Etta’s Studio
Featured materials: An old climbing rose, decomposed granite, sweet peas, our seed mix
Collaborators: Gabe, Walker, and Gage (who demolished and rebuilt a patio in 3 days), Momo, Sommer, Emily’s mom, the Bernal heights microclimate.
June 2024-Forever
When we walked into the back garden during our first viewing of what is now our studio office, we couldn’t believe the existing planting. A massive and healthy fig tree, 10 ft tall matilija poppies, well established meyer lemon tree, passion fruit vine, a colossal rose bush, the list went on. All thriving, without irrigation, tangled up in one another in the wake of what was clearly years and years of leaving the garden to its own devices. As we thought about the different shapes it could take, we tried to piece together what lives the garden had seen before us. There was an old chicken coop, dilapidated potting shed, many a cracked garden gnome, and some old dog toys. What was clear was that it was a space that was lived in, it was warm and resilient, and at this point, in wild disarray. For this project, we really saw it as an experiment in using as many found and repurposed materials as we could. It quickly became our DIY chaos project - using the small pockets of time we get between designing and installing and project managing for clients, to create a little space of our own. You can read more about our DIY studio process on our substack here.