Plants, shrubs, and trees can provide much more than just beauty to enjoy; they can also create visual screens that provide you with much-needed privacy. I live in downtown Portsmouth, NH and each of my neighbors’ houses is about 20’ from my house with driveways in-between. It is a typical old neighborhood built between 1900… Continue reading Perfect Plantings for Top Performance
Author: Amy Dutton
How to Calculate Your Countertops
Are you wondering how to calculate your countertops? Believe it or not, it’s a little trickier than it appears but the process is consistent so I thought I would share with you how we do it and you can take it from there. STONE SELECTION. We use a lot of quartz (fabricated stone) and we… Continue reading How to Calculate Your Countertops
Color Selections Tips & Tricks
Are you getting ready to paint? If so, the first thing you are considering is the color, and I have some color selection tips & tricks for you, so here we go… QUALITY PAINT. Always, always use a quality paint brand. I know that there is less expensive paint out there, but when you actually… Continue reading Color Selections Tips & Tricks
New Englander Renovation Gets its Landscaping Plan
When the end of construction is in site and my clients inquire about a landscaping plan, I simply can’t resist but to put a rough sketch and plan together as a “Housewarming Gift”. If you have been watching the New Englander Renovation, you know that the last month is when all the “pretty” things… Continue reading New Englander Renovation Gets its Landscaping Plan
How Landscape Design Impacts Architecture
Are you clear on how your landscape design impact architecture and vice-versa? Before I start a project with a client, we discuss their goals and lifestyle for how the house will function for them. As part of the architectural design, I also consider the landscape design. How will people walk into the house? How… Continue reading How Landscape Design Impacts Architecture
It’s time to plant your annuals! YAY!
While perennials are great because they come back every year getting larger and larger until you divide them, annuals are just going to last for one season and enter the garden with a bang! Annuals add height variations, color, and texture. My favorites annuals are: Ascot Rainbow (Spurge) Salvia Farinacea ‘Victoria Blue’ Angel’s Trumpet… Continue reading It’s time to plant your annuals! YAY!
North Mill Pond View
CLIENT PROFILE The homeowner is an engineer and worked in framing during college, so he is more than capable and very thoughtful about the construction process acting as the GC. He and his wife bought the 1900 2.5 stories, New Englander, with 1,534sf in 2012 mostly for the large, beautiful lot located right on North… Continue reading North Mill Pond View
A Cape Expansion to Meet Every Need
CLIENT PROFILE These clients are from Andover, MA, and own a large family-run business that they are getting ready to retire from. They bought their York Harbor, Maine home in 2007 as a summer home and with full expectations to renovate at some point and they also have a home in Naples, FL. The goal… Continue reading A Cape Expansion to Meet Every Need
How to Make a 90’s Home into a Modern Farmhouse
CLIENT PROFILE These clients are part of “Urban Flights 2020”. For this young couple with two small children, Covid entered their home in Southie as Daycare shut down and both working in Corporate America were suddenly working from home. She grew up in Vermont and he grew up in Maine and his brother was a… Continue reading How to Make a 90’s Home into a Modern Farmhouse
Tiny New Englander Grows Two-Fold
CLIENT PROFILE These clients are both working professionals, he is an electrical engineer and extremely capable to build just about anything. He bought the 1860’s 1-3/4 high New Englander in 2016 as a “fixer-upper” and he has renovated this 956 sqft home on his entirely on his own. We started working together in May 2020.… Continue reading Tiny New Englander Grows Two-Fold