Someone remarked to us last week that Europeans don't do whimsy, but do avant garde instead. Or is it it's just not called whimsy here but avant garde instead?
Whimsy? Avant garde? Whatever...no intentions of over intellectualising this. Otherwise we'll just lose the essence. But no intentions of going all out either. There will still be control there and the quirky things will still be curated
Anyway, the focus of our quirk this year isn't really the furniture, paint colour, nor the objects here and there. Those are just complemental and part of the overall look if you may. The focus is the collection of pots and plants that we have accumulated over the past months and even years and are now displayed like we've never done before.
Pot crazy and loving it!
Me in particular have been collecting odd pots that caught my eye ever since we came back from Portland. Even though I wasn't really sure at first where this collecting will lead to I carried on and by the time things got clearer I have enough to achieve the look that we wanted to achieve, at least for this year.
In collecting the pots I particularly went for those that are colourful, has interesting patterns and shapes, or even ones that I would never ever put in the house but is fun and great to have out in the garden instead. Mostly going for pots using mostly sense and just a little dash of sensibility. They are an eclectic mix that's for sure.
And eclectic display they will be as well. Even plastic ones will be proudly displayed in and amongst them too. But why display even the functional ones? Why not. Do you sometimes think that by trying to hide something you may end up highlighting them instead? I certainly think so. Instead of making an effort to repot everything that are in plastic and nursery pots, instead we opted to integrate them, even proudly displaying them as they are.
A mix of pot materials in one group
Another important element is that the pots must not be expensive at all. This 'quirk' is not intended to last and is non committal. Even the furniture is to be regarded that way hence the recycling of materials to make a table and the use of old garden furniture that were just repainted. If we ever do something permanent on the top patio in the future it won't be as difficult to let go of them if they don't fit in anymore.
The silver bowls are actually one the cheapest pots we have, sold for £1 (US$ 1.56) each at Ikea three years ago. Wish we bought more now!
Saying that we're loving the look of the top patio at the moment. Will this be temporary and not last at all? We're not so sure at the moment. This may end up lasting longer deliberately than intended. See how it goes.
It's not all succulents btw, one side are lush plants
Whimsy? Avant Garde? I think we'll settle for bonkers!
On our next post about the top patio, we'll take a closer look on some of the pots, plants, or groups of them.
Mark :-)
