was remodeled. Readers love the herb planter inset in the marble-topped island. Read about it in House Call: Endless Summer in a London Victorian. 

Above: Antwerp design company Xala's Lungo Watering Can takes its shape from an old-fashioned coffeepot. Yes, it's plastic, but this time we're making an exception. For more, see Belgian Basics with a Fairy Tale Twist.

Above: There's no nicer place to be right now than a screened porch—especially this one. Find out how they did it at Steal This Look: The Perfect Screened Porch. Photograph by Richard Powers for Tsao & McKown Architects.

Above: Bunting doesn't have to be red, white, and blue. This multicolored string, crocheted in wool by Dutch designer Ingrid Jansen, is available on Etsy. If you insist on red, white, and blue, find more at 10 Favorites: Festive Bunting for the Fourth of July.

Above: It's relaxing just to look at this, right? Imagine yourself here, admiring the view from the Driftwood Hotel in Cornwall, England. And read more about the iconic chair at Object Lessons: The Adirondack Chair. Photograph by Crick & Co.

Warning: You only have till Monday to submit your outdoor project to the 2014 Gardenista Considered Design Awards. Let us see what you've got!

More Stories from Gardenista

• Table of Contents: Block Party
• Trending on Remodelista: Life Aquatic
• Table of Contents: Life Aquatic

Take a look at what's on our radar this week: 

• Above: We love this linen hold-all for hauling fresh loot from the farmer's market.

• Above: Washington, D.C. has a handful of off-the-grid (and away-from-the-tourists) gardens. Who knew? We're eager to visit the Franciscan Monastery Gardens. Photograph courtesy of Garden Design. 

• Above: Anna Jones's new book, A Modern Way to Eat, is packed with photographs by Brian Ferry and contemporary recipes for the herbivore. 
• Designer outdoor pots in reverse ombré color combinations. 

• Above: A UK roundup of the 10 best roses to grow. Photograph by Nicole Franzen. 
• 5 DIY bird feeders, to tempt your avian neighbors to visit your backyard. 

• Above: We're enchanted by the Instagram feed of Camille Storch (@waywardspark), who lives in a cabin in rural Oregon. Her photos of berries from the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository, in Corvallis, OR, have us salivating.
• Sourcing flowers grown locally and sustainably can be a challenge. Debra Prinzing, author of Slow Flowers and The 50 Mile Bouquet, has launched a one-stop directory for American-grown flowers. 

• If you want to see your garden, outdoor shed, or outdoor living space on Gardenista, the deadline to enter the 2014 Considered Design Awards is this Monday. What are you waiting for? Enter here. 

More Stories from Gardenista

• Current Obsessions: Garden Accessories
• Current Obsessions: Summer Solstice
• Current Obsessions: London Town

On Monday at 11:59 pm, we'll close the entries to the 2014 Considered Design Awards. Don't miss your chance— share your garden with us!

Our contest is open to both professional designers and amateur gardeners, and entering is easy; just snap some photos of your garden or space, and complete our simple entry form: Enter here. 

Seven Gardenista winners will have their gardens or outdoor spaces profiled for Gardenista and Remodelista's 1.2 million monthly unique readers.

Insider Tip: Competition is lighter in the three categories where we have the fewest entries so far: Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding (Professional); Best Professional Landscape; and Best Edible Garden (open to all). 

Gardenista Awards Categories

• Best Garden/Amateur: Best overall outdoor garden designed by an amateur gardener.

• Best Small Garden/Amateur: Houseplants, indoor gardens, window boxes, fire escape gardens, container gardens, vertical gardens, etc. designed by an amateur gardener.

• Best Outdoor Living Space/Everyone: Outdoor sitting rooms and lounge spaces, outdoor kitchens, outdoor dining rooms, outdoor showers and baths, etc. open to both professionals and amateurs.

• Best Edible Garden/Everyone: Kitchen gardens, vegetable patches, raised beds, outdoor herb gardens, etc. open to both professionals and amateurs.

• Best Hardscape Project/Everyone: Stairways, decks and patios, driveways, pathways, fences, swimming pools, garden gates, trellises, etc. open to both professionals and amateurs.

• Best Professional Landscape: Best overall outdoor garden or landscape designed by a professional.

• Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding/Professional: Garden sheds, storage sheds, barns, garages, carports, greenhouses, pool houses, backyard studios, outhouses, guest houses, etc. designed by a professional. Though an outbuilding is typically detached from a main house, it's not required here.

