Summer escapes—in the backyard

Tennis, or a dip, or some dip, anyone? Work felt like play when we designed two backyard fantasy spaces for clients that allow them to entertain within shouting distance of their homes.

In Ohio, we created a hip, rustic tennis cottage with a barn aesthetic adjacent to the home's tennis court. This "party room" in the garden has a radically different feel from the nearby main residence—so much so that when she entertains there, our client feels as if she's treating friends to a quick getaway.

The tennis cottage's interior—mixing mushroom, taupe, grey, and acid yellow—is decorated with cowhides and has white washed painted wood walls. A ping-pong table—not a television—provides fuel for family fun.

Miami spice

On the north shore of Chicago we created a pool pavilion situated 20 feet from our client's main residence, an English manor house with a formal garden. Our design challenge? Adding a casual, fun-loving Miami spirit (think Shore Club) to the client's pool area that worked with the style of the house and garden.

We created a tropical fantasy getaway, complete with funky curtains minus the palm trees. Around the glass mosaic pool, we constructed a pool pavilion consisting of four limestone columns that looks beautiful year-round—with or without its awning. In the summer, it's covered with a blue-striped canvas awning; draperies and sheers are added in the spring. Inside, low-slung furniture with clean lines pays homage to South Beach's streamlined ethos.

London calling

The Ambassador's wife chose the art, curated its location, and edited the existing furnishings and accessories in the home. She now leads educational tours. The tours are part of an art-sharing program that brings student groups to the residence to learn about both modern and traditional art as well as the value Americans place on freedom of expression.

Designing Danes

Four wonderful days packed with design goodness—from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily! Thus was the whirlwind 2011 Design Leadership Summit in Copenhagen, which took place April 27-30. This year's theme was "Living Design."

We found Copenhagen to be a warm, welcoming city. The Danish Ambassador even greeted the whole Summit group.

Despite its size, or perhaps because of it, Denmark is immersed in utilitarian design. From clothing to place settings, Danish design is thoughtful and saturates everyday life. The country is so committed to good design, they even have a national design policy.

The city was a fitting place for our business consultant, Keith Granet, to debut his book, The Business of Design. In it, Granet draws on his extensive experience to describe how interior designers and architects can engage in creative design and be profitable.

Your intrepid designers visited the Fritz Hansen showroom and admired some Danish furniture. We also went to the Design Museum Danmark, where we checked out furniture and small utilitarian pieces. Our boat tour of the city offered a different perspective of Copenhagen's architecture.

We spent our final day in beautiful Stockholm, Sweden, where we met the Swedish Ambassador and his wife. We don't know what it was about this trip—perhaps we should call it a diplomatic mission—but this was the third ambassador we met during the summit. The Stockholm Embassy's exhibit, "Transparency and Trans-formations in Contemporary American Art," which featured young living artists from the U.S., wowed us.

At a final session attended by 200 designers and architects, we endeavored to answer the question: what would we change in the design world? Participants discussed how to let Americans know that design is important; why it's worth it to hire a designer or an architect; and whether the U.S. could become more design-conscious. The session motivated participants to think creatively and look at the big picture. Editors from major design magazines spoke and we discussed the origin of trends. Do designers influence editors? Or does the editor's taste influence a design story? We suspect it's a bit of both!

The conference raised many questions that we hope to answer in the coming year.

A special thank you

During the past nine months I have been undergoing treatment and surgery for breast cancer. Thank you for your thoughtful well wishes, flowers, kind notes, and emails. It has meant so much to me to have all of your love and support. I am doing very well. Thank you!

xo
Heather

What's next?

We'll show off a multifaceted tennis house we created on a Wisconsin lake. You'll also read about our summer antiquing adventures in Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire, oh my!