kathy miles design
landscape solutions
creative | practical | beautiful

I'm Kathy, a landscape designer, princess, and cowgirl apparently.

I was a real estate appraiser in my past life and had the privilege of seeing the inside of so many beautiful and well-appointed homes. Then I’d step outside and think “what the heck happened here?” Did they not know the house came with a yard? Did they think the backyard was only for weeds and the dog? Yikes.
But what could I do? Well, I'll tell you what. Walk away from a perfectly good career and start something from scratch I had never tried before, that's what. I retired my appraisal license, sold my interest in the business, and opened a retail store filled with patio and garden accessories and treasures to enrich, delight, and enchant. Because I'm mostly about the sparkle and the glam.
On occasion I was invited to a customer’s home to help decorate and stage their outdoor space, which often turned into a landscape design consultation. I’d wonder why they were asking me . . . I don’t design landscapes, I accessorize. I’d toss out a few ideas, but didn’t take it any further.
Well, in 2017, just 13 short years later, I enrolled in the Landscape Design program at American River College in Sacramento, California.
My first commission was for my parents. Naturally. If I was selling encyclopedias or Girl Scout cookies, that’s where I would have started, so why not a $30,000 landscape from a design student with no experience? Good-natured and with a sense of humor, they were intrigued by the design, and actually started building it. In an effort to NOT spend $30,000, my stepmom did all of the work, the hard work. I think dad hired people to do the easy stuff. I have a couple of photos of her with a glass of wine next to her tools. In one photo he left the bottle. Smart man.
I would love to show you your landscape's potential and how to love what may be the most scary place there is . . . your own yard.