Hello, My Lovelies! Today I'm staying inside due to a code orange air quality alert. It was so beautiful and cool this morning. The sky is blue. I want to be outdoors so badly but with my asthma I would pay dearly for it.
So today I'm staying inside and playing with houseplants and reading my new book: At Home With Plants by Ian Drummond and Kara O'Reilly.
According to Goodreads:
Get a little greenery in your life with this beautiful, practical guide to decorating with houseplants. At Home with Plants helps you select, plant, and display an array of easy-to-source, easy-to-care-for botanicals. Includes stylish projects—such as terrariums and hanging planters—as well as a special section of design ideas for each room of the house, plus the best plants for each space.
Houseplants are hot, and creative interior planting is becoming increasingly easy to achieve. Indoor gardening is not just about growing a plant, but about using it as an accessory to boost your home’s style and mood. In this inspirational book, interior landscape designer and Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Ian Drummond pairs up with interiors writer Kara O’Reilly to show you how to transform your home with plants, offering up more than 250 gorgeous aspirational images and ideas for each space in the house.
These plant-design experts will walk you through the steps to create your indoor oasis with chapters on:
THE PRACTICALITIES: Health Benefits, Cleaning the Air, Houseplants & Allergies
PLANT FAMILIES: Bold, Edible, Flowers & Fragrance, Tough & Tolerant, The Indestructibles
CONTAINERS: Potential Planters, Container Materials, Return of the Terrarium
DESIGN WITH PLANTS: Where to Start, Scale & Contrast, Symmetry & Repetition, Alternative Displays
RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT ROOM: Living Spaces, Kitchens & Eating Spaces, Sleeping Spaces, Bathing Spaces, Children’s Spaces, Working Spaces, Connecting Spaces
THE BASICS: Light, When & How to Water, Plant Care, Plant Doctor
My Review:
The first thing I noticed about this book is it lacks the seventies-revamp-boho-vibe I was expecting based on the cover. Most of the interiors are not your typically cluttered English style, either. They tend to be minimalistic allowing the gorgeous plants to take centerstage. Another thing I noticed is that most of the interiors were either bright white or dark and moody.
Above is a listing of the book's sections and chapters. Of course I found the chapter on the health benefits of houseplants refreshing because they filter toxins and pollutants from the air in our homes. I appreciate the list of the most effective plants that clean the air, and I will purchase a few within the week. Another benefit of this book is that it lists houseplants to avoid if family members suffer from allergies and/or asthma. So many people believe that bringing in houseplants will cause their allergies to worsen, but since most of them release few (if any) pollen spores AND they act as natural detoxifiers and filters, they are good for everyone if they are dusted regularly (which is good for the plant).
There are many tips and tricks about how to display plants in your home, and I was fascinated with the section about which plants are appropriate for which rooms. There are also a few great ideas about where to place them because we have very little surface area in our home. The beginning of the book mentions trends in houseplants, and I was fascinated reading about them, especially kokedama. Kokedama means moss ball in Japanese, and this trend looks so beautiful, but it might be above my skill level. The Basics section has tons of helpful information on how to care for your houseplants, and the beautiful and colorful photos of both the plants and interiors make this book a wonderful resource. Speaking of resources, there's also a fantastic list of suppliers in the back of the book.
So today I'm staying inside and playing with houseplants and reading my new book: At Home With Plants by Ian Drummond and Kara O'Reilly.
Get a little greenery in your life with this beautiful, practical guide to decorating with houseplants. At Home with Plants helps you select, plant, and display an array of easy-to-source, easy-to-care-for botanicals. Includes stylish projects—such as terrariums and hanging planters—as well as a special section of design ideas for each room of the house, plus the best plants for each space.
Houseplants are hot, and creative interior planting is becoming increasingly easy to achieve. Indoor gardening is not just about growing a plant, but about using it as an accessory to boost your home’s style and mood. In this inspirational book, interior landscape designer and Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Ian Drummond pairs up with interiors writer Kara O’Reilly to show you how to transform your home with plants, offering up more than 250 gorgeous aspirational images and ideas for each space in the house.
