For relaxing, for gardening, and for entertaining, backyards enhance our lives as well as our homes. In this book more than 300 gorgeous photographs show the diversity of American yards. Features an extensive directory of mail-order sources and covers suppliers of everything from birdhouses to furniture to gazebos. Full color throughout.

An Ode to Living and Gathering in Nature A picnic on the beach. Cocktails and a snack at sunset. Sharing a potluck meal around the fire, and letting the night drift lazily along in the pleasures of roasting marshmallows and swapping stories. Getting together in nature, with food and drink, is among the most restorative rituals we can experience, fostering a kind of intimacy and ease that’s rare in any other setting. Al Fresco, with its fresh, delicious recipes and unexpected ideas, its tips for exploring new ways to get outdoors, its interviews with dozens of kindred spirits, is an inspiring and beautiful playbook for anyone who wants to spend more time outside with friends and family. The credo is simple: Nature opens us up to ourselves, and the food we share opens us up to each other.

From front door to back patio, the first section of Coastal Living Outdoor Spaces features a colorful visual tour of some of the most inspiring outdoor areas from the pages of the magazine. Design ideas and home decorating tips show how to achieve a relaxed coastal-style ambience outdoors, regardless of where you live. The spaces are deconstructed so it's easy to understand the key components to getting a particular look. The second section offers lots of great ideas for designing everything from a small garden oasis to which coastal-inspired plants are best for sun or shade. The final section provides exterior paint palettes, product suggestions, and how-to care guides for every outdoor space. This book offers exciting and fun design inspiration for everyone-even if you don't live at the beach! 200+ pages of outdoor spaces design tips and advice from the magazine that is the expert on all things Coastal Accessible, useful, and easy to understand information on a range of outdoor spaces including porches, pools, patios, decks, outdoor kitchens, and more Over 200 full color inspirational photos Resource section with maintenance checklists for outfitting and caring for your outdoor space

Living Outside the Box is a call to action beyond the cliche' of thinking outside the box that typically ends without and action being taken. To change the world takes fearless actions and this book is the guide to how to live your life and change the world for the better.The concept for this book originated with frustrations of a career of seeing corporate executives, boards of directors, politicians, commissions, committees, and nearly every gathering of people for the purpose of seeking solutions to problems culminate in absolutely nothing. The watershed moment when the term "Living Outside the Box" was coined came during my time as the CEO of the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville when some very specific challenges called for new solutions. Another meeting was about to be scheduled by some members of the executive committee to "think outside the box." My frustrations boiled over at the thought of yet another meeting where the foregone conclusion was that good thoughts would be developed and nothing would be done about them. From my mouth came the words "what good is it to think outside of the box unless we have the courage live outside the box." The room went silent. I did not know if I was about to be fired or if my words had struck a nerve, but the meeting to think outside the box was not scheduled at that moment. Afterward, one of the attendees who represented the University of Southern Indiana came into my office and expressed the opinion that what I had stated was in his opinion quite profound. His role at USI had been to act as a facilitator to help businesses, municipalities, and non-profit agencies engage in outside the box thinking exercises with hopes that planning and actions would come from the exercises. He also expressed many examples of frustrations with the results of his facilitation sessions where little or nothing actually got done. He was so enamored with the phrase "Living Outside the Box" that he did some research to find out if this phrase had been used in the context of a call to action following facilitated sessions of "Thinking Outside the Box." Much to the surprise of both of us, it had not.He began encouraging me to pursue publishing and speaking engagements around the phrase "Living Outside the Box." That was the summer of 2009. It is now 2018 but the phrase and its call to action has never left my mind or my way of living. I work the phrase into every speech that I make whether it is to the Palm Desert Rotary Club, the annual CVEP Economic Summit, or as the keynote at the Chief Innovation Officers Summit in San Francisco. The words "Living Outside the Box" always make an impact and I hope it will make one on the readers of this book. As you will see, it is those who take actions that really change the world. Words inspire, perspectives provoke thoughts but it is only through deliberate actions that progress is made to positively impact the human condition and thus change the world.

Savannah College of Art and Design president Wallace presents a stunning and varied collection of porches--some becolumned old beauties, others modern marvels--all reflecting their owners' unique desires and sensibilities.

VERANDA knows what makes a home exquisite--and following the successful Houses of Veranda, the magazine has produced a lavish new book with a wealth of ideas for exceptional outdoor spaces. Take a private tour of magnificent homes with lush gardens, inviting courtyards, and pools set amid breathtaking landscapes. Created by the worlds best designers, these environments are among the most spectacular ever featured in Veranda.

Great ideas and expert advice on the design and construction of handsome backyard structures. Create the extra space you need: Add living space without building on to the main house Find cottage designs for every purpose Enjoy arbors and gazebos that become destinations in your backyard landscape Choosing the best building materials The guest room solutions that work best for you, while making your guests feel welcomed and perfectly at home. The backyard commute: Home offices and studios that remove you from the distractions of being at home. Great designs for pool houses, boathouses,party spaces, playhouses, arbors,gazebos, greenhouses, and garden sheds.

Joel Beath and Elizabeth Price explore this question drawing inspiration from a diverse collection of apartment designs, all smaller than 50m2/540ft2. Through the lens of five small-footprint design principles and drawing on architectural images and detailed floor plans, the authors examine how architects and designers are reimagining small space living. Full of inspiration we can each apply to our own spaces, this is a book that offers hope and inspiration for a future of our cities and their citizens in which sustainability and style, comfort and affordability can co-exist. Never Too Small proves living better doesn’t have to mean living larger.

The Australian garden was born mid-century, a time of postwar confidence and growing national identity. Gardens became outdoor rooms for recreation and healthy living - removing the barriers between inside and out - and bold designs celebrated native Australian plants. The mid-century modern aesthetic has seen a revival in recent years, with contemporary garden designers reinterpreting the optimism, innovation and independence of that era. The gardens in Living Outside speak to an Australia that draws on the confidence of the last century while pushing the boundaries of experimentation, all to rise to the environmental and social challenges of today. The featured projects embrace their unique surrounding landscapes, from coastal cliffs and expansive grassland to tropical forest and even urban neighbourhoods. They also reflect a return to modernism - not just the look and feel, but also the functionality and values of invention, conservation, wellbeing.These gardens are more than just ornamental backdrops: they provide shade for neighbourhoods, food for pollinating insects, habitat for wildlife, hubs for both social interaction and moments of respite. They are platforms for research into resilient futures, experiments in sustainability and places for families to grow. They have been designed in response to their contexts and exemplify the singular and joyous spaces that can result from a deep appreciation of place.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Anna Quindlen, hailed by the New York Times as “America’s resident sane person,” offers a collection of “engaging, fresh, [and] funny” (Chicago Tribune) essays about growing up, becoming a parent, spirituality, and more. “The lightning bugs are back. They are small right now, babies really, flying low to the ground as the lawn dissolves from green to black in the dusk. There are constellations of them outside the window; on, off, on, off. At first the little boy cannot see them; then, suddenly, he does. ‘Mommy, it’s magic,’ he say. “This is why I had children; because of the lightning bugs.” The voice is Anna Quindlen’s. But we know the hopes, dreams, fears, and wonder expressed in all her nonfiction, for most of us share them. Quindlen first vaulted to national attention with her “Life in the 30s” columns for The New York Times, and this wonderful collection of her early work shows why this Pulitzer Prize–winning author remains in the spotlight.