A few important links:

• Enter Here
• Rules, FAQ, and Prize
• Gardenista Judging Panel
• Sneak Preview of Entries

More Stories from Gardenista

• Sneak Preview: Entries to the Gardenista Considered Design Awards
• The Countdown Is On: Submit Your Projects to the Considered Design Awards
• Winner's Prize: 2014 Gardenista Considered Design Awards

Got a tent? Well, how about a teepee? We can definitely help you with that. We're ready to sleep outdoors anywhere there's a breeze. Join us this week as we explore manmade swimming holes, bunkhouses, a miniature woodland garden, and cabins with sand on the floor (in fact, sand is the floor).

Monday

Above: Jeanne takes us to visit a tiny cabin built almost entirely from scavenged materials—swimming pool included—on 16 pristine acres in Northern California in this week's Architect Visit.

Tuesday

Above: Michelle spends her days nearly paralyzed with envy over her next-door neighbor Linda's wee fairytale garden. Linda finally caught her peeping through the fence and invited her over for a Garden Visit. Shown here: the "plant hospital" outside Linda's kitchen window. Photograph by Tom Kubik for Gardenista.

Wednesday

Above: Canvas teepee tents aren't just for kids. OK, some of them are. We've rounded up our favorites for both kids and overgrown kids in this week's 10 Easy Pieces.

Thursday 

Above: We have so many questions about wooden shutters. Janet answers all of them in Hardscaping 101. Photograph via Les Bois Flottais.

Friday

Above: This week's Outbuilding of the Week is a tiny weekend house with the simplest possible floor: beach. As in sand. Luckily, it's for rent. Jeanne kicks off her shoes and shows us around.

And on Remodelista, everyone's dreaming of vacation: check out the Summer Rentals we're rounding up all week.

It's not too late to enter your garden in Gardenista's 2014 Considered Design Awards! Just get your submission in by midnight tonight. Find the entry form here.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Trending on Remodelista: Block Party
• Table of Contents: Block Party
• Trending on Remodelista: Life Aquatic

Back in 1996, San Francisco architect Olle Lundberg responded to a classified ad about a property in Cazadero, CA (population: 354). Little did he and his wife, Mary Breuer, realize they were embarking on a project that would consume countless hours and mountains of scavenged materials. Nor could they have dreamed that they would still be at it so many years later. As Lundberg cheerfully confirms, "It will never be done."

The site is 16 pristine acres in Sonoma County, two hours north of San Francisco and surrounded by redwoods. The land in the vicinity lacks water and will never be developed. "We couldn't really afford it," Lundberg says, "but we fell in love with it and bought it anyway."  An uncompleted cabin provided a starting point for the house that Lundberg designed and built with his own hands, occasionally helped by friends and employees. Since his company, Lundberg Design, was thriving in the city, he only had weekends to work on the cabin. He and Breuer slept in a tent in the living room until the roof was finished. 

Photography courtesy of Lundberg Design except where noted. 

 Above: The cabin may be small—less than 1,000 square feet plus a 1,500-square-foot deck—but it has become the site of countless unexpected refinements. Photograph by J.D. Peterson.

Above: One reason the work has progressed slowly is that Lundberg insists on the perfect materials—often industrial discards found in unlikely places. The swimming pool, for example, is a former livestock watering tank made of virgin-growth redwood which Lundberg says could be 80 years old. It was a major undertaking to dismantle the tank and truck it in sections from a client's ranch to the cabin. Photograph by Alan Owings.

Above: The pool is 25 feet in diameter and 14 feet deep, not ideal for laps but great for diving. It's beloved by Lundberg's dogs, especially his black Lab. Photograph by Angkana Kurutach.

 Above: The industrial steel sash windows in the cabin were salvaged from various remodeling jobs. Photograph by J.D. Peterson.

Above: Interior walls are covered in thin strips of Montana white pine; the exterior siding is reclaimed redwood. The firewood holder was custom-designed for the cabin.

Above: Lundberg and Breuer entertain a lot; the open-plan kitchen puts everything in easy reach.

Above: There's also an outdoor kitchen, with a cement pizza oven, a tandoor, and a cooking hearth.

Above: One of the first things Lundberg installed was a garden, figuring that Breuer could grow tomatoes while he was busy building. At first a simple vegetable patch, it has since expanded to 5,000 square feet. Besides flower beds, there's an orchard where Breuer grows figs, apples, apricots, olives, lemons, grapefruit, and the weirdly shaped Buddha's Hand, a citrus fruit that Lundberg candies and uses to garnish desserts and cocktails. Photograph by J.D. Peterson.

Above: Lundberg also built a combination greenhouse and office nearby for Breuer. A sliding door between the two spaces makes it easy for her to tend her heirloom tomato seedlings and lettuce plants while working. Photograph by Olle Lundberg.

Above: To make the design of the greenhouse harmonize with that of the cabin, Lundberg built a shed-style roof—but reworked it with standing seam glass. Photograph by Olle Lundberg.

