The Gorgeous World of Michael Trapp

Casual Elegance at its finest.

Michael Trapp is a master.

His home sings the most lovely song -- the perfect combination of Antiques and Nature within the realm of Sophistication. Harmonious, serene, and earthy yet still elegant. Another favorite combination of mine.

All things that I love.

Joni Webb has featured Michael Trapp on her blog, Cote de Texas last Fall and you simply must go and read her (as always) eloquent feature and knowledgeable design perspective of this Antique Dealer, Landscape Architect and Renaissance Man.

I can't tell you about Michael Trapp from a Designer's view, I can only tell you how his spaces make me feel - fabulously connected and appreciative of the natural beauty of organic and aged.


The bounty and beauty of nature never looked so good --



Everything about this photo makes me swoon -- the aged, thick and rough hewn wood framing the window -- a beautiful testament to time and the elements is taken to a deeper love for me with the addition of the the filmy veil of weightless cloth which hangs ghost-like across the ancient window, incapable of hindering even the slight summer breeze that swirl lazily through the air.

Nothing fussy, nothing pristine - A rhapsody in Nature's finest work of stone, water, metal, and luscious green...


I could move right in as it is and not change a single thing -

Around every corner, behind each wall is something that takes my breath away.


If this property were a person, it would be my soul mate.


And I would gladly spend all my days with them.

Poor Tired Husband thinks it's a little strange, how much I love this place --

I say, how could you not be?

Everything about it invites you in and asks you to stay as long as you like - because it's comfortable to the body and soul -- and so beautiful that you want to linger and take it all in.

Waking up to the morning light in this room would make any one's day start off in the best and most beautiful way! I love all the textures -- it keeps it from being too 'white" and makes it so interesting

I couldn't ask for a more perfect spot to while away the afternoon hours reading or napping --

Art installations by the Grace of Mother Nature.

Beefy balusters serve as table legs - bringing the earthy and grounding element of the garden inside and serves as a lovely contrast against the feminine charm of the more delicate and sophisticated chairs.... and how about those windows?! oh be still my heart.

This room needs no words - it's beauty speaks for itself.

Ahhhhh.

Lovely. Breakfast here each morning would be something I would never tire of -- The singing birds as background music, the leaves rustling slightly -- the warm sun softly embracing everyone and everything in its reach. Heaven.

Thank you Michael Trapp - for gifting the world with such a beautiful, beautiful space.

This is truly my dream home.

Happy Monday, world.

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all photos from the website of Michael Trapp.

Sunday in the Garden -- Favorite Combinations

Lavender, stone and those pencil Italian Cedars... it's one of those combinations that elicits a sigh of delight and makes my heart sing.

Add a wall donned in lush creeping fig and an archaic door ... well, now you are singing love songs to me!

Pamela Pierce via Cote de Texas

Responding to the water shortage and mandatory rationing here in Coastal Southern California, we have even more motivation to do away with much of the grass. I love the ideas of meandering paths that weave through rangy vignettes -- breaking up and replacing much of the regular lawn.

Martha Stewart

A field of lavender surrounded in green (and peppered in Santa Barbara Daisies in this photo) would be great instead of your traditional yard.


A drive lined in sentries of cedars and lavender is heart stoppingly beautiful. The cedars we have are far too big for the property and our McMini, so we will be ripping them out, chipping them for mulch and replacing them with the smaller "Tiny Tower" versions and flanking each one of them in lavender.

Catmint makes a great alternative or addition to lavender, as Erin showed in these stunning photos last week at the garden party.

via Erin's Art & Garden

I love the stone walls and stairs -- I wish I could have a tiered yard!

Pea gravel pathways are beautiful, and will definitely wind through Museville.

via John Saladino

The Guest House backyard will look very similar to this -- I love the simplicity. Beautiful. A cup of coffee, the paper, sea breezes and the songs of the birds -- does it get any better?

Well, if it were designed by the dynamic duo of Giannetti Architecture and Interiors , then yes, I think it could get better - this property designed by the Giannettis was featured on Brooke's blog, Velvet and Linen, and it absolutely takes my breath away.

via Velvet and Linen

Equally stunning in casual layouts...

... or more formal.

Giannetti Architecture and Interiors. via Velvet and Linen

Waiting for you at the end of the newly laid paths in Museville will be a bench to curl up in. A place to sit and read, have your coffee, or just drink in the view and the gorgeous weather.

Doesn't get any better in my book.

