Take It Outside: A Guide to Designing Beautiful Spaces Just Beyond Your Door: An Interior Design Book - Hardcover

Brasier, Melissa; Magee, Garrett

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593139429 ISBN 13: 9780593139424

Publisher: Random House Inc, 2021

Synopsis

From the hosts of Bravo's Backyard Envy comes a beautifully photographed guide to converting your outdoor space into an enviable oasis, whether you have a backyard, brownstone patio, or three-season porch. <p/>Dubbed the plantfluencers by the New York Times, Mel Brasier, Garrett Magee, and James DeSantis, owners of the Manscapers landscaping company, do more than plant, mulch, and manicure a garden; they look at the space just as interior designers do a room, considering the aesthetics and the way people live in it. Now they show you how to apply familiar interior design principles to your outdoors, including: <p/> - Deciding on a concept to help direct the mood of your space
- Zoning your space into functional areas, such as for lounging, cooking, or entertaining
- Defining the areas with furniture and hardscaping like fencing, decking, pools, planters, pergolas, and pathways
- Bringing in the green, including plants that are both functional (privacy shrubs and shade trees) and decorative (pretty perennials, climbers, and textural grasses)
- Adding the finishing touches the pillows, throws, hurricane lanterns, and other details that will make you want to linger long after sunset <p/>Plus, you'll have information on hiring a contractor and landscaper and the specific materials and plants the Manscapers love to use in their designs. No matter how big or small your exterior space, this ultimate guide to landscape design will help you bring the comfort of the indoors outside.

About this title

About the Author

<b>Mel Brasier, Garrett Magee, </b>and<b> James DeSantis </b>are the hosts of Bravo's exterior and garden show <i>Backyard Envy</i> as well as the founders of the Manscapers, an exterior design and landscaping firm located in Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California. They have been profiled in <i>Architectural Digest, The New York Times, People, Los Angeles Times, </i>and<i> Vogue</i> and have appeared on <i>The Rachael Ray Show</i>.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction


Some of us are blessed with the big open canvas of an untouched yard while others get by with an awkwardly shaped sliver of urban space. The rest of us have exteriors that fall somewhere in between. Whether you’re looking to refresh your surroundings with new plantings or patio furniture, or to overhaul a long-neglected garden, we’re here to tell you that the process is not nearly as daunting or difficult as you might imagine.

In our work and our lives at home, we have been striving to master the art of exterior design for years. You might say we’re on a mission to create the most beautiful, comfortable outdoor rooms, where every element—plants, pots, hardscaping, furnishing, flooring, lighting, and decorative touches—shares a cohesive concept and aesthetic.

But we don’t simply plant a backyard. We look at every aspect of outdoor design, from constructing the deck to setting out party-ready tabletop decor. We take a holistic approach: considering the space from top to bottom, sunrise to sundown. It’s amazing to see the transformation from a basic structural vision to the finished result, complete with design flourishes big and small.

The three of us came to the landscape business with backgrounds in design, not degrees in horticulture: Mel and James are interiors experts, and Garrett trained as a graphic designer. Together, we decided to pool our talents and take our collective skill set outside. We learned to transform city lots into lush hideaways, tiny terraces into chic outdoor lounges, and suburban yards into anything-but-cookie-cutter retreats. Along the way, we realized that no matter the size, location, or budget of any outdoor location, the makeover process is pretty much the same. 

Rather than be put off by the unpredictability of garden design, we fell in love with its ever-changing nature. Today we are constantly inspired by the prospect of working outside, where every project mirrors the seasons and offers the promise of transformation and progress. Nothing is stagnant outside.

Time and again, we’re faced with many of the same landscape design conundrums, but we’re always up to the challenge of solving them. With this book, we’re stoked to share our tried-and-true tricks and solutions with anyone who wants to design and build their own outdoor oasis.

Whether you are a seasoned or brand-new gardener, a semiskilled DIYer, or someone who just wants to turn things over to the pros, we’ll help unpack the process for you. Now, let’s take this outside and get started!

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House Inc
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593139429
• ISBN 13: 9780593139424
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272