Above: The result is a jewel-like glass box in the midst of the forest. Photograph by Olle Lundberg.

Above: Using the cabin as a laboratory for new techniques, Lundberg installed a biological filter for the pool. The technology, developed in Europe, involves creating an artificial wetland with plants to clean the pool, thus eliminating the need for chemicals. Photograph by Alan Owings.

Above: It's easy to imagine that Lundberg would revel in being able to design whatever he wants, free of clients' desires and demands. He doesn't see it that way, though. Architecture is always a collaboration, he says, and in this case it's one between him and his wife. Fortunately, their tastes are similar. Photograph by Mark Seelan.

Above: What's different about this project, he says, is that it gives him the "Zen experience" of building it himself. There's also the luxury of time. The next project will be a guest house, "but we're not in any rush." 

To see cabins designed by members of the Remodelista Architect and Designer Directory, check out 10 Summer Cabins and The Ultimate Creekside Cabin, one of our favorites in northern California.  

It's not too late to enter your garden in Gardenista's 2014 Considered Design Awards! Just get your submission in by midnight tonight. Find the entry form here.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Outbuilding of the Week: A Tiny Glass Studio in Barcelona
• Hardscaping 101: Clay Roof Tiles
• Steal This Look: Guest Cottage Kitchenette by Ikea

Cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus: "Mexican Aster"

With their perfectly ordered petals arranged around golden centers, cosmos flowers look a bit like planets radiating around the sun. It's easy to see why Spanish priests, who grew these flowers in their mission gardens, named them after the Greek word kosmos, meaning order, ornament, and world. 

Above: For more, see images of Cosmos in our Gardenista Gallery.

Cosmos have familiar daisy-like centers, but beyond that they’re anything but ordinary. While some do have traditional petals, others have petals that are frilled, tubular, double, and ruffled. Once the plants get going, they'll bloom their heads off from summer until frost, so they're perfect cutting flowers. Depending on variety, the plants can reach heights of 8 feet and diameters of 2½ feet (though many popular varieties top out at 4 feet). 

Above: Cosmos 'Sonata White' makes an excellent container plant. Photograph via Sarah Raven.

They’re gorgeous in mixed borders, to fill empty spots, and in veggie gardens where they’ll attract bees to help pollinate your edibles.

Cheat Sheet

• Cosmos comes in shades of white, red, pink, violet, peach, orange, and yellow
• It's a versatile annual that will fill late summer holes in flower borders
• Lacy foliage makes it a good companion to dahlias, nasturtiums, and low-growing ornamental grasses
• Will remain unwilted in a hot, sunny border if you keep it watered

Keep It Alive

• An annual that self-sows freely, cosmos also attracts pollinators
• Deadhead it regularly to keep it blooming, but leave a few spent flowers to allow it to self-sow
• Suitable for all US growing zones

Above: Because cosmos grows so easily from seed, it's a popular component of many guerrilla gardeners' Seed Bomb Mixes. Photograph by Kendra Wilson.

Sow seeds indoors, four to six weeks before your last frost date in spring, or directly in a sunny garden spot after danger of frost has passed. Since the plants can be top-heavy when they start to bloom, it's best to grow them in groups—a little closer together than the often-recommended 2 feet apart—so they can support each other. While they want regular water early on, they'll survive on much less as they mature. Deadhead flowers to help keep blooms coming, but leave a few spent blooms so that the plants can self-sow.

Above: These natives of Mexico get along just fine with very little care. They’re easy to grow from seed, actually prefer poor soil, and need nothing more than regular deadheading to keep looking good. 

Read More:

For more easy-to-grow cutting flowers, see our Wildflowers and Wedding Flowers archives. Want to grow your own? See 10 Tips for Growing Cutting Flowers from Barberry Hill Farm.

It's not too late to enter your garden in Gardenista's 2014 Considered Design Awards! Just get your submission in by midnight tonight. Find the entry form here.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Field Guide: Hydrangea
• 10 Easy Pieces: Perennials for the Seaside Garden
• Field Guide: Nettles

Entries to our second annual Considered Design Awards are due by midnight Pacific time tonight, Monday July 7. 

Here's what's required: Just upload as many as six photos of your project, with captions, and complete a simple entry form. Enter here.

So far, these professional categories have the fewest submissions:

• Best Professional Landscape
• Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding (Open to Professionals)
• Best Edible Garden (Open to All)

Our lightest amateur categories are:

• Best Edible Garden (Open to All)
• Best Overall Garden (Amateur)

See below for the full list of categories for both Gardenista and Remodelista. And please share this graphic on your social networks to help spread the word. 

We can't wait to see your projects!

