One of my favorite ways to fluff a room is to add live plants or flowers... I think every room instantly perks up when a green plant or a vase of flowers is added!
I love to tag along with Mr. AntiqueChase to the hardware store on the weekend... HomeDepot has a nice selection of house plants and I usually come home with something, whether it's a trailing ivy, a fern or a succulent.. I would much rather buy a potted plant than cut flowers. While I love the look of the growers bunch or a dozen tiny roses, I prefer to spend my money on a plant that will last... (hopefully)
I do love cut flowers and branches from my own garden... I find so much satisfaction in puttering in the garden, snipping a few flowers and bringing them into the house. The weather has been wonderful here in Southern California... nice to be outside...
I have nice collection of vintage vessels, vases, and containers to display my plants and cuttings in. It's always fun to "shop the cupboard" and find just the right vintage container for flowers and plants...
I apologize in advance for the photo quality. My son went on his senior retreat with my camera and it didn't return in it's original condition... sort of having problems focusing and with the lighting...
The first container I want to share with you is a $5.00 garage sale find. I'm guessing it's an old metal milk pail... it originally was black and it was a bit too dark for my house. I first painted it with Annie Sloan Blue and then gave it a top coat of Old White.. a bit of distressing and a clear wax. The bottom of the container is a bit thin and I think it would leak, so I have placed an empty tennis ball container inside to hold the water... Don't throw out your tennis ball containers!! They hold water and flowers perfectly.
I cut some white roses from the garden.. and some flowering branches from a tree. The white roses have no smell but the white lacy branch blossoms make up for it... they smell delicious!
The flowers and branches add some life to this quiet corner in my kitchen... and I love that they were free from my garden!
In my guest room, I added the first blooms from my cutting garden.. These roses had short stems so I gathered them together in an antique tea pot...
I found small tea pot at an estate sale around the corner from my house. I paid about $10... The spout is a bit chippy but it didn't stop me from buying it.. I knew it would be perfect for cut flowers. I don't collect blue transferware, but when I find a nice container for a good price, I can't resist. I can always give them as presents or hostess gifts with garden flowers...
Old English roses with tons of petals are my favorite!
Planting Victorian silverplate
with succulents is a favorite project of mine...
Here, I purchased a few tiny plants at Home Depot..
I like the smallest $1.80 size...
This (quadruple plate) silver butter dish with lid was $7.00 at an estate sale. It was a bargain that day.. as everything else at that sale was way overpriced...
This vignette is a Salvation Army silver platter, my butter dish with succulents, and two tiny bird's nests displayed under a pair of glass cloches....
If you would like to see more "succulent and silver decorating" you can click here to read my older posts here:
If you would like to read more about decorating with cloches, please check out an older post here
I like to decorate with dry flowers as well... Here is an old bronze trophy I purchased at the Wednesday Flea Market... I love antique trophies and they are hard to find at a good price. I debated this one because it wasn't silver... I believe it is bronze and it's very heavy. It was a splurge...
I am displaying a bunch of lavender inside which I purchased from Decor Steals... It smells delightful, for now.. I wonder how long the scent will last?
Next to the trophy above, and in the photo below, you can see another succulent arrangement I made using an old silverplate creamer...
I purchased 3 of these creamers from my friend Kym
at her store
For Easter, I like to display violets. Here I have taken 3 violet plants from Home Depot and placed them in a brown transferware chamber pot...
I always purchase chamber pots when I see them.. They are perfect for plants!
Each violet was about $3 making this arrangement less than $10 and it will last for months!
The straw was packing material that I saved from a mail order purchase...
More violets...
This time in an old ironstone soup tureen.... I purchased this container at a Thrift store for a few dollars.. It was marked down because the ladle was missing.
My powder room doesn't have much light and I can't seem to keep plants alive in there... The violets don't require bright light so they are a perfect accent to my guest powder room... Again, I just got these at Home Depot and plunked them in the container...
The dried hydrangeas I shared with you in my last post.....
More succulents in silver...
These are on my front entry table...
Old trophies make nice containers too....
This is the hallway between my kitchen and dining room... (sorry for the blurry photo, like I said my camera isn't focusing)
This is just a grocery store ivy wreath, about $10... All dressed up and looking charming in a junk silver vessel. I purchased this silver container in Ventura, CA years ago...
Imagine this bamboo stand with out the touch of green... For a few dollars, the plant dresses up the entire space!
A new favorite plant and a new favorite container!!
This galvanized bucket was in my parents garage, on the floor.... being used as a trash can. A trash can! I had bigger dreams for it and every time I visited my mom I would ask for it... I waited about two years and it was just recently gifted to me!! I cleaned it up and found this amazing plant (again HomeDepot) for it. I have no idea what type of plant it is... My friend Des thinks it's an asparagus fern... I love the color green against the galvanized silver color!
It brings such life and brightens up the kids bonus room!! A fresh plant is much cheaper than a new pillow or accessory....
More blurry photos, again.. I'm sorry... This is a bathroom off the bonus room... I have a small collection of little white pots...
Here, I planted a few of my own succulent cuttings... This is my first attempt at planting my own cuttings and they seem to be doing well... They like this East facing window.
I was feeling like my kitchen needed a pop of yellow. I purchased a pair of these small yellow plants... they start with a "K" and I'm drawing a blank on the exact name of them. They are in the succulent family. Each was $3.50 at the grocery store. I popped them in a pair of pottery containers (not vintage) from Restoration Hardware... I keep them by my kitchen sink and they are easy to water!
Another vintage silver creamer... this one is in my living room on the window ledge...
Another bathroom display... I guess I really like flowers in the bathroom! (I need to dust my glass jars, don't judge!)
This bamboo stand holding towels and pharmacy bottles gets a pop of color from more garden roses...
And I saved the best for last...
This is MY FAVORITE flower container....
If the house was on fire, I would grab the photo albums and this silver pitcher!
An old hotel silver water pitcher... gorgeous patina....
I love the pitted silver...
...and the inscription!!!
"The Manor"...
It makes the bathroom feel so fancy
No???
Perfect with my "Strike it Rich" yellow roses... Which is sooo not the case at tax time!!!
I hope you enjoyed tour of the flowers, cuttings and plants I am enjoying in my home...
So...
next time you're out
at a thrift store or garage sale
pick up
..a chamberpot
...a silver creamer
...a chippy teapot
...a soup tureen
and maybe
a silver trophy...
a silver water pitcher...
any urn...
or a metal milk jug!!!
Buy yourself a plant next time you are at the grocery store or home improvement store.. visit a garden nursery... cut some branches... or some flowers...
Enjoy nature inside!
Thanks for the visit!
I hope you will consider following my blog!
~Marcy
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