| pics from Cote Maison |

To use step ladders in home decor is not a new thing, but it’s surely well suited for outdoor decor. Not least on a balcony, to use height. Enhance the summer with tropical colours!  Why not paint a an outdoor wall candy pink? And further emphasise the tropical summer feel with details in green and orange…An outside mirror (bottom photo, left) is decorative. It gives an illusion of space and with colourful furniture it will set a tropical, yet urban vibe. Let your home decor-thoughts, e.g. for a living room, follow you outside. Comfortable chairs and sofas, and decorative details such as lanterns and butterflies (bottom, right)….

An excellent, neat and ûbertrendy example of the interior-goes-outside-trend can be found in the summer house of the writer/entrepreneur/ journalist/blogger Alex Schulman on the island of Gotland. Wall art, details, decorative lighting and even a wall shelf. A magic garden room!

See how many frogs, gnomes and colourful flower arrangements you can spot! :) Here’s another dose…

In the extended garden the deep green forest foliage provides the ideal backdrop for the cute wine cellar and the local wildlife. This is charming, unpretentious and pretty.

Share and Enjoy:

]]> http://www.trendey.com/idyllic-garden-scenes/feed 5 http://www.trendey.com/pretty-pansies-in-pots-from-the-past http://www.trendey.com/pretty-pansies-in-pots-from-the-past#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:52:23 +0000 Mia http://www.trendey.com/?p=2397 At my latitude one may have to wait looong, almost until summer, to put out beautiful flowers on the balcony. But there is an amazing plant – the pansy – that despite its splendor actually can stand some splashes of April snow and occasional sub-zero temperatures. I house my brave beauties in flea market bargains: e.g an copper bowl that in the old days used to carry coal, and a worn and torn old chocolate box.

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies. that’s for thoughts.

OPHELIA said.

Eco-friendly solar-powered lighting be the balcony/outdoor item of the year. Even IKEA has a range, named SOLIG. In white, red and turqouise.

The Lively colourful balcony pots are high on the agenda this spring, with a choice of eight colours and a great feature: the selfwatering attachment.

As for seating, I’m looking out for the chair that will beat my design favourite, the top-trendy Forest chair from Italian Fast.

And of course, every outdoor space needs a (colourful) garden gnome.

| pic: living etc |

| photo: Pia Ulin |

Yesterday night, me and Mike planted some seeds. Some pre-cultivation is going on, in prep of the balcony season. Since we live in Swedish hardiness zone 2 (corresponding to approx. American zone 6) we need to be proactive. Seeds of Tobacco flower, Tomatoes, Basil, Wild Strawberries, Chili and Busy Lizzie are now set in fertile soil. We’ll see who makes it to June :) Beauty is under waaaaay. Let the sun shine in!

In an attempt to prolong, and cherish, the season just passing, here’s some inspirational goods for the garden. Pics above are from Terrain At Styers, the flagship Terrain garden centre, located in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. The garden & home store Terrain is the fourth brand of Urban Outfitters, i.e. a sister to beloved Anthropologie. Below I have hand-picked some especially inspiring garden goods from this fairly new brand. First is the Doorknob Birdhouse, a rustic and very charming birdhouse made from salvaged wood and vintage-found doorknobs. Next to that, a Courtyard Bird Fountain, which is a small bubbler fountain said to have the same classic shape and rustic presence as the vintage original that inspired its design. The Harvest Basket, highly suitable for a stylish late-summer mushroom hunting, is reminiscent of the baskets used in Europe for harvesting fresh-cut flowers, veggies and autumn produce. Also inspiring is the Antiqued Lotus Pot, a noteworthy terracotta pot with a rough-textured finish – tending to recall the natural weathering on pottery salvaged from the sea.