On the Drawing Board

Closet to Pantry Organization changes everything. Pantries are quintessential organizers.  It is sometimes shocking how the addition of shelves, cubbies, cabinets, and other organizing built-ins can change a room.  All rooms start out with blank walls, and then we add finishes and cabinetry that create a place to live. Organized Pantry Mudrooms can be simple or elaborate with sinks and cabinets.  Cubbies, shelves, coat hooks, and benches complete the organizational pallet in a mudroom. Mud [...]

Gus at Orvis       Photo by Alicia Crisp Every Monday, I shoot sporting clays with a group of friends at Orvis Sandanona in Millbrook, NY.  It is a lot of fun hitting and missing clay pigeons and bearing the catcalls and praises of long-time shooters while no one is keeping score.  At Orvis, I have taken shooting lessons and fly fishing lessons with my family, learning skills that will last a lifetime.  We are very lucky to [...]

View From the Water A Greenwich waterfront home is a special place requiring determination and perseverance.  Living on the water is an extraordinary experience.  Our clients decided to build their full-time home on the coast, and we tried to make sure their new home lived up to the location.  We worked within the very strict building codes to create a family home that would become a legacy. Kitchen Island Reclaimed Wood Floors Living Room [...]

Fireplace on Screened Porch Outdoor fireplaces are a great focal point for patios and porches.  Cool evenings in September draw me out onto my porch.  We have an area heater that extends the season both in the Spring and the Fall.  Many of our clients who want to enjoy those edge-of-season days and nights outdoors ask us to design an outdoor fireplace. Once they start using it, they find that the ambiance of an outdoor wood-burning fireplace can [...]

  Chewed Hats I have had dogs that chewed the furniture, chewed shoes, and chewed children's toys, but never a dog that only chewed the bills of my favorite hats.  While you might think it would be easy enough to keep them away from him, in practice his ingenuity overcomes my diligence over and over. Gus the Hat Eater Our Little Farm Taco at the Dutchess County Fair Last week was the [...]

Screened Porch with Large Dining Table When it is buggy out, screened porches are in their glory!  I love to eat dinner on my open porch (as well as drink my morning coffee), but if the bugs are out, I go inside.  Screened porches solve those problems entirely.  It is just lucky for me, that my property rarely has a bug problem.  For some homeowners, the mosquitos, gnats, and other biting insects come out like clockwork, making it [...]

New Home Backyard This home in the Berkshires became the ultimate gathering place for a big family both during Covid and the years after.  We designed the garage/guest house as phase one of a multi-year build so our client could enjoy their property and the region sooner rather than later. (Garage/Guest House)  When they were ready, we designed phase two which included a new home and a two story connector to unite the garage and guest quarters to [...]

New Home in Dutchess County This summer, it has been too dry, then too wet, and now too hot.  But construction must go on, and it has.  In addition to material shortages, labor shortages have also occurred, and no one can work outside when it is raining cats and dogs.  Despite these issues, our projects have continued progressing with only minor delays.  I give a lot of credit to our construction firms and their workers, as well as [...]

Bright Home Office Home offices can consist of anything from a countertop with a plug for a laptop to the most elaborate command center worthy of a corporate titan.  To me, the two most important characteristics of a home office are that it is a place you like to work and it helps you organize and find the stuff you are working on. Often our clients insist on a great view from their home offices, while others find [...]

A Bathroom to Love You can find a private retreat in many places.  I love to travel, but then again, what I like most is hanging out at home. One of the many things I like about our old farmhouse is the variety of spaces and experiences available in our home and on our property.  This morning I ate my breakfast on the patio, and tonight will have dinner on our porch overlooking the backyard.  Our kitchen is [...]