More Stories from Gardenista

• Send Us Your Photos by Monday at Midnight
• Sneak Preview: Entries to the Gardenista Considered Design Awards
• The Countdown Is On: Submit Your Projects to the Considered Design Awards

I think I probably would have bought my house in Mill Valley, CA, even if Linda didn't live next door. Or if she hadn't been the sort of gardener who turns a dusty rectangle of dirt into a mossy enchanted hobbit land. But both things helped.

Before I owned the house, I kept going over to nervously inspect its 1920s wiring and all that dry rot—was buying it a big mistake?—and there was Linda in her sun hat, watering her roses. One day she put down the hose and offered a comment as she surveyed my overgrown front yard: "I can tell that someone who loved gardening used to live in your house." 

That's pretty much all I need to know about a house to love it. Soon after, my husband and I started cutting back the vines and, like archaeologists on a dig, discovered the skeleton of an old garden underneath: rambling paths and bluebells. 

The trick, Linda says, is to find the garden your house is meant to have. When she bought her place in 2008, "it was a brand-new spec house," she remembers. "The builder had made a path of wood chips and stuck some plants in gallon pots into the hardpan." 

You would not know this now. Linda's garden has dappled sunlight from an old oak tree and her Japanese maples. There are ferns and hellebores and geraniums and roses: just enough flowers in bloom to tempt little girls to pick posies. "If you want to take photos of the garden," she warned me the other day, "you'd better get here before my granddaughters. They love nothing more than to make floral arrangements for fairies and other special beings."

We rushed over:

Photography by Tom Kubik for Gardenista.

Above: I rarely walk past Linda's place without peeking over the fence. The first thing she did after moving in was to replace a flimsy gate with a heavy old wood one, and swap out the wood-chip path for flagstones. "I love stones," she says, and by that she means individually, for all their personalities and quirks.

Above: Among her favorite stones are large boulders covered with lichen and moss, which she bought from American Soil & Stone in San Francisco's East Bay and placed around the garden.

She mulches with fir bark from Berkeley Horticultural Nursery. "You can use it as compost, or as a planting medium, too," she says.

Above: The walk from the front gate to the stoop is only about 30 feet, but on the way you go past so much—a hydrangea grove, lemon trees, fragrant roses, Japanese maples, columbine, wisteria, herbs—that it can take days to get there if you stop to smell everything.

Above: On the front stoop: potted plants, including daisies and nasturtiums, take advantage of a sunny spot.

Above: The sprinklers come on in the late afternoon, to the columbine's delight.

Above: A panel of rickety old fence (salvaged from the original fence that separated my yard from Linda's) has a second life as a trellis for sweet peas and other climbers.

Above: A path beneath an oak tree on the side of the house leads to Linda's fern garden. On the right: a rose that has no business blooming in such a shady spot.

Above: And yet it perseveres. The fragrant 'Pat Austin' rose can be trained as either a shrub or a climber. Linda is letting hers decide which it wants to be.

Above: On a hot sunny day (like this one), Linda's garden feels 10 degrees cooler. 

Above: In back of the house, on a narrow deck outside the kitchen, Linda runs a "plant hospital" for anything that's ailing. If a garden plant looks droopy, she'll pot it and put it on a shelf where she can fuss over it until it feels better.

Above: When Linda moved here the view from the kitchen was bleak, nothing but a tall fence a few feet from the window. "I was quite depressed by it," she says. "The kitchen was all black granite and stainless steel, very masculine."

Looking out at the fence, she got an idea: "What might help is some boards from the hardware store so I can put plants on them."

The result was a few simple shelves made of redwood planks supported by cement blocks. The setup has grown over the years, and now the view from the kitchen window is a crazy quilt of color. Last year Linda installed drip irrigation so she no longer has to hand-water every pot.

Above: Poppies and succulents.

Above: A window box is mounted outside Linda's kitchen window.

Above: Linda's front door is guarded by a begonia in bloom. At least, until those flower-loving granddaughters arrive.

I spend a lot of time snooping around my neighbors' Mill Valley gardens. For more of my favorites, see A Modern CA Garden Inspired by the Classics and Rehab Diaries: Rescuing a 100-Year-Old Garden.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Garden Visit: At Home With Canada's Favorite Garden Writer
• Garden Roundup: 10 Perfect Party Spaces in the City
• Boston's Best-Kept Secret: Eva's Organic Garden

Creative director Sarah Samuel, who blogs at Smitten Studio, recently revamped the patio at her house in LA. We're smitten by its modern bohemian vibe. If you like it too, here's how you can recreate the look:

Above: Sarah and her husband made the built-in benches, using leftover scraps from their home renovation for the frames and covering them with stained redwood.  

Above: Then they added the furnishings, a comfortable mix of retail and vintage finds. 

