Garden Design No. 18 - The Potager

A potager is the French term for an ornamental vegetable or kitchen garden. This design is to provide a garden of abundance in an aesthetically pleasing manner. What a beautiful way to plant flowers, fruit, vegetables, and herbs!

Using the potager design ideals, even the smallest plot of ground can become a wonder of freshly grown foods and beautiful flowers. 

I have to say I'm intrigued most by the "accessories" that can be used in the potager design. Adding pretty embellishment as well as function. And the art that can be created here with winding paths, height, shape, and color is inspiring.

Some great things to plant in the potager are herbs, lettuces and other salad greens, cucumbers, and zucchini. It doesn't get any fresher than this!

Find a place that is sunny. Find a place with a window to gaze out of. Fine a place where there is space for dining al fresco. This place is your potager plot. No size restrictions. 

What wonderful colors and textures the potager crop offers! 

Where is your potager going to emerge?

Image Sources: Sunset, Pinterest, Clive Nichols, Garden Design, Tumbler, Karen Hillenmeyer, Mother Earth News, Garden Images

Color Palette No. 15 - Sidewalk Chalk

I've said it before, inspiration is truly all around us. Don't miss the subtlety. Even in the simple childhood memory of sidewalk chalk! What gloriously calm color inspiration.

Chalk isn't one of those catchy word phrases usually used for design resources. So if you must, let us instead call it things like "soothing", "a gentle calm", "tranquil". 

Along with images of the color palette of sidewalk chalk comes the sun that accompanied those great childhood times and the artwork created from that chalk. Hopscotch and tic-tac-toe. Not bad for inspiration.

 Image Sources: House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Veranda, Pinterest, Coastal Living, Phoebe Howard, Henredon, Interior Canvas, Flicker

Translation - Fashion to Home No. 18 - Calling All Fashionistas

We have all read it or heard it..."Your home should reflect you." The true fashionista lives this in their wardrobe everyday and everyone knows it about them.  In this blog post I'm giving those same fashionistas a little nod of approval to carry it even further and give them the green light to work it into their home decor as well. 

Although I doubt they need that nudge! A true fashionista has this inborn creative freedom that gives them licence to show their passion for presentation. A freedom that tells the onlooker that this person knows what she likes and isn't afraid to put a great outfit together and show it off. Traditional, contemporary, modern, or transitional; reflecting a fashionista's passion in home decor isn't any different no matter what the architecture or furniture style.

No one is going to tell the fashionista they can't put that with this. They understand that a home is about what one loves. What tells a story. What defines them. What moves them. What makes them smile. It isn't based on a flighty trend. It's about creating a home that is all about them.

The fashionista brings such a flair to home design once they learn they can. After all, whose home is it anyhow?

As with all definitions there are those who understand how to pull it off with class and style and those that try and fail. So bring your ideas to the table with your interior designer and let them create a room that doesn't scream teenage bedroom or college dorm. They'll appreciate your fashion tips and you'll appreciate their design talent. Why settle for a knockoff by an amateur?

True fashion is a sophistication. Great interior design cannot be substituted.

So share your passions with your interior designer and you'll see yourself reflected in your room design, I promise. And if you don't see that happening in the plans - get another designer!

Remember, just as in one's wardrobe more is just more. You know you aren't to dress as if you are a walking advertisement for the fashion designer. This should be applied to your home design. Reflect your passion with restraint and class.

This translation of your love for fashion into your home can be so fun! 

Fashionistas, let your room reflect your style!


Image Sources: Decor Pad, Indulgy, Artfire, Artify Me, Pinterest, Etsy, Apartment Therapy, MyChicMyWay, The Julian Home, USA Today

Less is a Bore No. 1

Welcome to a new volume on this blog. Less is a Bore. This volume's sister will be called Less is More. Design is a balancing of a comfort level to achieve a room that reflects your lifestyle. And this balance can vary from room to room. I love that variation - it is like having the best of both worlds.

How one finds that balance is easier than you think. Start this journey with me in seeing the contrast between Less is a Bore and Less is More. You'll start feeling an attraction towards one or the other. Or you might find, like I, you enjoy having it both ways as a warm approach to defining your rooms' designs throughout your home.

I must put emphasis on noting that Less is a Bore does not mean a room of meaningless clutter and an over abundance of things. Less is a Bore is a room filled, to a balanced degree, carefully and with meaning. It takes a skill, an eye to detail naturally gifted-not learned, and surprisingly it takes restraint. Because Less is a Bore is still a room well-designed.

Choose wisely, choose carefully, choose not like a kid in a candy store. Seek out those professionals with the talent to achieve the Less is a Bore look for your home to work with on your journey. 

Image Resources: House Beautiful, Albert Pinto, Bijou and Bohemian, Vicente Wolf, Paloma 81, Ralph Lauren, Sally Wheat