Joan Grabel’s unique, eco-conscious landscape designs have made her a favorite on HGTV and throughout Southern California. As the owner of award-winning Los Angeles-based landscaping firm Park Slope Design, Grabel uses her background as a visual artist to create appealing outdoor spaces that emphasize natural resources, energy efficient features, and drought tolerant plants.
When Grabel was asked to rework the landscaping of a recently remodeled and renovated Southern California home, her challenge was to update the traditional look of the landscaping to reflect the home’s many improvements. To reflect the owners’ interest in outdoor living, she added a deck, a pergola, and a custom outdoor kitchen, creating a transitional home that beautifully marries the traditional and the modern. She added Infratech heaters to the Southbay Transitional home’s outdoor dining area, allowing the owners to maximize their time spent outside cooking and entertaining without worrying about energy use or greenhouse emissions. We caught up with Grabel to learn why she chose our subtle, eco-friendly heaters.
What made you select Infratech heaters for the Southbay Transitional home?
As a landscape designer I deal with outdoor spaces. I’ve seen such clumsy stuff on the market. I did my own research and I came across Infratech and they were streamlined, modern and just really clean. They work beautifully. They made it possible to be able to eat outside comfortably. They work with the whole look.
What is your favorite thing about the heaters? (ie: controls, integration with high tech systems, seamless design)
For me as a designer, the seamless design and the minimalist look.
What was your overall inspiration for the design of the space (that you used Infratech heaters in)?
Transitional to modern. Very modern lines. There was an old traditional landscape that no longer served the remodels and renovations of the house. It’s now upscale and transitional, the blend of traditional and modern. What it did is give them a beautiful outdoor entertaining space with a custom BBQ, fire feature, water features, landscaping, custom deck and pergola. It has everything.
How are your customers’ outdoor living lifestyles influencing your designs?
Big time. Whenever I start a design, that’s what we discuss. I tailor to the needs of the client and how they want to use the outdoor space. This particular home was perfect because they’re totally into outdoor cooking and outdoor dining so the heater totally made sense.
Photos via Paul Jonason.