Good Chi

Finding house harmony through the ancient architectural principles of Feng Shui

A huge Thank You to Richmond Magazine for highlighting my client's beautiful and sustainable Pollinator Garden and home in this month's issue. 

In this article, my client wanted the outside of her home to echo the thoughtfully designed interior.  We created a garden together that sings her unique song in concert with nature.  Her garden feels as good as it looks.  My client's delight and joy experiencing her garden is the goal of every design I create.

Richmond designer Wendell Welder helped plan a natural landscape that wouldn’t require mowing, blowing or chemicals. Low-maintenance hydrangea gardens complement natural meadows with wildflowers on the hillside.

“Nature reciprocated,” says O’Connor. “We have butterflies, bumblebees and hummingbirds. We have bald eagles that roost there, geese, deer, foxes. I’ve made friends with all the trees.”
Thanks to well-guided and personal planning, O’Connor says, every part of the house feels good.
“I see a lot of design that looks beautiful in a composed photo; however, when you go into the space, it doesn’t feel right,” she says. “What you can’t see is even more important than what you can see—the emotional and ethereal energies of a space and how you work in concert with them, for both its and your (own) highest, best expression.”

Immersive Landscape Design prioritizes how you FEEL as well as how your landscape looks...if you are interested in creating your own unique Garden, please contact me here.  If you would like to create your own Meadow-inspired Garden, you may download it here.  A gift from me to you!  

“What you can’t see is even more important than what you can see.”
— KRISTIN O’CONNOR

O’Connor says the dimensions of the living room were influenced by the style of circa 2011 Restoration Hardware’s Vanguard sectional sofa (since retired). “It’s better year after year with every nick, scratch and stain. This is an indestructible sectional you can live a real life on,” she says.

Indoor and outdoor elements meet at the pool, where a saltwater pool and fireplace nestled in the hill provide a fire-water balance topped by high-gabled roofs.

“The u-shape homes feel a bit retro,” she says. “It’s the perfect balance of elements there. It’s so elemental in its glory, with the water, the air and the earth all around.”

O’Connor initially wanted an infinity pool, but Bentley advised against it. “She said it would be like prosperity running away from the home, down the hill and into the water,” O’Connor says.

Richmond designer Wendell Welder helped plan a natural landscape that wouldn’t require mowing, blowing or chemicals. Low-maintenance hydrangea gardens complement natural meadows with wildflowers on the hillside.

“Nature reciprocated,” says O’Connor. “We have butterflies, bumblebees and hummingbirds. We have bald eagles that roost there, geese, deer, foxes. I’ve made friends with all the trees.”

Thanks to well-guided and personal planning, O’Connor says, every part of the house feels good.

“I see a lot of design that looks beautiful in a composed photo; however, when you go into the space, it doesn’t feel right,” she says. “What you can’t see is even more important than what you can see—the emotional and ethereal energies of a space and how you work in concert with them, for both its and your (own) highest, best expression.”

A collection of vintage pieces adds some zing to this outdoor bar area on a side patio. Covered baskets below provide hidden storage.

O’Connor says the sectional Platform One may not be designed for six lines, heavy rain or maintenance requirements and should be relocated. “But I wasn’t educated on proper configurations for this flexible seating sectional,” she says.

Story by: ANDERS J. LEE
Photography by: LAURA JONES
Styling by: KIP DAWKINS

Please read my other blog featuring Kristen’s home, Living in the Midst of Nature.