These plant-design experts will walk you through the steps to create your indoor oasis with chapters on:
THE PRACTICALITIES: Health Benefits, Cleaning the Air, Houseplants & Allergies
PLANT FAMILIES: Bold, Edible, Flowers & Fragrance, Tough & Tolerant, The Indestructibles
CONTAINERS: Potential Planters, Container Materials, Return of the Terrarium
DESIGN WITH PLANTS: Where to Start, Scale & Contrast, Symmetry & Repetition, Alternative Displays
RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT ROOM: Living Spaces, Kitchens & Eating Spaces, Sleeping Spaces, Bathing Spaces, Children’s Spaces, Working Spaces, Connecting Spaces
THE BASICS: Light, When & How to Water, Plant Care, Plant Doctor
My Review:
The first thing I noticed about this book is it lacks the seventies-revamp-boho-vibe I was expecting based on the cover. Most of the interiors are not your typically cluttered English style, either. They tend to be minimalistic allowing the gorgeous plants to take centerstage. Another thing I noticed is that most of the interiors were either bright white or dark and moody.
Above is a listing of the book's sections and chapters. Of course I found the chapter on the health benefits of houseplants refreshing because they filter toxins and pollutants from the air in our homes. I appreciate the list of the most effective plants that clean the air, and I will purchase a few within the week. Another benefit of this book is that it lists houseplants to avoid if family members suffer from allergies and/or asthma. So many people believe that bringing in houseplants will cause their allergies to worsen, but since most of them release few (if any) pollen spores AND they act as natural detoxifiers and filters, they are good for everyone if they are dusted regularly (which is good for the plant).
There are many tips and tricks about how to display plants in your home, and I was fascinated with the section about which plants are appropriate for which rooms. There are also a few great ideas about where to place them because we have very little surface area in our home. The beginning of the book mentions trends in houseplants, and I was fascinated reading about them, especially kokedama. Kokedama means moss ball in Japanese, and this trend looks so beautiful, but it might be above my skill level. The Basics section has tons of helpful information on how to care for your houseplants, and the beautiful and colorful photos of both the plants and interiors make this book a wonderful resource. Speaking of resources, there's also a fantastic list of suppliers in the back of the book.
Since I was a child, I've always been fascinated by terrariums. I bought this one years ago at Smith & Hawken, and I've had it filled with a variety of plants and other objects over the years. I was inspired by "The Return of the Terrarium," so I took my terrarium to Leaf 'n Petal and they helped me plant it.
Y'all...it's difficult to get a good photo of a terrarium! Almost as hard as a shiny library book!
I love the cover photo. The textures are fantastic in this interior!
My books is a gift, and it was purchased at Anthropologie.
The photo above is an affiliate link for purchasing the book via IndieBound.
Now I'm off to peruse this book again and make a list for the nursery. Do you have lots of houseplants in your home?
Until next time...
Happy reading!
Ricki Jill
Oh I love that you made a terrarium. I remember making them with my mom when I was a kid. They really are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI always had several terrariums before we moved to Florida. They are so easy to maintain and grow so well. Since we travel between 2 homes, we can't have many houseplants. The ones I have, I have to be prepared to set outside when we are gone. Love this book...I'll look for it! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteI used to have a lot of house plants. My green thumb is usually put to good use outdoors. Love the terrarium, so very cool.
ReplyDeleteP.S. No worries about asking me for help Ricki.
This looks like an interesting book and especially the part about the plants for people with asthma/allergens, etc. Fascinating. And the terrarium reminded me of making them with my mom when I was a kid. She had an oversized brandy snifter with a piece of glass cut to fit the top and we would fill it with moss and lovely bits from the woods at the cottage. I tend to kill plants faster than I can buy them when they are inside -- bad light and to be honest, I forget that watering thing. I recently saw a nice collection of succulents at Kroger and thought maybe I should try those!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a beautiful book! I don't have house plants as I'm never in one place long enough...I just fill my house with cut flowers :)
ReplyDeleteI love plants...I am just so bad at taking care of them. I try hard, but have limited success. I do better with bouquets from the grocery store. Can't kill those! And feel good...been there.
ReplyDelete