Preliminary built ins

My new side of the room! Well, it doesn't look like much now, but you have to be patient. Each side of the room has a standing height counter top and a desk height counter top. The forms you see here will be topped with a concrete surface. I have to decide if I want to embed anything into them.

The big table will be a creative surface for other projects (likely card making and things of that sort) and the giant crazy heavy drafting table will be on the "man side" of the room. The secret of this room is that the counter with the yellow level will hold the kitty potty room, enclosed (except for a little kitty door) around the exhaust fan for when Rockaboy drops bombs. Didn't want to know that part? Oops!

It's coming along :)

What the office is, and what it will become

So for the last 4 years I have been working from this desk. It's a nice desk, certainly nothing to be upset about, but it just isn't cutting the mustard anymore. I've grown out of it. It would be a great desk for doing general writing but isn't suitable for computers and such.

I didn't clean up first... cause lets be honest, this is how it usually looks. Little pieces of furniture and bins have been added as I "grew" but I don't know that I can add any more.

Behind me is the Shipping Office. This is where I play with the bubble wrap and paper cutter and all the little envelopes and ribbon. See the little wooden table (which is actually a stool on top of a tall plastic storage bin), that's my work surface. It's for one thing at a time only, which is okay since that is how I do things... but it's a little lacking.

So that is my current little space... and following is the new office in construction. We combined two bedrooms to make what will be the new office. Doing this makes it nice and light too, which really helps!

The side below will be my side (I get a whole side peeps!). The plan is to make a big counter top, suited at varying heights for specific work spaces. There will also be a big table in there as a center "island" for teaching, classes and crafty parties. (Crafty parties peeps!!!)

This will be the "boy" side of the room below. Eventually there will be outside access to the covered patio (see the construction of the pergola patio we built) . It's gonna be so much nicer!
This is the far side of the room. Nothing special.. yet.
So that's where we are so far. We are thinking about flooring options too. I am thinking large 4' square A side of ACX plywood as the floor surface with countersunk bolts in the corners, epoxy covered. Medium honey stained and sealed. James want's to do dark gray concrete countertops, which I think would look great with the floors for a cool industrial feel. I have requested a little bead gutter set into the countertops so they don't roll off the counter.

He textured the walls to match the two rooms with the rest of the house where they didn't already. I'm thinking about colors... soft sage green (Prasiolite :), or maybe a dusky gray blue, but I am leaning toward a soft yellow/orange clay color. I'll have to think about it and consult with the other parties.

Breaking down walls - office construction

This is the big hole in the ceiling (one of them) that a smart kitty could get into if she tried. So, the door is to remain closed while the non kitty portions of the house are accessible.

There he is with the saw that makes lots of noise. Our wall is almost gone! Yay! It's much brighter in there too, which should be great for photos :)

Take a look at these studs

Awesome! It's clean and ready for more destruction. The kitties have their little spot back... with some small differences. I'm sure they are confused and delighted now that they can walk thru walls.

Wheres the mess? Out the window, that was easy!

Caught with your walls down

Of course it's a mess! I cannot wait till it is finished :)

Sometimes fake wood paneling is the better option...

It depends on the circumstances which is best. In this case, the paneling is better.

Thankfully, it doesn't matter either way, because the entire wall is coming down.


Soon two rooms will be one and there will be an actual space for both of us to work in relative "clarity" :)

Elevator!

Maybe this is my own personal story, maybe not. Did you ever play elevator as kids? This usually happens in a hallway with several closely spaced doors.

What happens is, everyone gets into the "elevator" and closes all the doors. Then when the elevator gets to the right stop, someone gets out on one of the floors (out one of the doors). Anyway, it was quite a bit of fun when we were kids. Expecially since the old fashioned hanging chime doorbells were in the elevator and we liked to make noise with them as we reached each floor.

So now we almost have an elevator with three closely spaced doors. Okay, not really since the other two doors have been removed, but you know what I mean.

Oh, by the way, the new door is in :)

Destruction of a hallway

We are not scared of taking things apart for the greater good. That greater good is a real office rather than our two businesses crammed into a little bedroom.

In order to operate to my full potential, I need lots of space designated for the various daily steps that my work requires. It would be great to have a spot for : photography, packing and shipping, internet, design and "construction" of work and not have to clean up each thing as I need to start the next.

And his business requires this HUGE fancy drawing table that fills up most of our little bedroom office. The cats cannot even enjoy the desk as it is off limits to those with fur.

Meanwhile, I hear the preliminary small destruction sounds like tapping for studs (awesome gay band name), and pencils on the wall and tape measures.. I'm sure they will soon become the bigger sounds that I am used to, things that require electricity.

Rocky (our silly cat, aka. dumb boy ) is staying out of the way but keeping an eye on things. Maggie is on the bed happy to be rid of Rocky to enjoy her beauty sleep.

