I love what plants do for rooms. Sometimes when I look at magazine rooms and cover up the plants/ flowers in them, they seem pretty lifeless. There's something about a pretty explosion of green (no matter how small) that I just love.
Our house looks like a greenhouse right now because I picked up a ton of plants for the DC Design House and some upcoming photoshoots I'm doing with my good friend & photographer, Helen Norman next week. This little orange tree will sit in a kitchen I recently finished with a vintage-styled green subway tile backsplash & dark walnut cabinets:
I found this cool pot at Merrifield Garden Center and filled it with this pretty little guy (I already forgot his name) for my room in the showhouse:
Love these moss pots:
And this gardenia is staying in my office for a while because it just smells like Heaven:
I picked up a bunch of herbs & topiaries for another kitchen:
I truly love plants. But I'm not very good with them. They tend to die here. My house is sort of like a plant hospice.
...BUT... the other day my assistant Meghan said I had a "green thumb."
I have played this compliment over and over in my head since then and even relayed it to my husband who argues she must have been being sarcastic.
I'm hoping I can change. I'm really trying.
There are plants in my house that have been here since September. Yay.
ps- loved all the comments from yesterday about vines. It's so fun to see that dialogue between the "romantics" and the "practicals." I definitely fall on the romantic side, but it's sort of like eating cookie dough... I'm sure once I got my first case of salmonella, I'd be done with cookie dough.
As a decorator & a textile designer, this is my place to muse... perfection doesn't interest me; Reality and charm do. Fresh floppy flowers from the garden over long-stemmed roses any day, I love it when things are slightly off and tell a story. 
28 comments:
Well, goodness, we don't have to take our practicality *too* far... I may not be pro-vine, but I certainly eat my fair share of cookie dough ;)
Don't you love Merrifield? We lived in Annandale when we were first married and then in Manassas and Merrifield was just the best. They taught me SO much about gardening! Since you bought some plants from them, give them a call (maybe not during peak hours, though)when you have a question or when a plant starts to go south. They're super helpful!
Love the fern :)
~Jacci
Beautiful! I agree, plants give such life (ok, literally) and good energy to a room. I wish I had that gardenia in my office. Maybe I need to get one. The scent is heavenly!
it looks amazing, and the gardenia is stunning! The smell is the most gorgeous ever!
I have been meaning to buy some plants for my home and your post just made me want to run out the door and get some now! So very pretty! They are really good for cleaning the air too! I love all of your selections. Especially that really cute stone pot. I think you do have a way with plants because you love them so much!
I eat the cookie dough too! I think you really only get salmonella from the outside of the egg...ya know...the part that passes "through" the chicken.... : ) enjoy~
However desperately I want to have a green thumb, I definitely haven't ever had one either ... HOWEVER, I've now kept a mini cyclamen (a notoriously fickle plant) gifted to me by a friend alive on our kitchen counter for two months! I re-potted the beauty, and also discovered that I killed my last one (a gift from Mr. M) with love -- I over watered it until it drowned. Poor thing. I guess what I'm saying is, I so identify!
I love plants in the home. It just freshens up my home..:)
I use to tell my clients that PPL was the cheapest decorating tools they would ever use. Paint, PLants and Light!!! I have to have plants in a room, they bring in such life and can make an otherwise dull empty room look alive. Love all of your little beauties, Happy Green!! Kathysue
Like you I love green plants in my home but unfortunately my home is too dry during the winter for most. I have a green thumb but when winter heating is sucking the life out of a plant there is only so much one can do!
Hey Lauren,
So I kill plants too, even when I try really hard not to, so maybe it runs in the family...
Your post today reminded me of an article I read in Scientific American a few weeks ago titled "Houseplants Make You Smarter: Recent research suggests that the mere presence of plants can boost your attention span." Basically, researchers found that people in offices with plants were better at remembering and recalling information when switching between tasks. Just thought you should know your obsession with incorporating plants into room designs is good for your and your clients' brains!
Full article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=houseplants-make-you-smarter
Lauren - Such beautiful plants! I love the orange tree.
I do a once a week water on my houseplants, and what survives, stays. The little succulents (which Brooke and you inspired me to buy) are still alive!
