5 Expert Tips for Decorating
It’s a familiar story for plant lovers, no doubt, as featured in Carter’s second book, “Wild Interiors: Beautiful Plants in Beautiful Spaces,” which showcases leafy homes across the U.S. and Europe. What all the spaces have in common is, as she likes to say, residents bitten by the botanical bug. “Plants are a way to create a moment of escape into your own home and bring the outside world inside,”
1. Surround seating areas with plants.
“The power that plant life has in a home is transformative,” Carter explains. This hanging chair in an apartment in Antwerp, Belgium, is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling greenery. “By intentionally gathering these plants, we were able to create a space that all of the homeowners would be drawn to,”
2. Decorate your dining room.
“Unlike a vase of flowers, a plant can liven up a dining space for a long time,” says Carter. In this Los Angeles dining room, a dwarf umbrella bonsai tree serves as a centerpiece (its small size means it doesn’t block sight lines), while golden pothos and philodendron tangles brighten up a neutral corner.
3. Use a grouping of closely spaced plants as a focal point.
“Sometimes too much is too much,” Carter says of this intentionally overgrown credenza in a Berlin apartment. “I love the feeling that wildlife has taken over a space,” she says. “It’s almost like the ruins of an old building where people have moved out and plants have moved back in.” To keep things from getting out of hand, though, “only bring in what you can take care of,” she says.
4. Go vertical.
This patio in Barcelona is surrounded by tall, white walls that seem to take over the space. The owner’s solution: Hang small ferns, spider plants, and more on brackets. “The great thing about this arrangement of small containers is that the pots add a real sense of depth, as opposed to ivy or other climbing vines,” says Carter, whose wife created a mini macrame swing for her plants. His wife adds excitement to an old vignette with a few well-placed plants, as opposed to ivy or other climbing vines. “I’m always looking for ways to put small plants in unexpected places like that,” Carter says. “They transform a space.” Plus, a heart-shaped philodendron trained around a mirror frame “really adds depth and interest,” he says.
5. Green up the bedroom.
Try hanging plants that trail from the ceiling or on a shelf above your bed. "Sleeping under plants makes you feel like you're camping or on vacation," says Carter, whose wife created a mini macrame swing for her plants.
0 Comments