Above: Before they started to build the seating, Sarah applied a dark gray paint to the cinderblock walls surrounding the patio. Benjamin Moore's Gravel Gray, a similar shade, is one of our favorite choices for exterior paint. See more of our color picks at Shades of Gray: Architects Pick the 10 Best Exterior Gray Paints. 

Above: To cut the chill in off-season evenings, Sarah found a Red Enamel 1960s Freestanding Fireplace; $950 at Surfing Cowboys, which still has similar models available.

Above: Sarah covered the rough cement floor and tied the space together with a Tierra Outdoor Dhurrie. Made entirely of recycled plastic bottles, it's on sale for $599.99 at West Elm for the 9-by-12-foot size. For more about it (and a few rules of thumb for choosing a rug), see Help Me Choose an Outdoor Rug.

Above: Rectangular Outdoor Bench Cushions are $60 at Home Decorators Collection, a good source for cushions in whatever size and shape you need.

Above: Sarah found most of her colorful handwoven Kilim Pillows ($50-$100) at the Pillows Store on Etsy. 

Above: The white wire chairs that Sarah bought from HD Buttercup are sold out, but you'll find a similar set of Whitworth Outdoor Dining Chairs on Amazon at $427.83 for two. 

Above: A Tulip Table (modeled after the Eero Saarinen original) is $270 when ordered through Home Click.

Above: To create another seating area, Sarah added a wood-slab coffee table and surrounded it with floor pillows. The Victoria Round Wood Slab Coffee Table can be made to order at Rotsen Furniture; contact them for details.

Above: For serving food, the Pinch Large Bowl (about 10 inches in diameter, and made of electroplated stainless steel) is $14.95 at CB2. 

Above: The Alseda Banana-Fiber Stool can be stacked to create additional seating; $29.99 each at Ikea. 

Sarah Samuel isn't just designing patios. Last week, we wrote about our favorite item in her creative line of modern "picnic-ware" that looks vintage; see Trend Alert: The New Classic Picnic Basket.

We source the ingredients for another modern outdoor space at Steal This Look: A Silvery Blue Palette in Austin, TX. For indoor spaces, see Remodelista's archive of Steal This Look posts.  

More Stories from Gardenista

• Entries Close at Midnight Tonight! Plus, a List of the Lightest Categories
• Send Us Your Photos by Monday at Midnight
• Sneak Preview: Entries to the Gardenista Considered Design Awards

One rule of thumb when buying outdoor furnishings: Metal looks good against a backdrop of green plants, but wood looks good anywhere. Enter our old friend teak. Here are five weather-resistant teak classics for the patio (we've sourced both investment pieces and budget-friendly versions):

Above: In 1985, Dansk tableware designer Jens Quistgaard created a Teak Folding Stool using untreated wood that develops a silvery patina over time. It measures 17.4 inches tall; $299 from Design Within Reach. 

Above: High and low: At left is the Jens Quistgaard Teak Folding Stool; $299 from Design Within Reach. A Rekal X-Stool (R) is slightly shorter at 17 inches high; it weighs 10 pounds and folds to a depth of 2 inches for storage; currently on sale for $50 from Bhome Bandon.

Above: The iconic Parsons Table—which has square legs of the same thickness as its tabletop, however big or small the table—was the serendipitous outcome of an exchange between French modernist designer Jean-Michel Frank and his students at the Parsons Paris School of Design in the 1930s. Or so the story goes: After Frank challenged his class to create a simple design that would look good in any finish or color, a janitor constructed a prototype to display at a student exhibition. 

Now a ubiquitous design, the Parsons Table's proportions make it an easy companion to nearly any other furniture style. Inspired by the original, a Barlow Tyrie Apex Teak Table with a slatted top measures 82 3/4 inches long by a generous 46 3/4 inches wide and is 29 1/4 inches high; $4,299 from All Modern.

Above: A heavy-duty Hampton Teak Outdoor Dining Table measures 78 inches long by 39 inches wide and 29 inches high; on sale for $1,395 from Teak Warehouse.

Above: As Janet put it in a recent 10 Easy Pieces, a major virtue of square wooden planters is that they're "free of fuss or filigree." Here are high-low versions of two 28-inch-square planters: (L) a Studio Planter With Commercial Grade Liner and interlocking corners ($1,090 from Country Casual) and a Teak Tree Planter Box with tongue-and-groove joinery ($447.52 from Teak Planter). 

Above: From Danish furniture-maker Skagerak, a reclining teak Steamer Deck Chair measures 64.2 inches long by 22.8 inches wide by 39.4 inches high; it's $799 from Horne.

Above: A Teak Classic Steamer Chair by D-Art Collection with brass hardware also reclines; it measures 59 inches long by 24 inches wide by 37 inches high; $332.39 from Amazon.

