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Domestic Goddess Rebecca Teagarden

Domestic Goddess

Flowers. Gardens. Flowers and gardens. It's what we do here in the growing-zone-rich Northwest. And what many of us do as part of our boomer evolution revolution, according to design guru Dorothy Kalins.

As Metropolitan Home magazine's founding editor, and former editor of Saveur and Garden Design, she knows. These days Kalins is contributing editor at Newsweek. So, really, she's sort of a social anthropologist with circulation numbers.

We were chatting recently, and she had gobs to say about the 32,217,944 of us born between 1946 and 1954. For starters, we were against a whole lot more than we were for: the establishment, the Vietnam War and our parents' boring, materialistic values. She says the design in our houses and the fern bars we prowled was far more than decoration; it was an act of defiance: We're not like them!

Our style, like tribal patterns, was a new way to recognize each other: Oh! You're hip, like me. Through more than two decades, adaptable boomers used style as an ideology.

And now? We are sitting pretty on $3.5 trillion worth of home equity! Imagine.

Kalins had lots to tell me. Stay tuned for part deux in April's Architecture issue.

Made in the shade

Welcome to this, the 51st year of Terence Conran design.

Kalins credits Conran with whisking the boomers forever away from the telephone cable-spool as dining table and into a life of clean, clear, precise design. Pieces from Conran are functional, like the cable-spool table, and elegant, unlike the cable-spool table (unless you are a lineman for the county).

So let us begin our flower-and-garden journey with some outdoor loveliness from the Conran Shop: Sit beneath beautiful leafy shadows and out of the sun's wrinkle-inducing rays with the Shady Lace Parasol in either grass green or white. The big bumbershoot (span is just over 7 feet) is laser cut into a pattern of foliage that casts shadows of branches and leaves. You're sitting under an umbrella, but it feels like a tree. A gold-colored bird finial perches on top. The parasol ($350), designed by Chris Kabel for Droog Design, is polyester and sits upon a wood pole stand ($85), sold separately. Check it out at www.conran.com.

Don't forget to water the dog

Switching now to an item of complete frivolity, might I suggest a shrub in the shape of a dog for your yard?

Canine topiaries. That's right, purebred dogs made out of leaves. One can select from small and big breeds (18 inches to 27 inches). So you can easily add a little personality to a patio, perennial border or front door by way of "the expressive media of wire and sphagnum moss," as the firm of In The Company of Dogs puts it. No green thumb is required, and they won't chew up your shoes. The hedge dogs arrive ready to grow in the form of a poodle, Jack Russell terrier, schnauzer, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, pug, Chihuahua, dachshund and scottie. The company's buyer tells me they are quite popular. Each comes in a sturdy metal frame that is rust-resistant with a double-epoxy powder coating. Small dogs are $119 each. Bigger breeds are $149.

Hey, they kind of grow on you.

Check them out at www.inthecompanyofdogs.comor call 1-800-544-4595 to request a catalog.

And now for the practical portion of our programming. Hot and cold running water — outdoors. We didn't have this before? Dur! (Please smack forehead now in shock and mild disgust.) And then let us say thank you Moen for finally thinking of it.

The outdoor spigot ($64 for the 8-inch, $68 the 12-inch) works with one handle that delivers both hot and cold water, just like your kitchen faucet. Rinse off muddy feet, fill the kiddies' pool, wash the dog. One simply pulls on the faucet to adjust water flow, then turns the handle to get just the right temperature. The frost-free design protects the cartridge from freezing during a cold snap. Also, an anti-siphon feature keeps outdoor water separate from the indoor water supply. The finish is chrome-plated. Moen products are sold at all the usual-suspect stores. See the faucets at www.moen.com.

The Domestic Goddess can be reached at pacificnw@seattletimes.com.

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