Spring's Arrival

I think we had a day, last week, or maybe it was the week before that felt like spring had finally arrived in west central Minnesota. It was the day that we got out the rake and the blower to get rid of the leaves that winter had re-deposited on the lawn, we hooked up the outdoor hoses and we finally set the patio furniture out on the deck. A few buckets and baskets of flowers got planted and hung; a bit of grass seed got scattered in the front yard - all that salt and sand from winter did a number on the front lawn.

Then I sat down and started planning my summer garden projects. You know the ones I'm talking (well dreaming anyway) about...the gorgeous cedar pergola, the stone fireplace with the reclaimed wood mantel, the flagstone patio with a fabulous water feature, the cottage flower garden used just for cut flowers that dot every room in the house, the herb and salad garden that I harvest from just before dinner each night. But on my limited sized city lot, I have to be a little more realistic in my dreams of the ideal garden. I have the not so unique problem of limited space and budget coupled with unlimited ideas. But everyone needs a little oasis (or two) to retreat to in summer and one of mine is definitely the backyard.

Let's just say there's some "screening" I'd like to do between the back deck and the awesome view of my neighbor's "collection" of non-working motorized and non-motorized items - no less than three small fishing boats, two ice houses and an unusually large collection of paint buckets for a guy who doesn't paint for a living. So I am planning a privacy fence or wall or trellis to screen those lovely items from my view of our beautiful summer sunsets in the western sky.

While working on articles for our upcoming June/July issue, I've gleaned a few ideas on these topics of outdoor rooms and screening for privacy. We hope you'll get some inspiration from them as well.


Jan Ellis
Editor
Lake and Home Magazine
Email me at janeteellis@live.com

To subscribe to Lake and Home Magazine CLICK HERE

More Thoughts on Taking Your Exteriors To the Next Level

This Pelican Lake home boasts an impressive series of catwalks to and from the property.

In the April/May issue of Lake and Home Magazine, we did an article on custom railings - both interior and exterior. For me, one of the most fascinating exterior photos we saw was of a series of catwalks built by Lands End Development on a Pelican Lake property that allowed the homeowners to "level out" a clearly undulating landscape and add significant architectural detail to their entire property.  

Unsure about the specifics in building this particular home, when I saw the photos for the article it got me thinking about how many other similarly situated lots may have benefited from a similar and equally interesting solution.  Frankly, my reaction to the photo was "that's awesome".  I've always been a fan of homes, especially lake homes - more like compounds - that seem like they've been built up over time with multiple buildings connected by walkways, breezeways, bridges etc.   Maybe its because they feel like "summer camp" to me.

Build-able lots here in "lakes country" can come at a premium and using a bit of imagination can help a seemingly difficult lot realize its full potential to become something architecturally interesting.  So I set out, as I often do, on a web search to find a few inspiring examples to share.

Traditional Exterior by Kerrville Architect Paddle Creek Design

Contemporary Exterior by Palo Alto Architect Stoecker and Northway Architects, Inc.

Traditional Exterior by Seattle Architect Dan Nelson, Designs Northwest Architects

Modern Entry by Spokane Architect Uptic Studios

Contemporary Exterior by Seattle Architect Clinkston Architects

Contemporary Entry by Falls Church Architect Coupard Architects and Builders

There are as many solutions as there are lots.  From contemporary to modern to traditional architecture - whether your lot is on the lake and no matter where you call home, a challenging lot presents great opportunity for you to design a unique solution and take your home to the next level.  

We hope our pages continue to bring you inspiration. Please share your inspiration with us on our Facebook page or visit us on Pinterest to see even more ideas.


Jan Ellis
Editor
Lake and Home Magazine
Email me directly at janeteellis@live.com

To subscribe to Lake and Home Magazine Click here

April / May Issue on Newsstands Now

Our April/May issue is on newsstands (or your coffee table) now!

We are excited to bring you three gorgeous homes along with some pretty unique pendant lights, a great selection of outdoor furniture, some amazing custom interior railings and an article on lake lifts.  Who wouldn't love an elevator at the lake?

We've also got information on growing tree fruits in our area and everyone's favorite shade plant, the very versatile hosta.

I'm one of those folks who absolutely loves to garden.

Well, to be honest, I love having a garden.  Maybe not so much "gardening".  The hard parts of gardening such as soil preparation, planting, pruning, weeding and transplanting admittedly aren't as much fun as the planning, watching, cutting and harvesting.  Nonetheless, I still flip through all the gardening catalogs as they arrive this time of year and turn the pages over on those that look interesting (and would actually grow in my zone 3 space).  I'm willing that big pile of snow to melt and reveal that patch of grass in the front of the house that's begging me to put in a perennial garden this summer.  It faces south and is unencumbered by shade so my options are pretty open.  I'll be planning for a least a few more weeks until the ground thaws.  Meantime, I'll be referring to my back issues of Lake and Home for inspiration.

We hope our pages continue to bring you inspiration. Please share your inspiration with us on our Facebook page or visit us on Pinterest to see more ideas.



Jan Ellis
Editor
Lake and Home Magazine
Email me directly at janeteellis@live.com


To subscribe to Lake and Home Magazine Click here

Spring Emerging

The view out my windows just a few short weeks ago

Our Spring appears to be slowly emerging from underneath its frosty white blanket. Folks are beginning to talk about the opening of the resorts and we in the lakes areas of Minnesota are beginning to think about opening the lake cabins and getting them ready for summer.