A real office! I'm so excited :)

Landscape before and afters, client installation update

We build gardens. Call us and get your dream garden to stay outside in.

Garden installation by Ginkgo Landscape Design, serving Seattle northward to Edmonds and select Eastside locations.

As we go along in a landscape it comes along slowly but eventually prompts a lot of reaction from the homeowners as well as neighbors who are familiar with the before and after as they pass it regularly. I always like to make a comment regarding the progress... today's was: "Remember when this was a driveway?" Cause... before we got our hands on it, it was. See what we did to the driveway here.

We do all this the hard way, by hand with shovels, wheelbarrows and a little muscle and lots of construction and overall garden knowledge. It takes a while from start to finish (and there is more to come on the front yard) because it's just the two of us from initial design consultation all the way thru ongoing care and maintenance of a completed design.

Following are a few before and afters. (Befores were taken in Summer, afters in early Spring, leaves soon.)
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^Before: The clients had that typical crammed in feeling at the back door and no place to set groceries, store trash cans or just enjoy their welcome home...

After: The new deck gives them a large landing to the back door and creates a huge back living space. It's placed to get morning sun, and have portions of sun and shade throughout the rest of the day. Added bonuses include the seat height railings and trellis above wired for pendant lighting. There is also deck lighting at shin height that comes on at dusk, off at dawn or adjustable to the clients wishes.
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^Before: That bushy looking thing obscuring the garage is a very old pear tree. It takes a while to get a fruit tree back to the point where it produces well, but this one well on it's way and even produced quite a few pears last season.

After: It's such a bonus to be able to get around from garage to house to garden barefoot if you want to. The new paver hardscape in this garden offers exactly that as well as a great entertaining space or just lounging in your outside.

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^Before: It's a little hard to see, but the fence that is crowding the house in the above photo was entirely removed and pushed back about 15 feet to reclaim the useable space from an unused circular asphault driveway. I'm all for reclaiming space for plants.

After: The new fence incorporates a trellis for the homeowners climbers as well as a defined entry, and a space for the recycle and trash cans to hide them from view. They are on the far left in their own little cubby next to the garage, invisible from all sides but overhead. Having easily accessible yet hidden space for the trashcans is often overlooked, it shouldn't be.
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^Before: Grass... mow weekly, accept weeds or spend your precious time weeding.

After: No grass, no need to mow. How about planting veggies and herbs in the raised hand stucco'd planters instead. Ultimately there will be a door into the garage to contain an indoor potting area. Since this is a large garden with lots of deciduous trees we built several compost bins. You can see one at the back fence-line with a red wheelbarrow leaning on it.
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Following are some more afters:
A view of the raised planters, elegantly curved to reflect both circular patios. Note: this is not easy, but very worth it! Everything is prepped with irrigation because it's just not possible to water this entire garden daily by hand. It's electronic and takes care of everything for you, it has a rain sensor and will not waste your water if it has rained recently. This garden has several zones since the veggie planters need different care than the landscape plants.


This is the new view that never existed before. From the back window of the house one can overlook the entire back garden. Look closely and you can see the little deck lights on either side of the entrance.

That's it for a little while in this garden, but it finally looks like the drawings. Stay tuned for the following phases though because it's not over yet!

Completion of a Landscape Design Installation by Ginkgo Landscape Design

Thanks to all who have been following the landscape design installation. I'll update the photos of the growth progress next year when we do our spring maintenance. For the time being, here are photos of where we started, and where we ended up.

Above: This photo shows the before of the garden when it was an unused circular driveway (the following photo reveals the after shot from the same location). The garage door was on the outside of the fence line. What could be much more usable space has been reclaimed for the homeowners as a deck, pathway, several trellises and irrigated garden space. In addition they have a circular patio and raised planter and a vegetable trellis behind the garage.

A little perspective before completion:

Afters: below




for more progress photos and other landscape installation photos click here
For the time being, this garden is to be continued as this was the first stage (25% completed) in a full garden renovation. More next year ;)

Garden walk by Ginkgo

(We have a landscape design/build, the following are photos from the current client design in progress. It's not at our house... yet :)

And there you have it! Actually, the real garden walk will be a planned serpentine path on the west side of the house that meanders thru the plantings. Consider this a preview. The grade was set and edged and thick paver bricks were placed on top. (Not as easy as it sounds).

