HOME & DESIGN:

We live in a fast-paced world and sometimes we just need to slow down. You can’t always take a vacation, but you can take a break, right where you live. Moments of peace and serenity can be as close as your back door. Here are some ways to create your own peaceful haven in your own backyard.

Wish you could improve the lighting in your home without bringing in a construction crew? Here’s your solution.

Whether you spend time in your East End home during the summer season or all year round, privacy is probably important to you. And it seems harder to come by all the time. There’s more traffic on the roads. The quiet of a weekend morning is often shattered by whining leaf blowers and buzzing lawnmowers. The right landscaping can give you more privacy. Plants can serve the same purpose as a fence or high wall, but they can do it in a softer, more attractive way.

Kitchen countertops are changing. Moving away from high-maintenance granite and marble, more designers are turning to composite materials made of crushed stone bonded with resin. Whenever she has a client who does a lot of cooking and entertaining, Elyse Parkhurst, who with her business partner Caitlin Flynn, forms the design team at North Fork Design Co., recommends doing the kitchen islands and countertops in engineered stone.

“Concerning the difficult question of color, once wrote Edith Wharton, it is safe to say that the fewer colors used in a room, the more pleasing and restful the result will be.” More than a century  later, the question remains as vexed and contentious as ever. No wonder so many of us take refuge in the comfort of neutrals, those reassuring earth tones that are the equivalent of a soothing murmur.

Have we got an eyeful for you! The twelve room manse of Cutchogue Presbyterian was redecorated by a new roster of interior designers. The next door neighbor, Jessica Lee, invited the Committee to use her large red 19th century barn, covered outdoor seating area with charm to die for, hoop house and primitive potting shed.

Vines are seldom the stars of the garden or landscape, but  they play important supporting roles in many successful landscapes. Vines enhance the focal points and features of the garden, and in the right location at the right time of year can have their chance to shine, too.  You might choose a flowering perennial climber such as clematis or trumpet creeper or climbing roses to bring glorious color to the garden for several weeks in spring or summer, year after year.

Architect Maziar Behrooz says that to create an extraordinary building, you need to take something away. With the $149,000 insta_House, he’s put that precept into stylish practice.

Commencing on August 14th, the North Fork Designer Show House will once again open its doors. For more than three weeks, the North Fork will be treated to fun, food, and flair. The idea to do this came from seven friends who got together one day, and realized they all wanted to do some type of event for the community...

It’s time to savor the warm weather and glorious sunsets of summertime on the East End. After the seemingly endless bitter cold and snow we endured here this past winter, it’s time to unleash our inner beach bum. One way to make the most of summer this year, even when you’re not at the beach, is to create your own little tropical paradise at home.