Above: What makes the classic Adirondack chair the perfect spot for a nap? It's the gently sloped back, the wide armrests, and the low-slung seat; all conspire to make you very sleepy. A Barlow Tyrie Adirondack Chair (L) has a fan-shaped back and a generously proportioned seat that's 38 inches deep; available for $989. A Salter Adirondack Chair (R) is 36 inches deep; $485 for a DIY kit from Arthur Lauer.

For the history of the Adirondack chair, see Object Lessons: The Adirondack Chair on Remodelista and Shop all our Outdoor Furniture picks for end-of-season sales.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Architect Visit: Olle Lundberg's Scavenged and Salvaged Cabin
• Outbuilding of the Week: A Tiny Glass Studio in Barcelona
• Hardscaping 101: Clay Roof Tiles

Every summer we went to the lake—four kids under the age of eight piled in the backseat, bickering about whose turn it was to sit by the window and threatening each other with Indian rope burns for the entire six-hour drive as my father grimly piloted the Buick. When we made that final turn and saw the cottage framed by tall pines, my mother always said, "Well, thank Christ" fervently (explosively, really) in a way I thought was overkill. Until I had children.

When my girls were small—three kids under the age of nine—we went every year to the Adirondacks, where we stayed at a rich man's 19th-century hunting camp that had been turned into a lovably scruffy resort called The Hedges. It was the sort of place where cabins had names (ours was "The Coop") and there were rocking chairs on the porch at the lodge, jigsaw puzzles and cold soda in the office, and tetherball on the lawn. The family that had owned the place since 1972 served two meals a day at long tables in the dining room—and you could order $5 sack lunches to take on canoe trips. Thank Christ.

Above: I think now that going to the lake each year may have saved my sanity, and that of my mother, during those endless, exhausting years when the children were small and it seemed unlikely the adults would ever again go to a movie or read a book. Everything was different at the lake—time was infinite and lazy, and we barely saw the children except at meals or when they needed an adult to quell an Indian rope burn attack. Image via Trip Advisor.

Above: The highlight of the week was the ring toss contest, for which our friends' son Gabe practiced for hours every evening. The year Gabe was eight, or maybe nine, he would have won, except for a persnickety older gentleman we nicknamed the Silk Assassin. Every year—all the guests at the Hedges seemed to return faithfully, by the way—the Silk Assassin would smoothly knock off all comers. Image via Trip Advisor.

Above: In those years, the food at The Hedges was very bad—the menu was a marvel of parsimonious high-WASP frugality, featuring such entrees as pressed turkey and canned corn niblets. But the old hunting lodges were faithfully preserved and maintained in a style the Palm Beach Post once described as "rustically elegant lakeside resort." Then, about 10 years ago, The Hedges changed owners. The last time we were there, the food was far better and the decor had veered toward dried-flower centerpieces.

Above: When it rained—two or three days a week, on average, every August—we all piled into cars and headed to Long Lake, to watch for seaplanes and to shop at Hoss's, which is hands-down the best variety store in America. We bought wool blankets and watercolor paint sets and bird guides and maple candy and balsa-wood airplane kits and tiny flashlights and trucker hats. Image by Anna Liisa, via Flickr.

Above: Canoes for rent from Blue Mountain Lake Boat Livery. Image via Suzanne Kelleher, via Flickr.

Above: At night, while the kids played horseshoes or flashlight tag, the rest of us settled back into the same chairs where we'd spent the afternoon reading Trollope or Turow, to watch the night fall over the lake, the lake, the constant lake. Image via Trip Advisor.

View Larger Map

Above: The Hedges is on Hedges Road (intersects with Route 28) in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. For more information, see The Hedges. 

Craving the rustic cabin life? Find more Gardenista posts at Cottage & Cabins.

This is an update of a post originally published July 30, 2012.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Garden Visit: The Hobbit Land Next Door
• Garden Visit: At Home With Canada's Favorite Garden Writer
• Garden Roundup: 10 Perfect Party Spaces in the City

Technically a teepee is shaped like a cone, but we're willing to expand the definition to include any peaked pyramid shape, whether it has a square floor or a round one. Here are 10 we'd love to camp out in this summer (even if it's only in the backyard).

 Above: Guests at the Minam River Lodge in northeast Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness can stay in a traditional teepee, which even has a fire inside for chilly nights.

Above: Suitable for camping or backyard sleepovers, a Handmade Canvas Range Tent made of 100% cotton comes with a zippered flap, oak stakes, and steel-fitted Douglas fir poles. The base measures 7 by 9 feet (the height is adjustable); it is $619 from Kaufmann Mercantile.

Above: A Pyramid Tent comes in four colors (white, tan, suntan, and gray) and has a skeleton of reinforcement webbing to prevent sagging. The tents are made in canvas in two sizes, with prices starting at $430 (the optional teepee-style oval door, shown here, is $75; a screen window is an additional $135). For more information, see Tentsmiths.

