Vertical Gardens

I have always loved fresh flowers and plants in the house. The problem is that house plants die when they see me coming. So my mission this spring is to not only maintain an inside plant collection but I am planning on venturing into the great outdoors and making my patio and yard a tropical oasis full of fun.

So far my favorite gardening idea that I have found is from  http://www.instructables.com/ AHHHH! I love these little guys. It won the competition for gardening and you can see why. Please go to the website and you can learn about lots of great things as well as how to make this! BTW it is a shoe holder!

 LOVE! Most of the super fancy ones can be found on www.floragrubb.com. These are such a great way to have an herb garden or a dramatic statement even in an apartment.

the 2 pictures above are succulents. If you know nothing about plants (like me) and kill everything, then these are going to be your best friends. I have had one succulent for about four years now so you know they are hardy.

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http://woollypocket.com

This is another great place to look for your next planter. Or if you want to enter into the world of vertical gardens.  OH and guess what else, it is made from recycled materials. Yeah, I know the biggest problem is which one to get.

Last but certainly not least I have great news. Sweet peas in homewood has a really cute version of these vertical gardens. Also these are totally on the list of things to accomplish for our own house this spring. I am hoping to show you what vertical gardens I have been working on soon.

A Place to Eat to a Dining Room

Here is a before shot of our dining room. This is the night that the fan came down, which in turn gave me a second wind to start making it a place that we would actually want to eat in.

This is a table that we found at the thrift store for $30. I liked the shape so I decided, of course, to paint it. When I buy a gallon of paint I always pick a color that I could love on anything. This way you save money and you would be surprised at how different colors look in another room.

left side

right side

Here is the dining room today. The light fixture is from Pottery Barn. I thought that it fit the feel of the house and it was in my budget. The chairs with the teal seat are from an awesome store in Pell City called David Tims Antiques. The chairs on the ends are from my grandmothers house. She had extras, so now we can seat more people at the table. I made the paintings from canvases that I had laying around.  I found a fun little drawing on the Internet and painted it myself on the two canvases. I switch the centerpieces on the table all of the time. Right now I have these really great mercury glass hurricanes that I found at Target. The sideboard is from a junk store around town, I did not even have to paint it. Oh, and it opens from the top for storage on both sides. The rug is the newest addition, below is a picture and process for making your own! 

First the inspiration. I love, love, LOVE this.

What you need:

1. Duck cloth (Pick your size I made a 5x9.)

2. Freezer paper cut into stripes. I did 20 inches by 2 inches

3. An iron

4. Acrylic paint and fabric paint (2:1 mixture)

4. Patience

One of the fun things about this rug is being able to just paint anywhere. Also, peeling the freezer paper off and seeing the crisp line is the best.

TADA!

You can also put a rug pad under it or even double up the fabric. Another trick is to paint it with poly. This helps dirt not stick to it. Total cost with paint was $46!  I know!  So fun!  There are tons of websites that show you different versions of how to make cheap rugs. Check them out and make it your own!

Overall, I think that more than having your very favorite thing at this very moment, you should focus on what you have going in the room and paint paint paint. Also switching little things around really helps me love my house every single day.