. -->

4.04.2013

Photo Finish: 3 Spring Tables

 in my last post, i shared the process of cleaning up and decorating a garden house
(more than a shed, but not quite a greenhouse)
that was lovingly built in the backyard of a house i rented in Seattle.
[the owner is my sweet friend Todd Waddell, a VERY talented garden & visual designer
who also owns the lovely shop Bountiful Home in Edmonds, WA]

after the two day, no cost garden house makeover project was done,
i took the third day to do a few exterior improvements
(also shown in my last post
and then i just PLAYED, taking hundreds of photos.

i gathered up some props from the yard and my studio,
which all combined with my basic white dinnerware and clear glassware
to create several different tablescapes for spring.
some the images you see in my new banner and other graphics
were all shot inside that greenhouse on a cold, cloudy winter Seattle day...
 the natural light in this space was AH-mazing!

i hope you find decorating & entertaining inspiration in these
three very different table settings with Spring-fresh style:

 in this previous post, i shared my idea for using stemless wine glasses as miniature 'domes'.

this pink tablescape for spring shows one version of them:
miniature pink ranuculus blossoms inside a mini terra cotta pot, under a glass dome,
which is set off by vintage Coke bottles holding pink roses
and vintage linens with a pink border.

revelation: the roses are fakes. GOOD ones. so are the ranuculus. 
it was about 38 degrees when i shot these photos,
but you'd never know it from the flowers!

then i switched things up, and shot it this way:



 moss [scavenged from the yard] fills up terra cotta pots of various sizes, 
including miniature pots under the glass 'domes' - 
one dome fits over the tiniest pot, another dome sits up IN a small pot.
a tiny leaf on a twig and the sprouts of a bulb add interest to each.
[those bulbs with the green sprouts? onions.]

a quick switchup, and i had this setting:
 clear glass, white ceramic pieces, white tulips, and some wood eggs [found at a thrift shop]
create a simple, farm-fresh look - that can also be very contemporary. 

 the wood eggs sit on top of antique cut glass salt cellars, under the stemless wineglass 'domes'.

then it was time for some 'garden' photos -
and amazingly, the sun came out just as i was shooting them!

 those fabulous white tulips show up a lot in my photos. pretty, huh?
they're fake. 
i pulled them out of floral wreaths that i found on a clearance rack at Restoration Hardware Outlet.

the leaves sprouting up out of terra cotta pots?
fake!

being a visual stylist is like being the biggest liar on the planet sometimes -
we have to create spring in winter, Christmas during a summer heat wave, and summer in the snow,
and make it as realistic as possible! 
when i find products that work as well as these tulips do, i use them. often.

a few shots of of some collections... staged on a miniature chair.

it was a really fun day for me, 
enjoying the fruits of my labor and a space that was all my own to work in.

and do you know what happened the NEXT day?

yeah. it snowed.
gotta' love Seattle!

shared online:

funky junk interiors

4 comments:

  1. Gotta love Mother Nature. Beautiful post. I only have sporadic internet so this is short but wanted you to know I came and read- xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those photos are great. Love the idea of flowers in bottles. Don't want to rub it in but we are having fantastic weather in Houston. I too have been cleaning my work shed out back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. HALLELUJIA!!!! I can comment on my own blog again!!! LOL...

    My friends, for WEEKS now I have been fighting with my blog settings to allow me to reply to your sweet comments - to no avail. It wouldn't let me sign IN. I could admin the site, but not comment on it. FRUSTRATING!

    Today, I uploaded a new version of Firefox browser and badda-bing! I exist again! And my Blogger 'quick edit' function is back, too, so I am one VERY happy girl right now.

    I thank you all so much for your feedback and comments here... I so appreciate you taking time to come and read my posts on HOMEWARDfound, and I do apologize for not replying for awhile. I'm back!!!

    ~ Deb

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your pictures are BEAUTIFUL! It's so important in blogging to have lovely pictures and you certainly do. I'm working on that, too. Linda

    Thanks for sharing and linking and I hope we will be great blogging friends. Linda

    ReplyDelete