Color and plants

Spring Styling at Anthropologie

to add to my collection of merchandising ideas... should I ever need them.

Green

Via Abbey Goes Design Scouting

Green.

Via Design to Inspire

It's hard enough to make a small space feel big... I can't imagine using smaller scale furniture to fill a giant room. What a challenge! I love this shorter sofa table flanked with two decorative side chairs against the sofa. Combo'd with those mirrors, this room has the perfect balance of symmetry, style, and combination of textures/colors.

Via Design To Inspire

I heard a very interesting segment on DIY farming and building your own greenhouse on NPR yesterday... got me thinking...

Wouldn't it be amazing to have a green house like this? Reminds me on the one my grandma had at their house in Kauffman, TX. Except it functioned mainly as an outdoor dining space. Would this greenhouse be amazing with a giant farmhouse table and benches down the center?

Via Design To Inspire

Again.. love all the indoor green. One of my first investments when we buy a house will be large house plants. They just make the space feel like an open, airy veranda... even in the hot texas heat.

My New favorite Grocery Store

Henry's Farmers Market

One of the things I was worried about, moving to the great land of cows, eggs, and bread, was that produce would be just absolutely terrible.

Of course I wasn't willing to trade the best locally grown produce for cheap eggs and Mrs. Baird's bread.

However, I was pleasantly surprised at NewFlower Farmers Market -- all their sale merchandise is locally grown/ made in Texas. (Or.. it seems like overstock/ stuff that's not selling well -- Ex: Kombucha on sale 2/$4-- I can imagine that's not the best seller at Ross/Henderson). The produce is consistently cheaper than anywhere else, WalMart included. The only downside (just like Henry's) is that it's not a one-stop-shop. None of America's favorites. No Lays Potato chips, No Stoffers Mac and Cheese and definitely No Tide Laundry detergent. But they do have Blue Bell :)

Newflower Farmers Market

The one closest to me is at Ross and Henderson. But there's another one in Plano.

Check it out if you haven't already.

Succulents

I'm  finally starting to understand why these little guys are so trendy.

too cute, and easy to keep alive!

Planties

Ivy

Lavender

Moss

Ivy

Maiden Hair Fern

Moss

Ivy

Button Fern

Moss

Terrarium Fun

A past "TO DO" I felt worth sharing. One of my summer projects at work (a McKee and Company Interior Design and Fine Furniture) was to design and plant these adorable moss covered terra cotta terrariums. The idea in and of itself was great. "Things" (as my boss likes to put it) like this set our store apart from all the other chatchka (sp?) out there. So I read a little about the concept and drove to Costa Mesa to select the species that liked a lot of water and not very much sunlight (we're using them inside.) 

The first round I bought a maiden hair fern  (see above) and paired it with a little button fern, added some moss and preserved lichen and called it a day. It was surprisingly easy to assemble and didn't require a skilled eye for design. I have now attempted 3 rounds of terrarium plantings and failed miserably at all three.  I even tried orchids, despite rumors of their fickle temperament... Surprise Surprise.. those died too.

Every group of terrariums adds a nice splash of organic "specialness" to the store for about 3 days... After that, bugs, spiders, and mold overtake the cluster and I'm instructed to throw them out and start again. Despite my failure, it's a brilliant idea... Plants that essentially water themselves!