On my first academic trip to Los Angeles over ten years ago I visited the Eames House in Pacific Palisades. Frozen in time, preserved in the way Ray Eames left it upon her death in 1988, I peered through its steel framed windows to find it standing still in design and time except for one thing: the plants.
I have a new obsession, perhaps stemming from architecture school and years of making my designs in small scale, but lately I’m so obsessed with everything miniature and it’s uncontrollable. I had-it-bad to begin with, but I may be hitting the creepy stage if you ask my office mates. The recent spike can be attributed to the awesome Emily Henderson, as I’m participating in the I’m a Giant! Dollhouse Competition alongside other design bloggers like Erin Loechner from Design from Mankind (check out her recent tile floor that I would kill for in my own real house!). But the above miniature home by artist Krista Peel literally gave me a mini green thumb as she includes plants in all her work. I got to thinking…wouldn’t it be better if they were REAL (no plastic here please) PLANTS? Real MINIATURE plants? And better yet…in MODERN PLANTERS? No run-of-the-mill ceramic pots will do. The challenge was on as I’m always searching for cool modern ways to make my own or my clients real home’s incorporate plants. So why not make a few of my favorites? I give you… the Mini Wall Wally modeled after the Wally Woolly Pocket and a few more modern design mini knock-offs!
This is all I can show you of my garden wall. The embarrassingly sparse, white, windowless stucco back wall of my 60s modern box house has sat there patiently, silently asking for some adornment. But what to do? I’ve been in search of the perfect addition to the blank garden wall for five years now. For this month’s MilkWeed column, I’ve come up with three finalists for how to dress up a blank garden wall. Design ideas that with just minimal intervention and a small budget could be added to your own abode. It’s a toss up for my favorite. What’s your preference? Perhaps I just need a little color like this wall I found in Silver Lake, California.
Editor’s note: Please welcome our newest contributor, Kara Bartelt of kara b. studio and toHOLD. She will be taking over the MilkWeed column, which focuses on how to incorporate modern plants in and around your home, garden trends, plant care, and more. Learn more about Kara on our About page.
I love concrete, glass and steel as much as the next modernist, but too much black, white and gray make a boring home. When I saw filmmakers Guy Mossman and Lisa Hepner’s modern hillside home on Mount Washington in Los Angeles, I knew I had met kindred spirits. Guy and Lisa moved from Brooklyn in 2010, purchasing a “fixer-upper” and went about the daunting task of finishing and furnishing a bare glass and steel box. Long stairwells and landings line the home inside and out, so Guy and Lisa created colorful compositions with an assortment of Gainey ceramics pots.
Tend design by Sarah Yates Photography
Your wedding is a sacred event. When you finally make it to your nuptials, the last thing you should be worrying about is the carbon footprint your walk down the aisle is playing out on the planet. Wedding flowers arguably carry the heaviest environmental impact but are also one of the easiest areas you can lighten the load. Thank goodness because next to the bride, wedding floral is the second most important belle of the ball! The following guide will help bring the greenest greens, whether you are the savvy couple looking to hire conscientious vendors or the DIY modern bride braving her own arrangements.
As Springs springs, I feel like a enraptured kid seeing things for the very first time. Like really SEEING, and with all my senses…. colors and textures and fragrances and nubile life exploding in a big party for the soul. Even in “sunny” Southern Cali, we awaken to Spring with a new pep in the step and spirited appreciation for even the smallest of changes in our environment as Mother Nature shakes off the chill and straps on her dancing shoes.
Last week I was creatively constipated. Sorry to be crass but that’s exactly how it can feel, no? When this happens I embark on a now-steady routine to get things moving again, and usually in this order: suddenly feel grouchy upon blockage setting in, sulk, nap, evaluate my future as a working creative, panic, consult my heroes, reconnect to the collective flow, ready to go.
Seeing as this column coincided with said blockage, I thought I’d share some of my tried and true go-to sources of inspiration. Mostly “classics” they are so I won’t bore you with any arty farty analysis. Just enjoy.
An architectural, clean-lined vessel is key for plantscaping our modern digs. No need for our containers to compete with their contents so let the greens be wild as nature intended and our planters a statement not over-stated.
Photo: Scott Caligure for Tend
Gainey remains my go-to line for plantscaping my projects. This California company gets high props for being both local (vs. the typical overseas) and green in their production, and they have been doing it since the 50s. The classic and clean Cylinder design is where it is at. Custom planter stands by Bells and Whistles for Tend.
For those of you who fancy yourself a card-carrying plant nerd (or aspire to be one), allow me to sing the praises of some truly geek-worthy modern varieties.
Prior to 1974, the US had never seen the likes of a Tillandsia air plant. These fascinating sea-like creatures are all the rage these days and as I design another tilly wedding this week (insert squeals of delight here), I am convinced I will never tire of their magic. Brought here from South America by Paul Isley of Rainforest Flora in a series of rather daunting and dangerous efforts , he and his team supply plant nerds the world over with over 10,000 tillies a week. These soil-less epiphytes take any where from 6 to 20 years to mature from seed and with all the rare hybrids and cultivars, they have become a plant collector’s dream. At once trippy and elegant, tillies can be used as living art with relatively low-maintenance, though do read up on your particular variety as they range in their watering and natural light needs (desert-dwellers beware, Floridians & Pac-North Westerners rejoice). Here are some of my favorite ways to see tillies used.
These hanging air plant pods by Michael McDowell were designed to drain plants after hydrating; preventing them from sitting in water, which they hate. Simultaneously prehistoric and futuristic, tillies can also be strung en masse on fishing line to create room screens and living chandeliers, hey hey!
