Our indoor/outdoor design, down to the last fruit tree

As we enter year two of Homeward, here’s what I’ve learned about what you’re looking for—based on posts you’ve opened/engaged with and your comments and emails:

• Home/cooking/food product sourcing tips and deep dives

• Personal essays about topics like navigating renovations with my husband Tad or making a big change in my life

• A place to share your own opinions and experiences around everything home-related

Anything important that I’ve missed? Please tell me in the comments. In the meantime, here’s what I have planned for the next few months:

• Detailed new updates on the house renovation (kitchen layout and storage, laundry features, millwork detail, textiles!)

• Deep dives on the home essentials (and some non-essentials) I’ve purchased so far (+ a place where you can see all my home product sourcing in one spot)

• More seasonal recipes and recipe videos

• An inside look at the new business I’m starting; it centers around the home

• Two other exciting projects; for one of them, I’d love to hear more about your own homes and renovations

Sound good? If not, tell me why. I want to know! And for those considering an annual subscription to Homeward, snag a 15% discount—only until Sunday, April 5—through this special link. Now back to regular programming…

I learned last week that a lot of people in Ojai keep their washer and dryer outside. This blew my mind. I know that California is known for its indoor/outdoor lifestyle, but running a washing machine outdoors seems so radical. Maybe a little weird, too, even if it does save a room in the house.

Or is it just that people would do pretty much everything outside if they could? Many people wax on about sleeping outside under the stars. Others, like Tad, crave an outdoor shower in summer. People love cooking and eating outside. There are those who enjoy going to the bathroom in the woods. And especially peeing in the snow. Are houses merely a construct? Is that what Californians have been telling us all along?

As Brooklynites with a narrow terrace that’s been commandeered by pigeons, we knew nothing about outdoor living. And yet, we were insistent that our Ojai house emphasize an indoor/outdoor layout. Sometimes if you don’t know better, just jump in the deep-end and figure out how to swim.

Or wear swimmies: with Bestor as our architect, Terremoto heading up the landscape, and Reath Design overseeing the outdoor cooking area and furnishings, we were in great hands. Bestor has designed lots of homes with outdoor spaces and large openings between the interiors and the exterior living areas. (This house, also by Bestor, enamors me.)

The house we bought had two main features on the back half of the property: a 1,000-square-foot roofed terrace, containing an outdoor kitchen on an upper level and a seating area and stone fireplace on a lower level, with a swimming pool further down. In between and all around were lots of flowers, boulders, and trees.

We had a full acre of land to work with, and by the time we were ready to do the landscape, it was an acre of dead plants, vines attacking trees, rats’ nests, and a crumbling pool. Here’s a video of the evolution: ...