Decorating

You all love a good fern, it seems.  Everytime our fern makes it into a picture, you guys go nuts and ask all the questions.  So here’s my fern tips and her story.

I love how house plants make our home feel lived in and alive.  And I’ve bought some plants and some have just found their way into our home, like the fern that everyone loves.  I’m not even sure how long we’ve had her – getting close to 4 years now, I think, she moved in shortly after we did.

She belonged to our neighbour’s mother, whose name was Grace. Her health was failing and she was looking to simplify things around her home so she offered up some of her plants.  Brenda knew I liked plants, I may have even put a call out for ALL the plants….so, one day I came home and there was a collection of plants on my front step, including this fern!

Her first landing spot was on top of the green cabinet in the corner of the living room.  But when we switched that out because we bought another cabinet, the shelf wasn’t as big and she would’ve tipped off.  So, I took in an old plant stand I had in my stash, rearranged the living room and then she moved into the awkward corner where she still is today.  And she apparently really likes it there as the growth from then to now is quite substantial.

The new growth shoots out the top and is such a bright, fresh green!  And they grow longer, they droop and hang down and then eventually, the leaves fall off and litter my floor.  Every now and then, I trim the remaining ‘dead’ leaves and go through the cycle over and over.

I can always tell when someone has been playing in my fern….the leaves on the floor are a good indicator!  Since it is next to the doorway to the kitchen via the dining room, little hands have a hard time not brushing through the leaves on their way by….

I water my plants usually once a week and fertilize them every now and then….no set schedule, mainly when I remember.  And I fertilize all my plants with the same Schultz 10-15-10 Liquid Plant Food, just add some to the water and away I go.  I hate to waste water, too, so I empty water bottles and glasses after meal time into the various plants close to the table…I know which ones dry out quickly and who needs lots of water.  I haven’t repotted this fern yet and nor do I have plans, too….should I, well, I really don’t know! 😉

Here’s another one of the plants that I found on my deck that day.  This ivy { of some variety } died back to barely anything and I was afraid I had killed it.  But, it came back and is loving it on the china cabinet and has grown a lot since I took this picture over a year ago!

Once a year I also take them all up to the tub and give them a rinse to get all the dust from winter off their leaves.  They really seem to like that, in fact, it’s time to do that again!  They look so fresh and lively after a good bath! And that is pretty much all I do for my spring cleaning routine, too 😉

I have no great secrets to share about plant care really, just water and sometimes fertilizer! I love having them around, too, especially when they do well and if they die, oh well, I toss them and start browsing for some new ones!  And by browsing I mean eyeing my friends plants and going to Forge in New Glasgow!  You can read a previous plant post HERE, too, if you want!

If you have any great fern secrets, please share them, we’d all love to know!

To be continued,

Lori

When it comes to decorating my home, I’m all over the map.  But today, I want to look at one specific style, Boho or Bohemian, and how I work that style into my farmhouse.

I’m drawn to lots of different styles and looks.  And I know I can’t have them all.  So, how do I make those styles work for us in our old farm house?  And not drive my family batty in the process? Well, I’m not sure about that last bit but that’s a whole other blog post!

Because I love decorating and spend so much of my time emersed in design, I see so many wonderful things that I love.  And some I don’t love…at all…  And gradually over time, I watched my own style changing from very primitive country that I used to decorate with to a more electic look that embraces some modern country, some retro and some bohemian.  But combining all those to make it work on my budget can be a challenge.  But fulling your home with what you love seems to work, design rules are meant to be broken, not followed to a T because that would make for a boring home.

To start with, let’s look at the Boho style to see the elements that tend to make up that look.  When I see a photo that screams boho to me, it usually has the same elements in the space – great texture, lots of colours, plants, a collected and causal feel.  Think old, worn-in leather furniture with simple lines, wicker or rattan pieces, rugs with loads of brightly mixed colours like reds, oranges and turquoises and then plants everywhere.  The overall look doesn’t look like you just went out to the closest box-store and bought it all new.  It has the look of pieces being thrifted or passed down and collected over time.  Pillows don’t match but are vibrant with colour and layered onto the furniture.  The woods are natural and earthy, not perfect but time-worn and weathered. It’s warm and inviting.  You want to put your feet up and have a long conversation with someone dear to you with a hot mug in your hand.

That’s the kind of space I want to create in my home – where guests feel comfortable, where nothing feels too precious to use and it is always changing as the perfect pieces find their way into the space.  I want my family to be able to live in our space.

Here’s what I’m doing to create that feel in my house.  I’m using rugs with lots of colour.  I have a few Persian rugs that I fell in love with years ago and have been moving from house to house with me.  Real wool rugs weather and age very well and are timeless.  They survived my children, guys.  The other rug I have in my dining room was a Winner’s score – the colours are great, the pattern hides almost everything that may fall under the table, so in other words – perfect!

I’m trying to collect some more pillows for the couch, but honestly, it’s hard when I know they’ll just end up on the floor anyway. Am I alone in that?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.  I scored some good ones at our local Value Village { you can read about that HERE } but I still need more.  More colour, more pattern, just more pillows.  IKEA has some lovely ones that I want…like THIS ONE or even THESE.

There are houseplants everywhere in my house and yet, I feel like I want more yet.  But, I’m getting a good collection and they all seem to be settling in and starting to thrive.  I’m on the hunt for a few different kinds to round out my collection.  And I finally { 3 or 4 years later } potted my fiddlehead fiscus, just in time for them to be deemed ‘not cool’ anymore….but whatever, I still like it so that’s all that counts, right?  You can read about my plant fetish HERE.

One of the things I love about Boho style is the woven textures of wicker or rattan.  I don’t have any furniture made out of it, I’m not sure it would be durable enough for our house.  But I do have a few things hung on the wall that add that texture to the space.  And that is a huge part of Boho style.

All together, it adds some great character to our home.  I love that there’s nothing ordinary about it, it’s filled with interesting items that seem to have been collected over time and each item has a great back story…remember when we stopped at the yard sale on our way to….that one came from that sweet little thrift shop in…could you believe someone was throwing that out…you get the idea.  Basically how I collect anything.

Our home isn’t going to grace the cover of any magazine anytime soon.  But it’s home to us.  It’s cozy, inviting and I know my friends and family feel the same way.  I love when people walk in and feel at home here.  { Also I love people’s reactions who have only seen the space online and then get to see it in person!! } Our home is a reflection of us.

Tell me – do you love the Boho look? What would you call your style?  Do you incorporate any of these elements into your space?

To be continued,

Lori