It seems like, this time of year, everyone is doing some best of, or worst or, or year in review type of list. So, I thought I would follow suit and think about my top 5 inspirations/ accomplishments for 2012.
1. From a design perspective, I was fortunate to work with some great clients this year on some inspiring projects.
Three of my favorites were: a no lawn front yard in Belmont designed to attract birds and include edibles.
an historic home in Lexington that I worked on for some dear friends (I think we really succeeded in transforming the space),
and a multi year LEED certified project in Little Compton that really started to shine this year. The meadow garden (installed to help us reduce the amount of conventional turf) was ablaze with color this summer!
2. On the networking side, I loved my trip this September to the APLD Annual Conference in San Francisco. It was my first such conference and I was so impressed with the people I met. We toured so many fabulous gardens! The week started with a reception at Flora Grubb Gardens and ended with a visit to the Bardessono Hotel. The design of the outdoor space at this LEED certified hotel was breath taking.
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| Dinner at the APLD Annual Conference |
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| A unique container at Flora Grubb Gardens |
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| One of several courtyards at Bardessono |
3. The launch of this blog, over the summer, has been so fun for me! Turns out that I love to write and tell stories, and I have a lot of fun thinking up topics that (I hope) are interesting. The most popular posts this year were about places I’ve visited:
The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
Garden in the Woods
and
Cornerstone Sonoma
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| A favorite picture from Cornerstone Sonoma |
4. My thinking, as a designer, is continually evolving. This year I’ve really started to focus on how to integrate sustainable design with traditional residential programs. To that end I’ve applied to become a LEED Green Associate, and will be taking the exam this spring!
5. Last but not least, I was fortunate to work on a corporate installation in Belfast Maine this fall. The company wanted to create a healthy and nurturing indoor environment for their employees. We ended up installing a huge, indoor, vertical garden (along with about 160 indoor plants in containers). This wall will provide living color and texture throughout the year, and will help to improve indoor air quality.
Overall, it’s been a great year, and even though there is snow on the ground (at the moment), I’m busy working on some exciting design projects to kick off this spring.
I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year!
