The Happy Place

Oh me, oh my!  I can't believe we've travelled 2,000 miles in the last week.  Tales to tell and so much fun!  At this point I am too tired for a real post, but I will throw out some pictures of some amazing kids who LOVED the happiest place on earth.

Or course, there was the afternoon where everyone was hot and tired and I suddenly understood why mothers eat their young!  Lunch and a parade helped bring back the magic!  My sister and her kids joined us one day making it extra fun.  So little time, so many rides . . . tired, but happy tired.

On long car trips I will often ride in the very back middle seat--the one all the kids say is the worst seat in the house!  I honestly don't mind (except for the seatbelts that poke my butt), and the car puts me to sleep anyway, but I often state that the kids don't know what they're missing! The back middle is actually the best seat in the house because of the great view out the front window!

As we loaded up for the long drive home, I couldn't really claim that it had the best view in the house--the view was, shall we say, a bit on the big green Goofy side . . . .

 

And yes, she wore it ALL the way home! 

Space filler

Hello there! How was your weekend? Mine was great but I got very little done on my project list. A nap, yes. Projects…not much.

Over the years I’ve discovered an answer to one of the biggies when it comes to decorating – filling odd, empty spaces in our home. I’m all for letting a room “breathe” and not putting stuff everywhere, but there are times when a spot just needs something…and I’ve finally figured out a solution that looks pretty and is functional.

If you consider cleaner air functional. ;)

Awhile back I moved a few things around in the living room and knew I wanted something tall and full that would take up some visual space next to the sofa. I took off to our local nursery to see if I could find one of those fiddle leaf ficus trees I’ve seen all over blogland. They are awesome…but I couldn’t find one. And I hear they are not cheap either.

WOW! Talk about filling some space. ;) I later learned they can be toxic to cats (there is some conflicting info on that), so it’s probably best I didn’t find that one anyway.

Soooo…I happened upon one called a money tree (also known as the jade plant), and LOVED it’s beautiful braided trunk:

Isn’t that awesome? I did a quick search with my phone to make sure it was non-toxic to cats (check!) and then checked out the price tag -- $35 and it was half off.

Dude. So there:

I’ve had this one for months now and it’s doing SO well. I used to have it right next to the sofa but then I found that awesome lamp at Lowe’s, so it’s scooched over a tad.

It fills what is an odd space that felt too empty to ignore, but it’s not something like a piece of furniture that overwhelms the space.

I don’t have the greenest of thumbs, but this thing is SO easy to take care of. It needs very little water, and once you find a spot where it likes the light, it’s good to go. This doesn’t get any direct light and it does great.

I found another half off tree that day that I had planned to use behind our family room sofa, but it threw a plant fit in that spot. :) It’s leaves were falling off left and right (the folks at the nursery told me that would happen if it wasn’t happy).

So I moved it over to the bay window in the kitchen and it does MUCH better in full sunlight:

I didn’t plan on it going there, but I really love it. (No, it doesn’t interfere with the door opening at all. And excuse the Halloween window clings -- we get started up in here.) I’ve realized plants give life to a space like accessories and furniture can’t. (I can’t remember what this one is called, anyone know? It’s got long skinny leaves.)

I try to use different “pots” for each one – they are all planted in regular pots but then I place them in baskets or in this case, an antique crock. They can look a little top heavy otherwise, and I like how this balances them out.

Back when I shared the final office redo, I had a tall fern-type plant next to the chair, and it lasted all of a couple weeks. Sad face. I’ve learned I’m not good with anything even slightly tropical – ferns (which are supposed to be soooooo easy) die on me. Every. time. Maybe my house isn’t warm enough? I don’t know.

That spot was just off without something there, so last weekend I headed back to the nursery and found another money tree and…wait for it…it was half off. Score!:

He’s in bad shape so I’m pretty sure that’s why it was half off. I’m nursing him back. :) I put the planter in an old basket I wasn’t using and I love the added texture.

OK, I lied – ALL ferns don’t hate me. I’ve had one on our kitchen sink for more than a year now:

This one serves a purpose though – it hides the spot on the beadboard backsplash where I totally screwed up:

No one sees it now. :)

I’m finding plants are really useful when filling dead spaces while decorating the built ins – the fluffiness of this little guy had me right away and it was such a great touch of color and LIFE:

Wait…I think that one is a fern too. I’ve only had it for a few days, so we’ll see if this one likes me. ;)

Sometimes plants can be a bit of an investment up front, so I’ve purposely gone for ones that were clearanced out so I could see if I could keep them alive. Now I know that money tree works well in our house, (and I don’t kill them) I’m looking for at least one more. Love them!

For years I didn’t use plants in the house because of the cats. I talked about some animal-friendly plants I found in this post last year.

So are you a plant lover? Can you keep them alive? Have you found one that does well (with little work) and care to share? Anyone have the elusive fiddle leaf fig that I wanted in the first place? :)

*P.S. I blogged about what I keep in my purse over at my friend Tauni’s  place…go here to see what’s inside. ;)