Creating The Perfect Planter

I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine! This week I went to Grays Gardens and picked out some plants for the planter on our front porch. In order to design the perfect planter there are three main things to remember, they are:

1. Choose one thrill, this is a plant that will steal the show. Something with bright colors, berries, flowers or height. For my planter I chose Cranberry Cottoneaster Shrub with tiny red berries for the color and texture as well as an Orange Sedge grass which adds height and whimsy!

 2. Choose one spill, plants that will cascade over the sides of the pot adding drama! I picked Wojo's Jem, Vinca Vine. I planted three plants close together to fill out the space and spill over the sides of the planter.

3. Now choose a fill plant, this should be a number of plants to fill the empty space between the other plants.  I chose White Pansy's, I planted five of them to fill out the planter.

Put them all together and you get a beautiful planter for any season!

So the trick to designing the perfect planter is...1 thrill, 1 spill and 1 fill...think of this next time you find an empty planter in your garage. Do you see our red door in the background? I love how it turned out! Check back for the full photo shoot of our entry progress.

Have a happy Friday and a relaxing weekend,

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I opened the drapes this morning and the sun is pouring in, it is absolutely amazing and a great way to start off Thanksgiving day. I have been thinking a lot lately about all of the things I am grateful for. There is a long list but here are  a few: I am so thankful for Bryan, he is always supportive of my crazy business venture ideas (last night while we were baking pies, I told him I wanted to own a bakery one day!) I am grateful for my friends and family for all of their support and inspiration with my blog. And lastly I am so lucky and thankful for all of my blog readers. Thank you so much for sticking with me and checking back to see daily design inspiration and tips. I am seriously slacking on posting my own design projects / photographs and I promise I will have more time after the holiday. 

What are you thankful for?

Here are a few of my photos of the fall trees and leaves from down the street...

After seeing these fall leaves I was inspired by this autumn leaf rose tutorial found on Design Sponge. It sums up everything I love about this time of year. Can you believe it is made from real leaves? I am going to make it for our Thanksgiving table!

Enjoy your day!

Thanksgiving: Set The Table

It is the day before Thanksgiving and time once again to create a beautiful table scape! Here are a few last minute ideas for creative place settings.

Creative Place Settings From Real Simple Magazine and Martha Stewart
 This first one is absolutely adorable. I may have to try this on our table!

Simple, cute idea using apples, twine and card stock...

Use a skewer stick and create a place setting with kumquats or cranberries

to create a seasonal and cheerful place setting.

 

 Use gold or silver spray paint to monogram a fresh piece of fruit!

 Or tie a place card to a fresh bunch of herbs!

Creative table settings:

Corn husk tea light holders. I love the combination of purple, orange and gold for a fall table.

How cute is this? Use root veggies and design faces on them for a playful centerpiece. This would be perfect for the kids table with a butcher paper table cloth for creative sketching and easy cleanup!

Beautiful, classic fall center piece...I love the paper leaves, pears and walnuts...

My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the various desserts. My family has always made numerous varieties of pies, this year we are making: Traditional Pumpkin pie (Bryan's fav), Key Lime pie, Ginger Apple crisp, Chocolate Pecan pie and a Cranberry tart. I am always intrigued in peoples different Holiday traditions and I would love to hear about yours, so please post any of your favorite traditions for the Thanksgiving Holiday...

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Dream Hotel: Napa

Good Morning! It was freezing here in Oregon all weekend and I was dreaming of a Napa getaway...This hotel is what comes to mind when I think of Napa, California. Bardessono Hotel is one of the only two hotels in the country that are LEED Certified Silver, proving that green design can be beautiful and luxurious.
I hope one day I will be able to go for a visit...

The building materials are reclaimed from various locations. Plants used  in the landscape design are tolerant to drought and easy to care for creating less of a need for water and maintenance.

What a view...

The majority of the lights used in the landscape design are directed down to eliminate the light pollution into the environment. Much of the wood (Monterey Cypress) and stone (Tufa Limestone) used in construction is salvaged from the building site itself.

Low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) products were used in the construction of this hotel. The living air plants filter and clean the air in the main lobby space giving a visual reminder of the hotels commitment to sustainability!

The wood tables in the restaurant are beautifully crafted from reclaimed timber.
In the restaurant you can enjoy local gourmet organic food as well as local wine, yum...

The guest suites are open and airy with views to the outdoors. All of the fixtures are low flow.
The used gray and black water is treated for reuse within the community.

The connection from the guest suites to the outdoors is so unique. The massive amount of natural daylight is another great way to conserve energy. All of the linens are made from organic cotton materials.

A sliding door opens from each guest suite onto a private patio, creating natural ventilation;
refreshing the rooms with clean, fresh air.

The private patio is like a dream!

All photographs courtesy of Bardessono Hotel Restaurant & Spa website.

The sustainable features incorporated in this design are: A geothermal system, solar panels, Low VOC materials including recycled tile from Oceanside Tile and in suite carpeting and draperies made from organic fibers. In suite occupancy sensors to monitor the room temperature and lights. Low flow fixtures in bathrooms and water reuse system. This is just to name a few, also to achieve a LEED certification it is a requirement to use regional materials (found within 500 miles from the building site) which in turn stimulates the local economy!

I think Bardessono hotel does a great job of being sustainable while maintaining such a beautiful aesthetic.