John and Suzanne Pitts bought a small RV and traveled six months and 16,000 miles through the Western Territories of Canada and Alaska in 2013. At the same time, they were researching a new place to build and settle down for what might be called a second retirement. The Pacific Northwest was tucked in the […]
décor
Posted inHome
Extending the Home to the Outdoors
Outdoor living spaces for cooking and relaxing are gaining popularity in West Sound. Custom homes are being built with these spaces in mind during the design phase, while owners of existing homes are adding them when time and budgets allow. “Everybody likes outdoor spaces when the weather’s nice, especially on the waterfront,” says Judy Gates, […]
Posted inGarden
The Magic of Fletcher Bay Gardens
The garden of Nick and Marj Masla represents the best of the lives of the Masla family. This beautiful garden is the culmination of three decades of growing a passion for flowers, creating a retreat, building businesses tied to the bounty of the garden and nurturing a family with strong ties to the land. The […]
Posted inHome
A Sparkling Boathouse
In the search for a new home, the owner found one that had a picturesque but deteriorating boathouse attached to a rickety pier. Who knows how much that influenced his purchase of the home, but that bit of history from the 1930s was of great interest to him. Twenty-four years later, after several phases of […]
Posted inAt Home
How to Make a Decorative Container with a Terracotta Flower Pot
Terracotta pots are probably the most commonly used type of planter. Garden centers, nurseries, craft stores and any retailer that sells gardening supplies also carries terracotta planters. They are popular for their burnt orange color and natural look. If you want terracotta but don’t want them to all look the same, you can easily transform […]
Posted inHome
Creative Tablescape Competition Winners 2018
This year, WestSound Magazine magazine received an abundance of creative tablescapes. The choices were all wonderful — but our tablescape judges, Linna Lawrence and Tami Blacknall, made the difficult decisions! Thank you to all who took the time to submit their tablescapes. Thank you to our judges for their time and expertise. Congratulations to our […]
Posted inGardeners Corner
How to Create a ‘Living’ Wall from Guttering
Editor’s note: This blog post is an adapted excerpt from Max McMurdo’s “Upcycling Outdoors” book, which explains the basic of good outdoor design using scrap items, and includes a variety of step-by-step projects. When you have limited outdoor space, it’s great to create as many planting opportunities as you can. Vertical planting, intended to produce […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Driven by Design, Inspired by Nature
Theresa Stirling’s studio is a quiet sanctuary in a loft above her garage, a place between the earth and sky where serendipity joins inspiration. She takes mind-clearing breaks by walking in her yard, paddle boarding along Hood Canal or perhaps chatting with her chickens. Her art is spiritual, ethereal and subtle, whether she creates a […]
Posted inHome
How One of the World’s Greenest Homes Came to Be
Walking into Heron Hall on Bainbridge Island is like ambling into a laboratory of building sustainability. Almost everything you eye, touch or feel in this lovely 3,000-square-foot experimental home of Jason and Tracy McLennan is salvaged, reused or repurposed. Take the front entrance. The massive, hand-carved door is from Afghanistan and is more than 50 […]