It's snowing here in Rhode Island as I write this, so what better time to leisurely peruse the pages of Sunset magazine, which is frequently filled with page after page of sunny, warm, verdant gardens and landscapes. If you're not familiar with Sunset, it's a west-coast lifestyle magazine that this east-coaster savors every month.

The January 2013 issue features a favorite KHS project type -- the backyard small retreat. This one is a tool shed turned "chick shack", as its owner, garden designer Rebecca Sweet, calls it. It's simple, fun, and inviting. Be sure to check out the detail photos, too. For more House Enthusiast and KHS chatter about small retreats, click here, here, and here.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

I never tire of white-on-white texture. This decorative cottage frieze of inverted pickets trimmed with narrow half rounds and dotted with center cutouts playfully marches to a rhythm of white eave brackets. Even in the fairly flat light of this photo, the varying depths of pattern read loud and clear. In stronger light, the interplay of their shadows would be even more tantalizing. The aging, slate, roof tiles seem to pick up on the white-washed palette with a dusted-white sheen of their own. This assemblage strikes me as worthy of Vilhelm Hammershoi's attention. If only.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

I'm often reluctant to recommend painting brick, especially old brick, but this boisterous blue brick makes a good case for putting brush to brick. It also makes for a powerful pairing with the blue clapboards above it, and a striking color contrast with the warm, red, brick, sidewalk pavers below it.

The contrasting texture of the twig wreath, well-suited to the old, moss-green, six-panel door, further enlivens what -- without the arresting colors and textures -- would otherwise be a somewhat utilitarian entrance. Consider adding some spark to your brick foundation with some bold colors and contrasting textures.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast