wishful wednesdays {wacky indoor greenery}

One thing this Lazy Lady does best is fantasize about the future.  I'm not very good at living "in the now," I'm always thinking about the next recipe we should make, or couch we should buy, or city we'll live in, or job I could have, and where we'll be in 1, 3, 5, or 15 years.  It's not really the healthy way to live, buuuut sometimes I come up with some really great futures. . . 

O.K., last week I told you that I wasn't quite done talking about indoor plants, and I mentioned that my next round of finds were going to be a little zanier than the first. Well, here we go . . .

Planter Wall Tiles!

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Designed by Maruja Fuentes, these fish-scale shaped tiles provide a pocket to grow plants and herbs indoors, right on your walls.  Combining the pocketed tiles and a flat version, you can create any shape or design you want in your home.

One article I read mentioned using these tiles for a kitchen backsplash and growing herbs in the pockets, which I think would be a really fun idea.  They are very beautiful, and I like being able to see little peeks of the wall color in-between the tiles to add a small pop of color.

Next up . . . Moss Carpet

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Yeah. Awesome.  How would you like to dry off your feet on a living bath mat?  I wouldn't have to ask The Man to put up the rug anymore if we had something as beautiful as this.  My only qualm . . . bugs?

The mat itself is made from an imperishable foam named "plastazote" and it is planted with ball, island, and forest moss. The steam and humidity in your bathroom keeps the moss growing.

So weird. So different. So cool.

So now we've seen plants on your walls, on the floor, hanging from the ceiling, and -the classic- sitting on your table.  Well, how about growing IN your table:

This table was designed by Emily Wettstein.

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It's a reclaimed walnut and steal table with a built in planter.  The planter is removable so you can take it out and plant whatever your little heart desires to act as a gorgeous center piece.  Just don't drop your dinner in it!

I love how vibrant the green grass looks against the old walnut.  I could just see the cats at my parents house going bonkers on this table.  

Speaking of furniture

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Dagný Bjarnadóttir, a landscape architect in Iceland, is the designer of this collection aptly titled "FurniBloom."

These stools and tables are made of 1 cm thick plexiglass.  The tops can open to plant new things, but can be left closed because there are ventilation holes all around the boxes to let the plants breathe and grow.  On her website it says that these structures have stayed outdoors in Iceland since 2007, and still look great and have kept their glossy finish.  How fun would these be for deck furniture! You can grow flowers, grasses, whatever you'd like.  I'd love to have a set sprouting with wild flowers!

Last but most certainly not least.  If you love plants but not in your home.  If you don't have a home. If you just want some green in your life at all times, I have something for you!

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Growing Jewelry!!!

 These rings are Bea-U-tiful! I want them all so I can walk around the city with some green by my side.  Created by Hafsteinn Juliusson, they were actually designed for people in metropolitan areas as an "experiment in drawing nature toward man."

The cushiest knuckle ring that could ever make contact with your face, (it would still hurt though, so don't get any metropolitan-ites angry).

How about you? Would you like some nature on your finger? How about in your table?  Would you love to step out of the shower onto some fuzzy moss? Or would it freak you out?

Tell me I want to know!

the chairs! {cushions and choices}

Last week I got a start on the cushions for the chairs.  I took the fabric off hoping that anything underneath was salvageable. What I found was that this isn't the second life for these chairs . . .

It's the Third!!

Ha! That floral fabric is so familiar, I'm pretty sure we had some cushions made out of it in the early 90's!

I cut off that fabric too and found old (pretty much useless) foam, and really thick particle board that was falling apart.  So into the trash it all went.

The Man and I cut out a new chair base, and decided to call it a day.

So, next up I have to make the final decisions.  Fabric and Paint Color!  I am a terrible decision maker, and its made even worse with the unlimited possibilities available for both.  At first The Man and I were thinking that I should keep it simple.  Limit myself to Black and White so that my brain doesn't implode.  But I keep going back to color, color, color.  One factor that goes into this decision is my "customer."  Am I making these chairs for myself, or for some imaginary buyer.  I would love to sell these chairs once I'm done.  I want to finish them and get them out of the house so I can make room for my next project.  But, who do I design them for? How do I sell them? Do I make them more subdued so anyone will like them?  Or do I just go all out and buyer be damned?  See what I'm talking about . . . kaBooom! (That's the sound of my head exploding).

Either way I go with the fabric (color or no) I think I'm going to keep the paint color of the chairs white.  If I give myself choices of paint color ontop of the fabric choice I don't think these chairs will ever get done.  So I thought I would show you some of the fabric options I'm thinking about, and you can let me know what you think.

If I'm staying with Black and White I was thinking about these:

Media from Premier Prints

Kimono from Premier Prints

Zebra from Trina Turk

Knit from Studio Bon

If I decided to add a little color to the chairs these are some that I was thinking of:

I really love these new fabrics custom designed by Jessica Jones for The Needle Shop:

Picket - Dawn

Sticks - Dusk

Skiff - Dawn

Fawn - Dawn

I also really like all these fabrics off of Schumacher.  The only problem is that I don't have an account with them, and I can't tell what weight some of the fabrics are.

Ric Rack in Pool by Studio Bon

Sally in Midnight by Studio Bon

Beauty Bark in Ocean by Trina Turk

Grass in Olive by Studio Bon

Modern Moire in Citrine by Kelly Wearstler

(It might not look like it from all these examples but I am open to a solid color)

Arches in Orange by Trina Turk

Doppler in Sorbet

Then there is a thrid option. . . Print my own fabric.  On one hand I shouldn't do this, it's taken me so long to get these chairs done and I shouldn't make it more complicated.  But on the other hand, it's taken me so long to get these chairs done so, why not?