Above: A six-paneled Paintable Great Plains Tent is designed for backyard play. It comes in three sizes, ranging from a 6-foot teepee (which is 4 feet tall inside) to a 12-foot teepee (with an interior height of 9 feet). Prices range from $194.90 to $519.90 from Rosenberry Rooms.

Above: House Inhabit on Etsy sells Fold Away Teepees that range in height from 5 to 6 feet; $150 for the 6-foot size.

Above: Stable in high winds because it has no vertical sides, a canvas Miner Tent comes in two sizes and can be customized with windows and a stove-pipe hole; prices start at $290 from Beckel Canvas Products. Photograph via Made Collection.

Above: Designed for sleepovers, a Red Trim Teepee is 60 inches square and 85 inches high (blue and gray trim are also available). Recommended for indoor use, it's not weatherproof (but we might sneak it outdoors for one night in nice weather). Made of cotton canvas with an aluminum frame; $249 from Pottery Barn Kids.

Above: The Giant 8-Foot Canvas Teepee with bamboo poles is $195 from PlayHaven on Etsy.

Above: Custom-made symmetrical Canvas Tipis have triple-stitched covers for durability. Available in diameters ranging from 10 to 30 feet; for prices and more information see Porcupine Canvas.

Above: With sewn-in vinyl floors, pyramidal Range Tents keep belongings (and campers) dry. The Army duck canvas tents come in three standard sizes; have screened windows and doors, A-frame pole sets and five stakes; and are built to withstand the weather: They're waterproof and mildew- and fire-resistant. Prices start at $749 for an 8-by-8-foot tent. For more information, see Cowboy Camp.

Spending a night or more in the woods? Prepare by reading all our posts on Camping (we have a few things to say on the subjects of Classic Oil Lanterns and How to Stay Alive in the Woods). And on Remodelista, check out Camping Gets Glamorous: Shelter Co. in California.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Hardscaping 101: Exterior Wooden Shutters
• Architect Visit: A Portable Beach Cabin, Sleds Included
• Gardenista Roundup: 8 Nap-worthy Summer Bunkhouses

Summertime shouldn't be synonymous with the pungent smell of mothballs, but for anyone lucky enough to have a summer house, it too often is. People use mothballs to protect woolen clothes and blankets in winter storage from being eaten by moths, and the mothball odor tends to linger in cottages, suitcases, and other places that are only used part of the year.

Here's how mothballs work: Solid chemicals—usually napthalene or paradichlorobenzene—are formed into marble-sized balls. The chemicals slowly become gas when exposed to air. That toxic gas kills wool-eating moths—and makes everything in the vicinity stink to high heavens.

The National Pesticide Information Center tells us not to use mothballs outdoors because they can contaminate soil, plants, and water; harm wildlife; and pollute the air. If mothballs aren't safe for Mother Nature, I'm guessing they're not safe for me. 

The good news is that herbs can keep moths away from your woolens just as effectively. With this simple DIY, you can swap your mothballs for sachets that are not only sweet-smelling but pleasant to look at, too.

Photographs by Erin Boyle.

Above: To begin the project, I bought some small muslin spice bags (I found mine at my grocery store's spice section). If you have old handkerchiefs around and you're handy with a sewing machine, you can sew your own sachets. If you don't sew, you can just create little bundles and tie the ends together. I made seven bags this time around; a packet of 25 Mini Cotton Muslin Drawstring Bags is available from Celestial Gifts for $4.75.

Above: Next, I gathered dried herbs known for their ability to ward off clothes moths: lavender, spearmint, thyme, rosemary, cloves, and cinnamon. Mountain Rose Herbs is a terrific online resource for bulk herbs, or you can buy smaller quantities at your local natural-foods store. Other herbs known for repelling insects include tansy, ginger, and citronella. 

Above: Red cedar is an old standby when it comes to warding off moths—which is why entire closets are sometimes lined with the wood. If you're not ready for a closet renovation, cedar shavings will do the trick. A five-cup bag of Organic Red Cedar Shavings is $4.99 from Stress Tamer Spa.

Above: I put the cedar shavings into my spice bags before adding the herbs.

Above: I blended the herbs in equal proportions (to make my seven bags, I used about 4 tablespoons of each herb) and then spooned the mixture into the bags.

Above: As I worked, I kept tapping each bag on the table to let the herbs settle down around the cedar shavings.

Above: To finish, I slid a stick of cinnamon into each bag.

Above: Then I tied each bag closed and gave the outside a squeeze to crush the cedar and release the herbs' essential oils.

Above: The bags should last a season or more, especially if you keep squeezing them occasionally to release the essential oils. I leave a sachet in each of my clothing drawers year-round, just to be safe.

