When I saw this, I had one of those, Ah-ha moments where I wondered why I didn’t think of that.

A number of years ago I had a project where, through the installation, a couple of large shade sails got damaged.  Nothing major, quarter sized holes in across a 16 ft span, but not suitable for the client whe paid top dollar and deserved undamaged goods.  So the spares have languished in my barn since.   I am determined to put a wood floor in the barn this summer so a big clean out is in order and I have been considering what to do with these sails.   And now I have it….make a shower stall in the garden.  (I have the perfect spot and have been wanting one forever)  All I need is to cut down the sails to size with my metal plumbing pipe frame, add rivets where needed, and string to the frame. (and of course put in the plumbing — but that is actually going to pretty easy, I think, with a quick phone call to the plumber). You could do this too with some marine grade fabric.

This BTW this an image from Sarah Jessica Parker’s house in the Hamptons and was featured in Elle Decor.

Image by William Waldron for Elle Decor. Image found via remodelista.

Sometimes of the most amazing gardens aren’t around homes, or hotels, palaces or the like, but rather part of a shop.   In this case, an antique shop in the Isle sur la Sorgue in the South of France.  Xavier Nicod‘s website shares more images of this beautiful garden filled with his antique shop treasures,  and you should absolutely make the short journey over to his website to take a peek.

I am inspired to see the beautiful rustic nature of this place, the sinuous curves of the stone walls and the pools that seem to flow from underground to the outdoors.  I wish this man were a garden designer with a huge portfolio of projects to share, but it seems, this is it….go check it out on his website.

images gathered from Designers Block, paradis express, and xavier nicod.

For myself, I simple need a little less austerity.  If this were my garden, I think I would have to do somethink shockingly interesting to those white painted walls.  But I do love the angle of the pool and the lines of the paving.  Those huge slabs and the twist that they present is one of those subtle details that make a project like this a bit more extraordinary.

It should be noted that this renovated home is warmed entirely with solar heat (excluding the use of a woodstove in the living room) — including the pool.   The pool is also an ecological swimming pond.

photos Muller Fien

“Oh, Oh, Oh!!! Blog this as fast as you can” — that is generally the frantic thought that starts racing through my head when I come across a garden such as this.  I can’t help but get excited at the unique creativity of such a place.  Rick Eckerslely (the designer responsible for this) has moved right to the top of my list of people to watch and learn from.

This garden is a made up of a series of walled courtyards.  Throughout, texture plays a strong role in the design.  The pebbles repeat, as do the bubble shapes of the lights and other ornamentation.  I am fascinated by how it all works together to create an eclectic space that flows and works together but clearly avoids matchy matchy-ness.

Click on the individual gallery images to see more the details of this space.

Corrour Lodge is a modern twist on the classic Scottish shooting and hunting lodge.  The original lodge burned but was rebuilt in 2003 by architect  Moshe Safdie.  Fitting into the Highland environment and surrounding the lodge are the beautiful wild gardens designed by Jinny Blom.

Jinny Blom is a master of creating the wild and beautiful meadow gardens and the images captured by Allan Pollock Morris are beautiful.   (click through to follow Allan’s Northfiled Editions Collection on Facebook).

Vicia cracca

Throughout the property there are beautiful details.  The sauna has a wild green roof and the sculpture in the trees is by Antony Gormley.  Jinny took pains to create a victorian alpine garden and reinterpreted the ‘antigarden’, as an experimental approach to non-interventionist gardening. The intent was to tend to and renovate native plantations – the results beautiful – don’t you think?

Make sure to check out North Field Editions facebook page to see even more images.