Can't wait to see your photo shoot photos, especially of the kitchen! I remember you showed us those pretty tiles in an earlier post...
Loretta
I love a simple cache pot filled with a flowering plant but too many plants remind me of the 70's with macrame hanging spider plants and big pots of ficus trees.
pve
i need to start a little herb garden, i can practically smell the basil from that picture!
Nothing brings nature into a room more than beautiful plants..love the gardenia, I can imagine how great it smells and the orange tree so beautiful! Amazing how much impact a little benign plant can have in a space!
That's so funny because I always kind of thought of you as the 'green plant' blogger...you post about plants a lot so I just assumed you were a greenery genius! :-)
I want and wish to have plants in my home but I can't figure out how to incorporate them. Your comment about magazines was interesting because I feel like they are so rarely in mag pictures. I search for pictures with plants!
I missed your post yesterday...very much pro vine. I have confederate jasmine growing up the front of my house right now and it just bloomed and smells amazing!!! "Welcome home" it whistles to me every day.
~Lauren
Love all your finds. You have such nice stuff in Virginia. All the garden stores here are full of generic stuff in ugly pots and the gourmet garden stores are so expensive. SO nice to live in a warm state where there is a garden culture...I cannot find a herb topiary for the life of me here. Maybe I need to order online!?
Maybe green thumb is a state of mind. We found the right place and all my plants are thriving (cool office, but south facing).
Plant food helps a LOT!
Love the plant hospice comment. You are so funny.
xo Terri
Lauren, you have such a great eye! You have just given me some great ideas for some upcoming photo shoots of my own. I hope you can answer a question for me! Do you keep all of the plants when the shoot is finished? If not, what happens to them? I am not as good as I would like to be with plants either, so I may end up giving some of them to my clients. But maybe I better hurry up with the photo shoots in time to plant things this Spring!
About green thumbs. I believe that, sure, you have to know a little about the plant and its needs, but in the end, it comes down to attention. As Mr. Charles, a hairdresser of mine used to say, "Honey, the more attention you give it, the better it's gonna look." I took that as a life lesson and it works, whether we're talking about child rearing, relationships, decorating, gardening, or whatever.
I am sure your plants will do fine!
Love that you feel the same way about plants that I do. They MAKE a room! I can't have a home without them. And vines...I'm ALL about them too! Will be using them in the yard of our new place.
i am the same...plants in my house are seasonal like cut flowers, but i do love them. my husband is questioning my request for a raised bed in the backyard, thinking that if i can't keep them alive inside, how will i keep them alive outside? (sigh)
Looks like some life is going to be added to your photoshoots. Can't wait to see the results!
I am the exact same way...can't keep one alive to save my life. Though...dun du dun...I bought I little arrangement in November...AND IT'S STILL ALIVE!!
Funny....I just bought two plants for a photo shoot. I have a garage full of stuff for photo shoots. Of course, I can always use it myself when the photos are done!
Oh, do you have any more information on those moss balls? I ADORE them! Looking to find them for my home... Any info you have (their tag/scientific name?) so I could search would be greatly appreciated. Love all your selections, so foreign from what I see up here in Buffalo, it's refreshing! ertelbear@gmail.com Thank you!
I adore fresh plants in my home. Reading about your green thumb and hospice is so funny. I have what we call a rehab. Since, I can't keep my plants pretty for very long, I rotate them to the rehab periodically. Good luck finding a table.
Hi Lauren, this post made me think of a topic I've been pondering for a while--fake plants--are they always a major faux pas? I feel like the answer is probably yes? Though I think I've heard some designers say they are ok if they are high enough/far enough away that you can't tell if they're real or not? What do you think? Didn't you say one of your topiaries in your house was fake? Would love to know your thoughts! Thanks!
Lauren, I laughed out loud at the "plant hospice" comment! I think I'm more like that than I like to admit. I think that's why I favor orchids...they seem to take my neglect and thrive in spite of it.
Good luck tomorrow - nothing like a last minute mad dash to get the blood pumping!!
xo Elizabeth
Those plants are gorgeous! Definitely brightens up any room in the house! Have a delightful day, Kellie xx
Lovely photos you have shared. Fit for your home!
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