We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.
Landscape designer **Judy Kameon’**s beautiful book of work, Gardens Are For Living: Design Inspiration for Outdoor Spaces (Rizzoli), belies the author’s sixties childhood in sunny, mid-century modern–steeped Santa Monica. It is a verdant tour of lush gardens that toes the line between wildness and urbanity, which has become the designer’s signature trademark. Having worked with clients on both private and public spaces (think Sofia Coppola to Balenciaga, respectively) in her gardens, Kameon conveys a sense of place, and a colorful, modern optimism that is never saccharine—or predictable. Her background, then, as a former stylist and forever artist who took a circuitous route to her now established career makes sense. While you see the impressions that Garrett Eckbo and Thomas Dolliver Church have had on her style, she is not formulaic in her approach to designing a landscape. As the title suggests, Kameon makes (and proves) her case that your outdoor space can be as important as your indoor—brilliantly landscaped outdoor amphitheaters, treehouses, and Secret Garden–like pathways are places for community, artistic expression, entertainment, and, perhaps most importantly, play.
The book, lovingly shot by her husband, photographer Erik Otsea, also includes vintage images from James Rose and Slim Aarons. And while the photography of her work is obviously transportive, so is her lovely way of telling stories and doling out practical tips for novice gardeners. She pays homage to her memories as much as she does to the icons that influenced her, delightfully navigating between the impact that poolside ice cream sandwiches (her “equivalent to Proust’s madeleine”) and her lifelong admiration for pioneers like photographer Julius Shulman had on her aesthetic. Reading Gardens Are for Living, especially in this anemic New York City winter, is a dare for you to believe that the warmer days are en route—and that you best not waste them indoors.
Gardens Are For Living: Design Inspiration for Outdoor Spaces, by Judy Kameon, is out today.