Garden Transformation + New Art Studio

Turning my childhood home into our forever home

One of the first projects we dove into, when we moved into my childhood home, was to take out a huge circular driveway and carport and replace those areas with an Art Studio and gardens.

We now park in an area carved out of the center of the old circular drive (inside our 'rhody garden') and walk into the house through a lovely little trail under the arching branches of tall rhododendrons. Our few extra steps take us beside camellias and an enormous old mossy stump, and opens up into views of Puget Sound and the soothing sounds of our little waterfall.

It's amazing how much real estate (and view space) used to be allotted to cars! But, unlike loads of folks, cars aren't important to us - ours are old, ugly and for getting us around and hauling stuff - so having them out in the elements is no biggie and having to walk a bit to get into the house is simply chalked up to exercise!

The transformation of space is beyond my wildest dreams. I wake up each morning, grab a cup of coffee, walk into my gorgeous Art Studio with views to Puget Sound on one side, gardens and forest opposite, and our stunning new pond in front of me, and am truly inspired.

And yes, I keep pinching myself!

Huge thanks to:

Mark The Pond Guy for building our pond
Harrison Homes, LLC for building my new art studio

Sunrises are spectacular and each is different!

Oh so much space for gardens! And we’ve only just begun.

Here’s what it looked like when we moved in:

Our Serenity Garden has transformed the old driveway and blackberry-infused juniper

A portion of our new perennial garden and paths where the old driveway used to be

Featured

Hi, I’m Beverly

I’m passionate about inspiring women to think outside the box, unearth their inner vibrancy, and surround themselves with colors that make them feel alive and hopeful!

Be Bold. Be Vibrant. Be YOU!

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Come into my home and Garden:

Featured

Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Building our Art Studio - old materials made new

Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Going for soft, beachy neutrals in my new Art Studio: a Beach Cottage look. Come take a peek at how we repurposed materials to add to the charm

Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Art Studio and Pond - Changing Light

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Oh the light! Come be awed by the beauty of nature reflected in our new pond

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Wearable Art, Nuno Felt, Home and Garden Tour, Mastering Color, Using Color, How to use Color in Art

What Colors are you Dreaming of?

Wearable Art, Nuno Felt, Home and Garden Tour, Mastering Color, Using Color, How to use Color in Art

Wherever you are in your creative process, here are some color inspirations that I hope will inspire you with an extra pop of color to make your compositions glow.

Wearable Art, Nuno Felt, Home and Garden Tour, Mastering Color, Using Color, How to use Color in Art

Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Garden, Come into my Studio

Come into my Art Studio

Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Garden, Come into my Studio

Gorgeous views surround my new Art Studio. Come take a look

Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Garden, Come into my Studio

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Garden Transformation + New Art Studio

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Turning my childhood home into our forever home. Take a peek at the transformation from old carport and driveway into a stunning Art Studio and Pond

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Studio

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Watching our Pond Being Built

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Our amazing pond by Mark The Pond Guy - what an awe-inspiring process! I though you’d like to come along and watch it being built

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Using Color, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Garden, Colorful Products, How to use Color in Art, Mastering Color

Using Color in the Garden

Using Color, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Garden, Colorful Products, How to use Color in Art, Mastering Color

Tour through my gardens of color and draw inspiration for painting, fiber art and floral bouquets

Using Color, Home and Garden Tour, Come into my Garden, Colorful Products, How to use Color in Art, Mastering Color

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, The Art of Creating Joy, Using Color

My pot addiction

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, The Art of Creating Joy, Using Color

Large pots are a fabulous way to provide focal points in a cottage garden

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, The Art of Creating Joy, Using Color

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Using Color, Mastering Color, Celebrate Colors of Joy, Color Goddess inside you, How to use Color in Art

Come Into My Garden

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Using Color, Mastering Color, Celebrate Colors of Joy, Color Goddess inside you, How to use Color in Art

Whatever medium you dip your brush into, allow the Color Goddess inside you to play! Turning an empty palette into colorful gardens

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour, Using Color, Mastering Color, Celebrate Colors of Joy, Color Goddess inside you, How to use Color in Art

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

A bit about pond maintenance – learning as we go

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

I'm beginning to think there's three types of backyard ponds with three different goals and types of upkeep… of course we opted for the highest maintenance

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Amending the Soil

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

When we moved in and began digging, we soon determined that the old, tired garden soil was not only sandy, but in many areas, hydro-phobic (wouldn’t absorb water). Enter in 72 yards of compost

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Touring NW Perennial Alliance Gardens

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Touring private gardens in the NW Perennial Alliance

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

An Open Canvas - creating a garden

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

My home and gardens are an open canvas - come walk with me through our acre of gardens waiting to happen

Spending time outdoors, Come into my Garden, Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Colorful Products, Come into my Studio, Using Color, Mastering Color

Influenced by other cultures

Colorful Products, Come into my Studio, Using Color, Mastering Color

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

A dinner of artichokes and ratatouille from my garden

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Artichokes and ratatouille from my garden

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Adding Drip Irrigation - after the fact

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Better late than never - drip irrigation inspired by the Bellevue Botanical Garden watering system

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Putting in a Water Feature

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Loads upon loads of compost – I’m digging, hauling, dumping, spreading until my back and knees and hips are screaming in pain. But of course, as the days pass, I’m getting into the rhythm and all of a sudden the structure of a garden appears. Is this a pond?

Come into my Garden, Home and Garden Tour

Come into my Garden

Starting seedlings

Come into my Garden

I’m potting up seedlings grown under a grow-light in our entryway.

Come into my Garden

Home and Garden Tour

Fungi Friends

Home and Garden Tour

When my son comes to visit, we walk slowly through the trails of the Ash Family Forest looking for interesting mushrooms and fungi

Home and Garden Tour

Come into my Garden, Art and Words, Living Joyfully, Being Mindful

Earth Sleeps

Come into my Garden, Art and Words, Living Joyfully, Being Mindful

Earth sleeps under a coat of diamonds

Come into my Garden, Art and Words, Living Joyfully, Being Mindful

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Preserving our forest

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

I grew up around these trees, running through the forest barefoot with friends, crawling under huckleberry bushes to make camps

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Building Habitat in the Forest

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Smaller branches and thinned logs make great Critter Piles in our Ash Family Forest

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Making Trails

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

We are creating trails through our forest just large enough for our ATV, chipper and other forest-management gear. In keeping with our motto of staying close to the earth, all trails are built by hand.

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

A Day in the Ash Family Forest

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Another day working in the Ash Family Forest and thinking this would have been easier if I was 30 again!

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

Working in the Forest

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour

All of the trails through our forest are created by hand, but this new cart my hubby built (along with our new ATV) will make dragging all of the tools into the forest so much easier!

Ash Family Forest, Home and Garden Tour