If you really want to go all DIY with this, you can grow (and dry) your own herbs. Get started with this DIY: Instant Indoor Herb Garden. Are mosquitos, not moths, getting to you? See DIY: Bug Repellent Balm. 

This is an update of a post originally published July 16, 2013.

More Stories from Gardenista

• DIY: Rose Petal Ice Cubes
• DIY: Razor Clam Pendant Light
• DIY: Pressed Seaweed Prints

For many of us, summer vacation means the gift of sleep. Sure, we like to go swimming, scarf down a few lobster rolls or hot dogs, and read a book (or four). But being allowed to lie down for a well-deserved nap in the middle of the day? Nothing better. Here are some rustic bunkhouses and sleeping porches that are begging you to get horizontal: 

Above: Wherever this screened-in sleeping porch is, there's a lake beside it, and we want to be there. Now. This could be the ultimate porch swing. Photograph by Quentin Bacon. See more in 5 Favorites: Screened Sleeping Porches.

Above: River rock and knotty pine decorate a cabin at remote Minam River Lodge, in eastern Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness. Most guests hike or ride horseback for eight miles to reach the lodge, so you're likely to nap in peace, unless a small plane touches down. 

Above: Let the sun shine in: This wide-open sleeping shed in the woods, designed by Tim Prentice, even has a translucent fiberglass roof. Photograph via Even Cleveland.

Above: A triple-tiered bunk bed maximizes space in a minuscule beach cabin designed by Crosson Clarke Carnachan for New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula. For more, see A Portable Beach Cabin, Sled Included. 

Above: A modern take on rustic style, this bunkhouse room at the Basecamp Hotel, in South Lake Tahoe, sleeps six (in two single beds above two queens)—a sleepaway-camp option for a group of friends. Read more about the hotel at A High-style Base Camp in Tahoe. Photograph by Eva Kolenko.

Above: Vermont architect Robert Swinburne says he designed his screened-in Fern House as "a space for summer naps and overnight guests." Exactly.

Above: LA actors (and serial remodelers) Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen converted an old workshop into a bunkhouse for their sons, whitewashing the walls and pouring a new concrete floor. The ladder leads to a hangout space, complete with drum kit. Read the whole post on Remodelista at Backyard Bunkhouse, Hollywood Royal Family Edition.

Above: Fashion stylist and interior designer Scott Newkirk built this sleeping porch for the guest cottage at his country escape in the Catskills. To create a similar look, consult Steal This Look: Summer Sleeping Porch. Photograph by Dean Kaufman.

We feel drowsy already. Is the fan turned on? Wake us when it's cocktail hour . . . 

For more bunkhouse-style sleeping, see 5 Screened Sleeping Porches and 10 Space-Saving Ski Cabin Bunks, both on Remodelista. 

More Stories from Gardenista

• Hardscaping 101: Exterior Wooden Shutters
• Architect Visit: A Portable Beach Cabin, Sleds Included
• 10 Easy Pieces: Canvas Teepee Tents

New Zealanders call them "baches"; small, simple wood vacation houses for no-frills holidays by the sea.

One definition of a bach is "something you built yourself, on land you don't own, out of materials you borrowed or stole." Auckland architects Crosson Clarke Carnachan take the bach concept a step further, adding portability to the equation by anchoring the structure on two heavy wooden sleds. Located in a coastal erosion zone on the Coromandel Peninsula, where houses must be mobile, "the house is a response to the ever-changing landscape that lines the beachfront," the architects say. To see more of the firm's work, go to Crosson Clarke Carnachan.

Above: The cabin is clad in macrocarpa wood and blends into the landscape. According to the architects, "The hut comes to life when the enormous shutter on the northeast side winches open to form an awning."

Above: When the owners are away, the cabin can be closed off completely to protect against the elements. 

Above: The shutters on the side windows are opened to let in light and air.

Above: The industrial-strength winch used to crank open the shutter on the facade.

Above: Glass doors swing open to reveal the interior, which is simple and compact.

Above: The family's three children sleep in a triple-tiered bunk room.

Above: A ladder leads to a mezzanine bedroom.

Above: Throughout the cabin, the architects used industrial fittings and fixtures.

Above: The tiny sink is tucked into a corner bath.

Above: The roof terrace catches rainwater to fill the storage tanks.

For another favorite New Zealand bach, see Outbuilding of the Week: A Shipping Container Transformed into the Ultimate Holiday House.

Updated from a Remodelista post originally published August 27, 2012.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Hardscaping 101: Exterior Wooden Shutters
• Gardenista Roundup: 8 Nap-worthy Summer Bunkhouses
• 10 Easy Pieces: Canvas Teepee Tents