The Home, Before
With this project, I really wanted to highlight certain parts of the exterior, as well as add warmth to the home by incorporating more color and texture.
Above, my inspiration behind this Long Beach project. I wanted to bring a bit of old world charm along with California influences to the exterior. In order to do this I brought in antique light fixtures, a water feature and wonderful easy Southern California plants like the iceberg rose and agave.
Our first task was to paint the home (which required quite a few samples).
It worked out nicely because the neighbors next door to my client wanted to join in on the fun — so we were able to do both yards at the same time!
Beds are prepped and ready for plants & flagstone.
I found these beautiful lights at one of my favorite salvage stores. They came off of a Mediterranean estate in Beverly Hills and I knew they would be perfect for this project.
Before
After
We planted tons of water wise plants like orange kangaroo paw, purple salvia, blue fescue, iceberg rose, rosemary and agave. Once everything starts to grow in, the front yard will have tons of color and texture.
For me, it’s the little things that make me happy on a project, like when I found these amazing boulders that look like they’ve been plucked from the ocean.
We added red mandevilla, a vine, on either side of the garage that will eventually frame the garage, adding color, as well as soften the front of the home.
A water feature near the front door.
We placed two tall limestone planters on either side of the front door. Like most things, they’ll get prettier with age.
Before
After
Though it’s hard to tell in the photo because the plants are so young, in between all the flagstone is the ground cover – silver carpet – that will spread and add even more color and texture to the landscape.
I can’t thank the clients enough for being so wonderful to work with! I’m really looking forward to seeing this landscape mature over the years to come!
The Long Table 
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