'Other' Ways to Bring the Outdoors In

We've all heard it before: 'Blurring the boundaries' between outdoor and indoor living spaces is all the rage. Usually people accomplish this with a bunch of houseplants, but why stop there? I decided to bring a bit of the garden into the comfortable air conditioning of my living room by taking cuttings, clipping berries and displaying seeds. The result is a mix of beach and botanical bliss, bringing back memories of wonderful trips to South Florida with my wife.

Take cuttings from plants in the garden and let them root in water. The Rhipsalis baccifera stems in the round white vase below were actually used in our wedding arrangements over a year ago and have been growing in water ever since. Oh, and the 'vase is actually a soap dispenser.

Moss and Stone Gardens make these great little things called 'Moss Rocks,' which are glazed ceramic 'rocks' planted with moss. This one needs to recover a bit since it went about a month without watering when my mom was hospitalized, but the fact that it stayed alive is a testament to the durability of moss.

When I say 'bring the outdoors in' I'm not just referring to plants. Anything is fair game. To the right of the Moss Rock I've scattered a sampling of light colored beach-combing finds, such as drift seeds, shells and sun bleached algae. In the photo below you can see how a hand collected sea whip and drift seeds coordinate with a vase with a branched coral pattern.

The berries in the vase were collected from my radicalis palm (Chamaedorea radicalis) and cut at different lengths for a staggered effect. Along with the muted aqua and white colors of the bookshelves, the berries, sea whip and vase add a welcome pop of color.

To continue the beach theme, we've displayed relics like sea beans and sea glass, as well as a diverse mix of books about the beach and Florida nature. The Time Traveler's Wife has nothing to do with the beach, but it was an excellent book (better than the movie of course) and it fits the seafoam color scheme.

This is a my version of a bud vase. The elephant ear (Alocasia macrorhizza) leaf was on its way out so rather than let it wither all alone, I brought it inside along with a caladium leaf for some instant drama. Not the bad kind of drama, but the good kind.

What do you do to merge indoors and out? For more cool ideas, check out my Botanical Decor pinboard on Pinterest!

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