Well, what do you think? Do you like any of these prints or do you have something else in mind? Do you know of any good online upholstery fabric shops?

Please!! Help a girl out!

wishful wednesdays {indoor greenery}

One thing this Lazy Lady does best is fantasize about the future.  I'm not very good at living "in the now," I'm always thinking about the next recipe we should make, or couch we should buy, or city we'll live in, or job I could have, and where we'll be in 1, 3, 5, or 15 years.  It's not really the healthy way to live, buuuut sometimes I come up with some really great futures. . . 

I think one of the hardest parts of living in Chicago, and being from Portland, is the lack of greenery.  I miss walking amongst trees that weren't strategically planted in perfect rows to represent neighborhoods and parks.  I love plants. I love green. I love the smell of grass, and the look of Fall.  New Spring flowers and Old-Growth Forests.  But, I live in big city Chicago, so I have to create my own flora.  I have never been that bothered by the amount of rainfall in the Pacific Northwest, because the more it rains the more lush and vibrant the greenery becomes.

We have a back yard at our apartment but it is shared and we've already taken over enough with our BBQ and picnic table.  I'd love a deck, but that's another post all together.  On top of that I don't want to invest in a garden when I know we aren't going to be in this apartment for very long.  Sure you could go out and buy some terracotta pots and some indoor plants, but I want something a little more unique than that.  So I've found some fun solutions to my plantless living.

First up Indoor Trees!

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These are Indoor Citrus trees.  Calamondin Orange trees and Meyer-Lemon trees to be exact.  These trees blossom and produce fruit all year round.  They are beautiful and unusual and, once you have them a while, they produce edible fruits that are great for cocktails!!  I love the way they are used in the top photo, so regal and stately.

I love love love using fresh herbs when cooking but at the grocery store they are way too expensive and at the farmer's market they give you so much, it all goes bad. 

These pots from Sagaform are a super stylish way to grow your own herbs indoors, without having to worry about the crazy climate changes we have here in Chicago.  I'm really thinking about getting one of these.  They also come in a single and double pot.

Terrariums are a great way to bring a little green indoors and they are growing *pun intended* in popularity. 

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There are so many different shapes and sizes of terrariums.  You can make them out of so many different objects, you can hang them from the ceiling, hang them on a wall, or place them on a table.  They are so fun and versatile and act as your own sustainable min-garden.  My favorite part about terrariums is how silly you can make them.  More and more I keep seeing  people using little toys, or making little characters out of clay to decorate their terrariums and tell a little story with.

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Look at those little Gnomes!!

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This is actually an air plant, as opposed to the succulents and mosses that fill most terrariums.

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This terrarium in a cake stand is my Favorite!  I love cake stands and want to own every shape and color, but I don't bake cakes that often, or really any other treats that could live in a cake stand.  (I love to bake but The Man doesn't really eat sweets, so there's no one to share with).  This would be a great solution, so instead of baking cakes all the time, I buy some cake stands to make terrariums out of! (One question though . . . how did they get it in there??)

Vertical Gardens have also recently become popular. There are a few different companies/people who have designed some pretty ingenious ways to turn a wall into a garden.

 All the green you want, using only a fraction of the space!

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These are from the company Woolly Pockets.  It's a great family owned company that has created this new way to grow plants, both indoors and out.  The Woolly Pockets are made of a breathable felt and a built-in moisture barrier.  The photos above show the "Wally," a system of pockets you hang on your wall using the screws and fasteners provided. Here is a diagram of how it works:

Here's what the Wally's look like before the plants have grown over them.

Woolly Pocket also has the "Meadow" and "Islands," which are plant holders that sit on the ground.

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Cool replacement for a coffee table!

Another way cool option for a vertical wall is the Flora Grubb Succulent Vertical Wall.

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It looks like a picture or painting hung on the wall, but it's actually alive!

Here is a close-up of the wall above. 

O.K. So, you can't really have these indoors.  They have to drain, so unless you can live with wet moldy flooring, these have to be kept outside.  BUT, it is something that you can move from place to place.  You could still own and grow one of these and live in an apartment, if you had some outdoor space, and you could bring it with you if you decide to move. 

Either way, they are Gorgeous! And I want one.

Here is a photo of the system without the succulents in it:

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They are sold in 20"X20" trays, each containing 45 slanted potting cells.  The trays are a modular system so you can create what ever size or shape, (well, what ever boxy shape using the 20"X20" trays) you'd like.  When you start them out you have to plant them flat and let them grow flat for a while so that the roots grow into the cells and develop.  Otherwise as soon as you hang it on the wall they'll all fall out.

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They really are plant art, beautiful succulent paintings.  These vertical gardens are so unique and incredible, I can't stop staring at them.

I want every single one of these plants and planters in my house.  I want some trees by the doorway, some terrariums hanging from the ceiling, an herb pot on my kitchen counter and vertical gardens covering my walls.

How about you? Do you have a need for green?  Do any of these look amazing to you? Or are you a bigger fan the classic planting pots? 

Tell me, I want to know!!

P.S. I've found even more ideas for getting green indoors that are even wackier than these, and I'll show you next week (on an actual Wednesday).