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Take the indoors out, and the outdoors in

The stonework is a signature style of Logie Cassell's design work at The Chester Gardener. Outside art is very hot right now, as is natural, green boxwood hedging to frame your area.

Not much beats the pastime of gardening in the summer. Whether your gardening space is big or small, the ultimate goal is still the same: to create a tranquil, uncluttered green space to relax in.

Logie Cassells and Anne MacDonald, owners of the award-winning garden design company The Chester Gardener, and Gregory and D’Arcy Morris-Pultney, owners of the Halifax Hydrostone garden shop Topiary, teamed up to design this wonderful backyard living space.

D'Arcy Morris-Pultney, of Topiary, built the shelving, furniture and overhead rain-and-UV-protective pergola. Tasteful, colourful accents brighten up the neutral palette. The lanterns match the cushions, and the bright pinks and orange picks up the cedar wood. It is a very coordinated space without being busy or junky.

The folks at Topiary believe that the garden is a showplace, one to be looked at from an artistic perspective, and one to be enjoyed from a natural perspective. Our friends at The Chester Gardener stress the importance of creating a space you really, really enjoy being in. This season, it’s all about creating a space much like any other room in your house—only outside! If you close your backyard in from the outside world, you can create your very own outdoor living room. Think simple, funky and functional, all at the same time.

The deck divides the two sections of the backyard. Because the feeling is all about living outdoors, really invest in your outdoor accessories and create a space you can spend a lot of time in. People say the season is short around here, but you can easily extend your outside time into autumn!

Goose Island Fashions and Interiors of Bedford created a lovely garden room to compliment the outdoor living space, bringing a bit of the outside in to enjoy any time of year! The pretty seaside colours are light and airy, making you feel like you’re outside. With so many neutrals, blacks and browns today, the bright colours are a nice alternative, and extremely uplifting.

A little oasis from the world outside is just what everyone needs. Sit and read some gardening books or just relax and sip on a glass of wine. •

Goose Island Fashions and Interiors brings the outdoors in with this lovely garden room.

These rooms are part of the eighth Designer Showcase home in support of Kids Help Phone, that transformed one Halifax home into a magnificent work of art. Teams of interior designers, decorators and landscape artists worked their magic on 29 different spaces to create a truly unique masterpiece.
(www.designershowcasekidshelpphone.org)