There is a graceful curve in the slope that leads the eye, and feet from the garage, to the entry arbor along the fence and down to the deck. Just to the right of the garage door is the can storage for recycle and trash. All designed in with the plan because no one really want's to see those pretty cans. They are accessible from the driveway side, but the "screening" is low enough that the clients can toss things in the bins from the inside of the fence. The edge of the walkway is defined with a paver border and several bricks were painstakingly (it's loud too) cut to fit the pathway. Then we smashed them down (compacted, again with the loud) filled in all the gaps with a special bonding sand, compacted again, filled again, compacted again and filled for a final time. Then we got everything cleaned up before setting the sand with water and proceded to jump over the path to let the glues set.I have one of these paths on order for my house. :)
Next up are prep for irrigation, and a whole lotta dirt... soil, we say. Then PLANTS, the real stars of the show.

Entertaining deck gets it's structure

More progress photos from our landscape design installation. It's what we do, see more at the Ginkgo Landscape Design website!

One of the major elements missing in many gardens is the same that makes it appealing. I don't know about you but when I enter a garden space, I want to feel surrounded by it. Having tall structures (be it plants or built elements) really helps create this effect. Soon it will be wired for lighting to enable the clients to entertain easily in the evenings and get around safely after the sun has gone down.

For the time being the deck platform is being left open to allow for the electricity to be wired easily. Ultimately it will be topped off with Trex, a composite material created from wood and plastic fibers. I actually quite like it since it lasts longer than any wood surface ever could, doesn't splinter, has a nice feel on the feet (I love barefoot gardens!) and is easy to work with. As a bonus it is made with recovered material that used to be tossed into landfills. It's a little heavy and bendy (think 20 foot long 50 lb wet noodle) before it's set where it needs to be, but that helps in the long run anyway. Plus, it saves us from using long lengths of trees when we can.

I cannot wait to get the decking down and see the pool of light created from the deck lights and the pendant lights hanging from the arbor!

We have yet to add the seating surround beneath the arbor as well. It's in the works!

Beams and Joists, the making of a deck

Continuing on with the tour of a landscape design installation by Ginkgo Landscape Design (that's us). The first photo shows a midway view. The driveway has been partially removed as well as the existing deck and patio space that was so small having a trash can was crowding the space. (We built in a hidden place for those too). So this is the "before the deck" photo.

It's a nice big deck with plenty of space for a dance party. And it's plenty strong for that too.
A ton of details go into building a deck properly. This deck sets entirely on concreted piers and metal brackets. It is independent from the house. Also requested was a large landing to the back door.I am delighted as well that this deck is going to have fancy lighting! We are installing a seat rail along the outer perimiter and pergolas (similar to the fence) above. There will be downlights for the landing and stairs as well as pendants in each "window" framed by the pergola.

It's gonna be great! Keep watching and I will keep you posted!
Wanna know more about this thing we do? www.GinkgoLandscapeDesign.com

A proper entry

A proper entry for a beautiful private garden. Constructed post on pipe so that over time if the posts need to be replaced, they can be easily. The full 3/4 inch cedar boards were sustainably caught... quite literally. They were washed up from storm felled trees along the Stillaguamish River and naturally wind felled. It's a very limited supply for such special materials, but makes a great quality fence.

A large main gate provides entry from the drive, and two adjacent gates hide the trash and recycle from view on both sides. A must to keep a garden looking tidy is keeping unsightly cans hidden.

Wanna see a before and after? There will be more of these at the end, but this one is pretty fun to see. After we constructed the new fence, we were able to tear down the old one which added a ton of new space to the garden.

Here is the before, with the old fence surrounding what used to be a gigantic unused circular driveway. It also has a precious Clematis Montana that is being saved for relocation, so that is still visible in the after photos...

Tada! Now that is a good sized garden. We will build a large entertaining deck next, so stay tuned for more fun photos :)

Connecting the ... posts.

Making sense of the "mess of posts". It takes a while to get all the custom pieces in place. My primary job was to finish notches with a chisel so that the rails set just right on the cross braces.

It's still got some more smaller cross pieces for the tops and the actual "fence" part, but you get the idea now.

Fresh herbs for the garden and post alley

It's so cute with plants in it! The client wasted no time planting her herbs and flowers and had them planted on the first day after it was ready. There is still plenty of work to do as the entire area is set for a design, but this one bit is complete.

The next step is building the new fence that will incorporate more of the garden. Previously the focus was a large circular drive that was not even used. If you ask me, a garden is much better than a driveway could ever be. The photo may not make any sense at all but trust me, we have a grand plan. Where all the dirt is that you see used to be asphalt. It was removed with a pry bar and a sledgehammer (the old fashioned way) and is actually beneath the area where you saw the planter reused to get the proper grade level for the planter area and the circular patio.

So here is the next step... post alley. The garden will have a "proper entrance" as all spaces should. What looks like a mess of posts (post on pipe construction) will make perfect sense when the fence is up and has its hand made pergolas and trellises.

The fence boards are special because they are milled from fallen cedar trees from a family farmland rather than clearcut wood. I like to call it free range organic sustainably harvested just to be a show off. (I am. :)

Thanks for your interest, I will have more for you soon!