Lesson 6: Adding the Personal Touch
Bring the Outdoors In
Sometimes you just need something to disguise an ugly view, or fill an empty corner. Large plants suit the purpose nicely. Ask your local garden center expert to recommend a plant that doesn't shed leaves easily, and that matches the level of light and the humidity level in your room.
Be sure to place it in a container that allows the plant to be watered, and that complements the room decor. A plant stand on casters will enable you to rotate the plant occasionally to let light reach it evenly; it will also enable you to vacuum more easily around the plant.
A small grouping of African violets or a miniature cactus garden would enhance a coffee table (as long as small children cannot reach them), shelf, or occasional table in front of a window. A Bonsai plant adds a traditional touch to a formal room, and the miniature bamboo plants commonly sold in attractive containers will evoke an Asian feeling.
Hanging baskets suspended from the ceiling and filled with Philodendron or spider plants can screen the top of a window, and seem to visually lower a high ceiling.
If you don't have a green thumb or the light levels in your room are inadequate, consider a dried flower arrangement or a bowl of fruit, or substitute realistic but fake fruit or gourds.
In winter the delight of forced Narcissus or Amarylis keeps the hope of Spring alive; in early spring you can bring in Forsythia branches or pussywillows and watch them bud and blossom. A cheerful Rieger Begonia or Cyclamen in a pretty basket will bring in summer color to any room. Chrysanthemum is a popular autumn plant for the indoors as well as outdoors in most temperate climates. You can press a few of the prettiest fallen leaves to scatter around the place settings of your holiday table.
Rachel Webb's article at All-Home-Decorating will give you many more plant suggestions.
In your kitchen, create a mini herb garden. By extending the windowsill with a 1"x4" piece of wood cut to the proper length, attaching it with small screws, and painting it to match the walls, you have room for several small pots of chives, sage, basil or even an avocado pit! The humidity of the kitchen will improve their growth as well.
Any time you use live plants you're taking on the responsibility of watering them properly, dusting the leaves, keeping pets and children from ingesting them, and making sure to repot when they outgrow their containers. Even so, the delight that live plants bring to our senses indoors is worth the effort.
