Urban Jungle Bloggers | Decorating With Plants
Wow, what a week. Having spent the majority of it in the grips of the worst virus known to man, sucking the life out of all but one of us (Tabby came out of it unscathed) I was so very grateful to have enough energy to spend time doing a little gentle planting and reviewing this beautiful book, 'Decorating With Plants' (The Art Of Using Plants To Transform Your Home) by Satoshi Kawamoto. I'm excited to share my first post as part of the Urban Jungle Bloggers community as well, although I've been a member for months, I always forget to take part! I was so excited when Igor and Judith launched the community as it coincided with the beginnings of my own little urban jungle which is ever multiplying and filling the house with lush, green life...
Sometimes I pick up a book and feel the amount of love and attention that's gone into it, and this is such a book. Never mind that it's full to the brim of the most enviably beautiful houseplants, enough to give you a case of the green-eye (see what I did there?) it's styled to perfection without losing touch with reality. Sure, interior style books can make great coffee table decor but they're not always so easy to translate into our every day reality. Tokyo based garden and interior stylist Satoshi invites us into his incredible single-storey home and to feel inspired to rework some of his ideas into our own in a relaxed and lived-in way. He's not a fan of uniformity and every surface, corner and wall has been styled into a botanical wonderland.
Taking us on a guided tour through each room in his home, he talks through the process of transforming each space, from the renovations, through to the finishing touches. I instantly fell in love with his dining room which houses a step ladder to display his antique pots and flea market finds and aged tin panels on the wall. His bathroom houses huge branches of dried eucalyptus which must smell incredible in a hot shower, and his bedroom has an old American feel to it, with bunting across the ceiling and an old iron framed bed. Satoshi has a real knack for finding beauty in the unexpected, his home is a treasure trove of the reclaimed and re-loved and plants are at the very heart of it.
These wire cloches were a charity shop steal find that have sat waiting in my garage for months, so it was high time to put them to use and plant them up. I plan to hang them in my office window where they'll get plenty of gentle winter light. Whilst hanging plants inside is something I've yet to try, having seen Satoshi putting it into practice, I'm hoping these babies will happily grow through the grids and gently trail.
Satoshi highlights work wear as an integral part of who he is and how it influences his style. He looks so cool in his work coat and apron (top tip: he makes his own from old linens as good work aprons are hard to find) and often combines one with a jacket for a night out.
The real gem of the book though, is the wide variety of creative projects there are to try. From a wire succulent chandelier, how to style a corner of your home in three ways, working with dried flower displays, to table top styling, such as this cheese and wine party (above). It looks like something right out of Narnia, don't you think?
The book reflects Satoshi's life's work wonderfully, he is clearly a man who embodies his calling for plants every day. He lives and breathes it and I urge you do to the same, however small you start out. Trust me, a life with plants is so rewarding.Thank you to Jacqui Small Publishing for sharing another beautiful book with me. The book was published on 16th October so go out, get a copy and be inspired to plant!