A (salvaged) room of one’s own

Bargain door & color       

Bargain door
Phipps got hers from a church that was being torn down. “It cost me all of $5,” she says. The shutters, shelf bracket and candelabra on the shelf were all garage-sale finds.

Color
The cottage’s shocking chartreuse color was one of those girlfriend-plus-wine inspirations, and it proved to be one of Phipps’ best decisions. Like a parrot in the jungle, the shed seems to recede in the garden because of its vivid hue. “From most angles,” she says, “it disappears into the trees.”

• Sunset: Design an affordable backyard Bali

The plants

Ultrablue hydrangeas look good against the chartreuse cottage. They started as a single cutting from a friend’s garden.

The bricks

Phipps salvaged several truckloads from various places. She chiseled the old mortar off each brick before using it in her garden.

• Sunset: Design an affordable backyard Bali

Water trough

Phipps turned the trough for horses she once owned into a water garden. Tucked among ferns and edged with baby’s tears, it contains water iris.

Treasure trove

An awkward spot where several paths intersect displays some of Phipps’s favorite finds, including a red glass slipper, a porcelain doll’s head and a Victorian boot hook. The pieces were set into wet concrete.

• Sunset: Design an affordable backyard Bali