Yep, sounds ... and looks ... like heaven to me.

Be sure to go by Arties and see what's going on in his garden world and who else has joined this week's Share a garden Sunday!

Optical Illusions in Museville ...

I've had a great time for the last 2 hours at Home Depot playing with the boys in the paint department -- They love a good challenge and when they see me coming, they know they are going to get one.

We broke out the toys -

Tested, talked, tested, mixed ....

Bystanders jumped into the game, and put in their two cents -- We went around in a big circle, ending where we started -- with my idea.
I think it can work...

The canvas stands at its ready...


And the toys are all set to play...

Stay tuned. For now I have to run to Temecula and meet a man about a dog that all is part of the unfolding dream. The curtain will be opened and all revealed for you to see very, very soon!

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Have a wonderful weekend, and I will have much to share with and show you on Monday!

xo

The Garden Blooms in its own Good Time... Not Mine.

I'm a list maker

- a planner -

and all that preplanning rarely matters

because in the end,

things happen in their own good time

with

or

without

you.

I shared the dreams of my future store with you and thought in my neatly laid out plans, it would be good to start that up after Museville was finished. Well... my dreams don't want to wait, they want to start now, and the powers that be are making that clear. I can no longer ignore the signs and opportunities- So, the store isn't starting as a finished project after all. It, like Museville, is off and running as a work in progress with a mind of its own.

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I better keep up.

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So much has happened in these past few days - but for now, I'll just say that a beautiful soul has just joined me within my garden of dreams, and with her comes an instant connection, friendship, goats, glass, and beauty.

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Lots and lots of beauty

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... Knock, knock...

that's my dream knocking,

I best go and answer that door.

~*~

Photos 1 & 2- Giuseppe Toscano photo 3 - Klaas Tuin.

Sweet Details...

I really couldn't wait until all I had left around here were the small details. My house will then truly be a home.

~ and it's getting closer ~

at least outside.

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Wasp traps never looked so good.

What's a yard and garden without a dinner bell?

The birds need dinner, too, and they can now eat in style.


Princes of the Flower Pots need to be adorned properly

and tablecloths need to stay on the tables, not dancing off with the wind...

When the sun begins its nightly descent, candlelight stands ready...

And to welcome eventide, twinkle lights of warm white peek out from the trees --

Someone needs to cut up my credit card

-- but it's so difficult not to use, especially with temptations such as these...

little garden details

that make such

a

beautiful

difference.

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The coming of Museville - coming along indeed.

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photos and goods from cox & cox

Strong Willed Gardens

I took these photos through the window from inside the Main House -

This is my view from my desk where I blog.

I see much that needs tending --

but I also see much beauty within this wild and overgrown little garden that has been woefully left to its own accord.

When we moved in, I threw these plants into this bed as a temporary housing, to be distributed to other destinations later, but I'm thinking now that I'm going to keep almost everything there. With a little pruning and some additional plants, it will be a done deal. It has been completely ignored and neglected while we have been spread thin working on other areas of Museville, and yet, it managed to turn into a thing of wild beauty on its own.

You have to love that sort of spirit.

The beautiful purple blooms of the Pride of Maderia have faded and they as well as the mexican feather grasses are going to seed. I need to cut them back. I see that they are taking out the galvanized metal and shell tea candle lantern -

I also see another project I want to take on -- I'd like to jack hammer (read: Poor Tired Husband) that walkway out and replace it with pea gravel and maybe some flagstone stepping stones ... hmm... I wish sometimes I could shut my mind down - everything is always a potential project to this brain of mine.

The grey silvery-green is some sort of juniper and is spreading nicely and I think that it is turning into the perfect ground cover -- its little popcorn flowers are sweet and I love the burnished yellow hue. The existing plants just needs some minor work.




I wish it hadn't started raining, because I'm in the mood to get in there and give the little garden the attention it so deserves...




The oleanders up by the street are beginning to fill back out and recover from the hack-job the tree service did on them a few months ago. Poor things -- but they are hearty and will be nice and bushy soon enough. I'm still contemplating what to do to the actual yard, especially with the water crisis here ... more on the yard later.



A Cecile Brunner or Paul's Musk Rose will climb this post and drape over the porch and I need to give some thought as to what I want to still plant... maybe a run to the nursery today will spur on some ideas. Any excuse is good enough to high-tail it over there and spend an afternoon perusing plants...



But for now, I'm going to enjoy the rain, and curl up with a cappuccino and a good book.

xo isa