One of the best things about Spring is being able to take off the layers.  To imagine running to the store without grabbing your bulky winter coat, your gloves, a hat, an extra pair of boots, a blanket in case you get stuck...you get the idea.  After a long winter such as we've had, Spring just seems "easier" and now that the snow has begun to melt, people seem willing to discuss the possibilities.

Our April/May issue is filled with possibilities and is on its way to you as I post this entry.  We've got a few award winning hostas picked out as well as some really unique pendant lighting.  We've got fruit trees and patio furniture ideas as well as a few great ideas for custom interior railings.  The feature homes in this issue are pretty amazing and all of them have great ideas for your next project.

I was out in the Henning / Vining / Clitherall area early one morning this week and this fabulous old schoolhouse (or is it a church?) caught my eye. When I see places like this I imagine their possibilities.

I inherited my love of these types of buildings from my dad, a local watercolor landscape artist who often rode around on the "country roads" looking for these types of buildings to shoot and then use for inspiration in his work.  I look at them differently - mostly because my artistic talents do not include the ability to paint or draw - and I see a rehab project.

I see a beautiful cobblestone paver path through a lush perennial garden leading my guests up to that front door.  I see a reclaimed bell in that tower and I just know, never having been inside, that the timber and wood floors in this place are worth refinishing.  I see a new roof, perhaps metal, new but reproduction windows and I just know that that chimney must lead to a newly revitalized field stone fireplace.  I see "open concept living" at its best in this one room building.

We hope our pages continue to bring you inspiration. Please share your inspiration with us on our Facebook page or visit us on Pinterest to see more ideas.



Jan Ellis
Editor
Lake and Home Magazine
Email me directly at janeteellis@live.com


To subscribe to Lake and Home Magazine Click here

Looking Forward

All set for a winter picnic

This week we were putting the final touches on the April/May issue of Lake and Home magazine, when our area got hit with what seemed to me to be the worst weather of our very long winter. They weren't our coldest days and certainly not the most snow we've gotten at any one time but it still feels like it was a pretty bad storm. I'm pretty sure the never ending snow this year is whats making every storm seem worse than the last. Seriously, just how many times should you have to shovel the driveway and sidewalk in a single winter?

Like most Minnesotans, I start thinking Spring somewhere around the 10th or 15th of March. And boy am I ready for it. The garden catalogs have begun arriving in the mail, local seasonal ice cream/drive-in type places that shutter their doors for winter have opened and the word "daffodil" has begun to be bandied about.

Freshly fallen snow near Phelps Mill

Despite all that, I'm pretty sure I won't be seeing any daffodils poking their pretty little yellow heads out of the ground anytime soon. They've got several feet of snow to push through at this point. We happen to live in town on a small lot and have had quite a time trying to figure out where all that snow goes and how high we really can pile it up.  The tallest pile is well over seven feet with several smaller five foot high piles surrounding it. If you squint, you can make it seem like mountains...but its just mountains of snow. We can only hope for a slow melt when it does begin so as to avoid an unpermitted swimming pool in the basement.

For now, a mere couple of days into Spring, we have dug our way out from nature's latest gift and are ready to face whatever the rest of the month brings weather wise.

We are off to the surrounding lakes today to snap a few winter photos to share with those of you who winter somewhere warm.  Meantime, we've got the April/May issue wrapped up and soon on its way to you. We are looking forward to your feedback and comments.

Yours truly,

Jan Ellis
Editor
Lake and Home Magazine
Email me directly at janeteellis@live.com

Feb/March 2013 From The Editor

It is said that the way you spend your New Year's Eve is indicative of what the New Year will bring.  If that is true I may require an intervention this year.  I spent my New Year's watching hours on end of Rehab Addict on DIY TV.  The star of the show, Nicole Curtis, is my idol.  I want to grow up to be just like her.

You're probably thinking "what a loser...nothing better to do on New Year's Eve."  I would have gone out.  I had opportunities.  What I didn't have was  a car.  A teenage son with a driver's license, a far-away girlfriend and no car of his own translated to being housebound.  It's his fault.  He's an enabler.

Deep breath... I am ready to confess.  "I am a rehab addict."  There, I said it.

And as a rehab addict this is the creed I live by.  Repeat after me if you, too, are ready to admit your compulsions.

The Twelve Steps of Rehab Addicts Everywhere
1. We are powerless over our desire to rehab.
2. We know a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity, but why?
3. We have decided to devote our lives to Lake and Home Magazine, DIY, HGTV and other media sources of similar nature.
4. We will commit to taking inventory to find what needs t be fixed or remodeled.
5. We will admit to ourselves and the staff of Home Depot the exact nature of our shortcomings in do-it-yourself.
6. We are entirely ready to educate ourselves on such things as grouting, taping, and tiling.
7. We will humbly review our budgets to accomplish it.
8. We will create a list of changes we hope to make.
9. We will make plans to improve wherever possible, except when doing so threatens to put us in the poor house.
10. We will continue to review said list and amend as necessary.
11. Through intense study we will improve our knowledge and strive for the courage to carry those plans out.
12. Having had an awakening of sorts as the result of the above steps, I personally will do my best to carry this message to readers everywhere.

That last one was for me.

My New Year's resolution is to find a rustic cabin on a lake.  "Rustic" is a code word for falling apart and within my budget.  With Lake and Home Magazine at my side, I will make it a showplace!

Contributing editor Sheri Davich lives in Pequot Lakes, MN.