Interior designer Suzanne Shaker and art conservator Pete Dandridge designed their outdoor clothes line based on a childhood memory: a vision of white sheets blowing in the country wind.
Dandridge built the clothes line using two strips of cedar that are joined at the top with a stainless steel dowel pin, which allows the height to be adjusted to keep longer sheets from dragging on the ground. The clothes line, as Shaker says, “is the essence of simple function.”
To see more of the couple’s Shelter Island home, see our new book, Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces.
Photography by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Above: “There’s nothing like fresh cotton or linens sheets that have dried in the wind and sun,” Shaker says.
Above: The cedar strips sit between two trees, which act as anchors.
Above: Interested in building the clothes line yourself? Source the cedar wood from Home Depot: a 10-Foot-Long Western Red Cedar is available in-store only (prices may vary by region). A pack of four 3-inch Stainless Steel Dowel Pins is $7.99 and a 50-foot length of White Rope is $9.99, both from Amazon.
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