Luxe checked in with three outdoor-savvy designers—Brigette Romanek, Caroline Gidiere and Kevin Spearman—to chat alfresco decor and inspiration.
PHOTO: YE RIN MOK
BRIGETTE ROMANEK / LOS ANGELES
Garden that left a mark: Monet’s flower garden in Giverny.
Best rugs for outdoor living: Ben Soleimani’s indoor/outdoor.
Sculpture in your dream oasis: Something by Richard Serra.
Favorite durable textiles: Rose Tarlow’s line for Perennials.
Furniture collection you’re loving now: The Belgian brand Tribù.
Favorite plant for foliage: Large olive trees.
Best hardscape material:Concrete or a gorgeous stone (one that doesn’t get too hot in the summer months).
Best decking material: A recycled composite, which doesn’t mold.
How to make a play structure elegant: Create a custom design in colors that blend with nature. For instance, instead of bright colored swings, choose colors that are soft and seamlessly blend in.
Go-to flower: Jasmine, for its sweet, warm romantic scent, which is like instant joy.
How to enjoy a garden year-round: With heaters, rugs, blankets, and lighting in the trees, as well as around the stumps and pathways. Add warm drinks and a fire.
PHOTO: DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO: MARIAH OLDACRE
CAROLINE GIDIERE / BIRMINGHAM
Chicest mosquito repeller: Large terra-cotta pots filled with lavender.
Dream alfresco lighting: Lum ‘Art Pétrole lanterns.
Collection you’re loving now: Aerin’s East Hampton Collection for Williams-Sonoma Home.
The key to simple but beautiful outside decor is: Parterre around looser flowering plants.
Set a hypothetical garden dinner party table: I start with bamboo flatware, rattan accessories and colorful printed cotton table linens. My favorites always end up being those from Amanda Lindroth, which I mix and match to coordinate with in-season flowers.
Go-to garden book: David Hicks: My Kind of Garden.
Best way to integrate a swimming pool: With grass up to the pool’s edge.
Landscape finishing touches: Pots filled with boxwood or white impatiens, foot lanterns for candles flickering in the evening and garden stools for a place to rest your drink. Ultimate shade solution: Hornbeam pleached like umbrellas, as on the patio of the French hotel, La Bastide de Gordes.
PHOTO COURTESY AIRELLES GORDES, LA BASTID
PHOTO: JONATHAN ZIZZO
KEVIN SPEARMAN / HOUSTON
Outdoor trends du jour: Large fire pits for small gatherings and simple, chic rectangular swimming pools.
Favorite patio planting: I love rosemary in flower beds. It also looks great (and smells wonderful) in terra-cotta pots placed atop a dining table.
Go-to furniture brand: David Sutherland—so chic and understated. The Plateau Daybed in particular is perfection, and the Franck Series is clean-lined and still classic.
Best off-the-market fire pit: RH.
Top plant for foliage: Bougainvillea for the unreal fuchsia color.
Ideal decking material: Peacock Pavers, a concrete product that we use indoors and run outside around the pool for seamless cohesiveness. Bonus: The maintenance is easy and forgiving.
Landscape architect you’d love to collaborate with: We’d love to work again with French landscape designer Jean Mus, who we did an amazing property with in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Every outdoor room needs: A rug, a blooming plant and fun pillows.
PHOTO: FRANCOIS HALARD
