Welcome to a dream outdoor patio situation that I had the honor to style and shoot a few weeks ago. If you think you recognize this it’s because it’s the outdoor space of the Bay House, built by the owners of ARCIFORM and Versatile Wood Products (Anne and Richard, respectively) and we showed a sneak peek last year here. Their creativity and genius in this particular house is what made us decide to hire them for our farmhouse. But when we originally shot the interiors (two years ago now) the outdoor furniture hadn’t arrived yet so we got to go back a few weeks ago (now that the weather was nice) and style it all out.
The inside of the house, designed by Anne, and styled by EHD, is so special. It’s an incredible home with so many design details and bold choices.
I know. It blew us away, too. So we were so excited to go back and see how we could show off the outside.
This was it before we furnished and styled it out (two years ago), featuring Richard and Anne, the owners (architect and designer). As you can see there is a lot of outdoor space and without any furniture, we couldn’t really shoot it (thus the reason for today).
So here is how it all went down: They were about to buy a lot of durable furniture and had chosen most from Room&Board, but it wasn’t going to be enough to fill their massive patio. So since I was on board to style and shoot it we needed more, I pitched Room&Board a larger partnership, knowing that their furniture was perfect for the space – not just stylistically but also when it comes to longevity and durability. So almost everything you see here is from Room&Board (just not the tabletop accessories, many of which you’ll recognize:)).
Wait, Where Is This House??
It’s on a bay on the Washington coast. They bought the land over 10 years ago and slowly built this house, using most of the wood from the trees that they fell on the property. It’s in a super remote area so getting subcontractors up there was extremely challenging (its 3 hours from Portland, an hour north of Astoria). But my goodness it’s stunning.
The Front Patio
The shape is so special and arresting. I have been here three times, but Kaitlin, Alyssa, and Gretchen were BLOWN away when we first pulled up. They had it stained dark since I was last here which I love so much. ARCIFORM doesn’t actually do new builds (they specialize in historic restorations) so the creativity and imagination to build this house floors me.
The Dining Area
Black Footed Planter | Bar Cart | Terra Cotta Planter | Ribbed Planter | Umbrella | Dining Table (x2) | Dining Chairs
I shopped for furniture that would be really appropriate here, stylistically – nothing too bohemian or traditional. Room&Board has a lot of contemporary, midcentury, and transitional styles that work so well here. We chose two long marble dining tables that are awesome since the space is so long (with one umbrella for when the sun comes out. These tables feel very heavy, in a good way – with marble on top of iron legs, these things will LAST. And yes, even outside. We paired them with these black and caned chairs because we loved the texture and color, but also they stack (they need to be stored because the winds are too nutty out there and they’ll blow them around in the winter, so stacking was key).
The stone on top is a honed gray stone that feels forgiving and super timeless. The texture of the caning on the chairs feels really elevated for outdoor chairs.
I brought in pops of warm pink, coppery tones, and a lot of green to style it all out.
Umbrella | Dining Table (x2) | Dining Chairs
If you are wondering about the flooring (me, too!) I asked Anne to tell me about it and here is what she said:
“We have a lot of elderly friends, so we were worried about them falling. We also like the perforated aluminum because it does not require maintenance and yes, Richard and I installed it with the help of the Arciform crew. Cons are that it is not nice to walk on it with your bare feet. But honestly, we rarely walk at the bay house in our bare feet as the floor surfaces are rough. The metal is also a bit reflective in the sun, which can be very bright. On the plus side, it reflects light into the interior space – brightening it up.”
Anne is from Northern Europe and I love her general non-conformity towards American design-isms. They use their resources in a more uninhibited way, with ideas that are far more sustainable but less conventional which I’ve always admired.
We styled with all Room&Board pots and bar cart (bringing in another color and tone with the dark coppery orange).
Black Footed Planter | Bar Cart | Ribbed Planters
We thought that the pop of this warm metal against the dark house was so pretty (and worked really well with the railing that they let patina (aka rust). The pots are a mix of fiberglass and ceramic, all from Room&Board.
The Bay Side Patio
This side of the house gets a lot of afternoon Western sun so Anne and Richard wanted some sun loungers, but they needed to be super heavy-duty so that the wind couldn’t move them around. We created two different seating areas over here (it’s huge!).
These loungers are black iron with wood underneath and are adjustable in height. They are super heavy, durable, stylistically simple, and well-made.
Is That A Bathtub On The Deck?
Black Planter | Chair | Side Table | Terra Cotta Planter
Yes! And I love it so much. Anne had this old clawfoot tub and had no hesitation to put it out on the deck near a hot/cold hose bib (not officially plumbed, just a hose from the exterior of the house for hot or cold). While we were there I filled it with cold to plunge and Alyssa and I took turns. They have no neighbors so there is very little privacy concern.
The mid-century style chairs are outdoor chairs if you can believe that (you can obviously use them inside). These are right outside their bedroom (they stored them in the winter because the elements out here are intense). It’s a classic midcentury shape that Room&Board does so well.
The bay comes in at night and it’s unbelievably stunning. Also please note that arched door within a huge window. Ridiculous.
The Firepit Area
These Adirondack chairs are rather famous for how long-lasting and durable they are (especially against the elements). While we all love wood Adirondack chairs, the Polywood of these chairs will last so much longer in the wind and rain. They actually usually have their firepit area somewhere else (not on the grass, which is likely unadvisable) but we moved it here because it was so much prettier (and our job is to make pretty photos with pretty product).
I brought my collection of hoarded quilts and blankets that felt like the right vibe for PNW in the spring.
A quick call out for Room&Board that you might not know (I didn’t until I was writing this post). They are now a registered B Corp which is a certification that is actually really laborious to get (I’ve tried and kinda lost steam) so when a large company does this we should take note and give them some love. I think there are a few different ways to qualify, with likely different goals (i.e. sustainability, diversity, employee-owned, American-made, etc). I’m not an expert but I’m always extremely impressed when larger companies take the time and effort (and profit margin hit) because they care. It makes me want to support them even more.
Sunset And That’s A Wrap!
It was a seriously lovely shoot with my team. We had so much fun at this gorgeous house with this awesome furniture that deserved its day in the sun (WE ARE BACK TO SUN UP HERE FOLKS!!!).
A huge thanks to Room&Board for partnering on this outdoor space (and being so patient with me – between weather issues, the darkness of winter, and all of the shoot schedules getting, 3 non-rainy days in a row on the books took far longer than I had predicted. The whole space turned out so great, with furniture that feels so appropriate for the architecture and durable for the weather and elements.
*Design by ARCIFORM
**Styled by Emily Henderson (me!)
***Photos by Kaitlin Green
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.
