I don’t mean “decider” in the W sense. I mean it in the sense that this barn slider is a game-changing winner among barn sliders.

Love the double-height design, featuring a door within a door. And, yes, despite the lack of clues regarding the scale of the photo, that’s a small-adult-sized passage door, to the left, within the slider. Its height and width most likely determined the slider's overall design. Cleverly, the lites in the passage door pick up on the four-panel configuration of the slider.

Plus, the slider's four cross braces do their job efficiently and in true barn style. Red paint finishes off a truly satisfying design.

What fun it would be to adapt a slider like this to a residential application, like a breezeway or three-season area.

Find more examples and thoughts about barn slider adaptations here, here, and here. 

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

"Front of our house" by Tim, a grown-upFind an introduction to this series here.

I would love to see a "napkin sketch of home" created by you, your family, and/or friends -- both young and old.

Please submit sketches via a scan or photo to Katie@katiehutchison.com for possible inclusion in the series. Include the artist's name and age, and a title for the sketch, if there is one.

Share your ideas of "home". Let's get sketching.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Newton Kitchen Renovation/Mud Room Addition: Wood floors work well in almost any space.See the full series here.

91.  Use metaphors to communicate design intent to homeowners.

92.  Avoid granite countertops; they’ve been done.

93.  Lighting with the proper color temperature is critical to how warm or cool a space feels.

94.  Pay attention to scale; right-size it.

95.  Wood floors work well in almost any space. (See Newton Kitchen Renovation/Mud Room Addition.)

96.  Design stairs to serve a use beyond vertical circulation.

97.  Reduce clutter and clean windows to increase spaciousness on a dime.

98.  Don’t conceal windows with overly busy or elaborate window treatments.  Roman shades or interior shutters work well.

99.  Provide a consistent interior trim color or clear finish; vary wall color within a harmonious palette. (See Primer: A Recipe for Architectural Charm.)

100. Maximize daylight. (See Common Sense Green.)

101. Practice forgiveness and gratitude.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Vegetable Garden Wheel, courtesy of the Womanswork websiteMy garden planning is behind where it was last year at this time. So much for improvement at Katie's idjit garden. I'm still in the graph-paper scheming stage. I haven't ordered any seeds or started any seedlings with last year's crop.

I have, however, discovered Garden Wheels, thanks to garden design ONLINE. Womanswork creates these nifty planning tools, chock full of plant info and tips.

In addition to the Vegetable Garden Wheel (shown left), I couldn't resist collecting the Herb, Annual, and Perennial Garden Wheels too. I'm planning on mixing edibles and non-edibles in my community garden plots, so here's hoping the Garden Wheels will save me from some of last year's planting blunders.

I'm also looking to Beekman 1802 to get my square-foot gardens steered in the right direction. In partnership with Williams-Sonoma, Josh and Brent, owners of The Beekman Farm in upstate New York, are peddling a Landreth seed collection of heirloom vegetables. They're hoping to inspire 10,000 gardeners to grow the same vegetables at the same time and to share the experience at the Beekman website. I'm not sure if I'll participate, but that doesn't mean I can't learn from the conversation.

If you have suggestions for a well-intentioned idjit gardener, please share them at the Katie Hutchison Studio Facebook Page. It isn't too late to turn a wanna-be gardener, into the real deal.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

book cover, courtesy of Amazon.com

Photographs by Steve Rosenthal at de Menil Gallery, Groton, MA

April 4- June 5, 2011

(on loan from Historic New England)

Steve Rosenthal's gorgeous black-and-white photography of white churches in  the New England vernacular can be savored in book form or up-close on exhibit.

You may recognize Rosenthal's name from his many credits in architectural photography, but for years he pursued a pet project -- composing breathtaking fine-art photos of a uniquely New England icon. From stoic meetinghouses to elegant Greek and Gothic Revival churches, his collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century, textured, white structures in the New England landscape is a treasure.

Catch the artist's gallery talk Wednesday, April 6 at 7:15 pm at the de Menil Gallery in Groton, Mass. If you can't make it to the exhibit (or even if you can), grab a copy of the book.

Find more examples of stunning New England vernacular photography here.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast