plants

Kekkilä

my philosophy when it comes to indoor plants is basically “yes please, more is better”. especially if you live in apartment with no outdoor area to speak of. we don’t have a balcony or garden, but i would love to grow herbs in our kitchen – unfortunately it’s a small space that gets no light. also facing the sad fact that we’re running out of sill space for the burgeoning greenery.

that’s why i just love these clever products designed by Linda Bergroth & Klaus Aalto for Kekkilä. that green light is just genius. the nursery shelves and the pot step are also super cool (feels like a DIY idea to steal?) also this lady is clearly having the best time in her flat surrounded by all these amazing plants. i’ll have what she’s having (ahem).

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Pumped about Plants

i felt like this post needed an exclamation mark because i’m quite excited about plants at the moment. you might remember my post, more than a year ago now, about wanting to get some indoor plants. if you are keen to get some plants but don’t know where to start definitely read the comments in that post – incredibly informative and helpful. subsequently i started out with succulents because i thought they wouldn’t be too easy to kill. turns out i kind of underestimated how fickle plants can be – succulents need plenty of light but not too much direct sunlight, and only occasional watering. they’re like teenagers, they kind of just want to be left alone. after a bit of trial and error my succulents are still thriving many months later.

so i feel like i’m ready to explore a brave new world of botanical treasures! and i dipped my toe into that pond recently when i bought a plant for anton’s birthday.  i wanted to find an indoor plant that ventured into delicious monster / swiss cheese territory (mmm, cheese) and ended up picking out this regal guy which so nicely matches his manly chair:

that is a split leaf philodendron by the way. thanks for pointing that out, matt.

it’s a nice size, and i think something that would work well gathered together with similarly sized plants. like so,

left: elina dahl | right: the design files

photo: mieke willems

source: the new york times

…or in a room full of many, many plants!

source: apartment therapy

source: woolly pocket

then again there is something nice about just one beautiful plant that takes center stage…

photo: elisabeth aarhus

source: iacoli & mcallister

source: woolly pocket

…especially when they are BIG!

source: elle decor

left: elle decor |  right: jawbone

source: hiromatsu

source: woolly pocket

i haven’t ventured into hanging plant territory yet, which feels kind of higher grade to me, but i would definitely be tempted by these leather pot plant suspenders by caroline gomez:

also keen on a hanging garden from local plant designer opus (left – also seen here) and this hanging basket (right):

filling a wall of shelves with plants is also wonderful, as seen in the malababa stores:

ibq370uXWhUOla.jpg (660×495)

here’s a cool way to combine those two concepts – hanging window boxes:

wall plants have taken to another level by the clever guys at woolly pocket

whichever way i end up going (and i might go in all directions eventually) i’m even more pumped about plants now. is your home being overrun by plants? cause if it is – i want to see! please share links to your blog / instagram / flickrs in the comments (and any plant tips are always appreciated)

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Bread & Wine & Exotic plants

i went to bread & wine this past weekend, the beautiful restaurant at moreson wine farm in franschhoek. this place is heaven for me –  99% due to their homemade charcuterie. i am a sucker for some cured meat. but i’m not going to talk about the delicious mozzarella & tomato salad (with crystalized basil leaf, mind you) or the amazing setting that makes this place such a winner. no, indeed. they are also home to the exotic plant company which tempted me with so many different kinds of awesomely alien looking orchids i almost couldn’t stand it. my flatmate jessica, whose birthday we were celebrating, says that they are actually pretty easy to take care of – if you know what you’re doing… i distinctly don’t know what i’m doing, so i didn’t end up walking home with an orchid. but i took a lot of photos.

which reminds me, my new succulents are doing okay and have made the flat look so much more appealing. i had a mini freakout a while ago because the little beasts looked like they were dying on me, but then a ton of helpful people on twitter advised that they should be ignored and basically not watered. well, if you say so!

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cact’aaaight

does anyone else extend words that end in i, and throw a gangster ‘aaaight’ on the end? well i do, and now you probably will too. cact’aaaight?! these cacti are throughly un-gangster, apart from the fact that they’re kind of dangerous (nay, prickly.) i’ve never been very partial to cacti, but i am now – the colours swayed me. photos by elly yap

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holding onto summer

i love love love this photo by sarah montour – expecting a lot of this in the next few months (hello summer).

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