Around the House: Plants Aplenty

May 11, 2014 | Dining Room, Kitchen, Living Room, Master Bedroom, Stuff I Like | 19 comments


So it’s properly Spring (nearly Summer!!) and my plants are finally thriving. I’ve picked up a few new ones recently so I thought I’d show ya around the house where my plants live!

First up is the kitchen…

Now, I seem to be utterly obsessed with Maidenhair ferns. I get mine in my local Homebase for a mere Β£3 each and while they can be a wee bit temperamental, I do find if they get enough (indirect) sunlight and water (weekly), they seem to thrive quite nicely.

This little one I’ve had for a while now but it was starting to go a bit brown and this spot seems to be the perfect windowsill for any plant’s recovery. After ridding it of some of the dead leaves, it’s doing rather nicely now while it’s little owl friends to watch over it.
I love how even on days where it’s raining one minute and sunny the next (like it has done this weekend), it’s pretty little leaves filter the light so delicately.
On the opposite window sill, I received this cute little succulent (no clue what it is so if anyone wants to help, I’m all ears!) as a surprise gift from the lovely peeps over at West Elm London.  I love the bird planter so much – how cute is her little face?! You can get your own here.  Thank you West Elm!!
While I don’t talk about cooking too much here on Swoon Worthy, Wayne and I are fairly handy in the kitchen.  However, in winter, I find it really hard to keep my herbs looking fresh but in the spring and summer, I always have a full array of fresh herbs just next to the kitchen sink.

The mint plant (on the far left) is actually just used for my killer cocktail – I should really share it properly on the blog at some point but here’s the recipe:

Adapted from this recipe for a Mistletoe Kiss on AO at Home:

Juice of 1/4 lime
1 shot Disaronno (or make it a double if you wish)
About 10 mint leaves torn up
Pomegranate Juice
Ginger Beer
Combine the lime, mint and Disaronno in a shaker with 1 ice cube and shake hard so that the oils from the mint leaves are released.  Strain into a glass of ice and top with half Pomegranate and half Ginger Beer.

OH MY GOD SO GOOD.  Promise I wouldn’t steer you wrong. I take my alcohol consumption very seriously. Ahem.

Anyway, back to the plants!
Let’s move on to the dining room… Another Maidenhair fern for my console table.  I just love how soft and organic they are.

And in the living room… guess what?!  Yes, ANOTHER Maidenhair fern.  Are we seeing a pattern emerge? Yes, yes, I think we are.  I promise I’m not just moving one plant around the house – I actually have 3 of them!

And finally, the bedroom.  I have been struggling with the vignette on the chest of drawers for a while – and it’s most likely because I haven’t had any plants in here all winter long.  They just don’t get enough sunlight to survive and so I indulged myself as the sun is shining to get another fern.

Oh and you’ll notice it’s not a Maidenhair this time (shocker) but instead, a big fat fluffy Boston Fern.  That, combined with a little blue painterly pot I got (on clearance – go me!) from the Habitat range in Homebase which is filled with a fake plant from Ikea. Yes, you can totally combine fake and real plants – no judgment from me. Go for it.

It’s really brought some much-needed colour into this spot along with some books (yes, Professor Brian Cox’s book is among them – gotta represent the boy too) and a little yellow, black and white pot I picked up from H&M Home a while ago.

Ahhh now my house feels like it’s alive with the song of houseplants.

Have you been adding to your own jungle lately?  Any favourites?  Do tell, I honestly can’t get enough of them!  Or maybe your a cocktail connoisseur and you want to share your favourite recipe? Go for it, I can’t get enough of cocktails either.

Don’t miss a thing!


19 Comments

  1. Jess rey on May 11, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    it looks great…so fresh and inviting! <br />

  2. Hilda McEvoy on May 11, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    I am going to sound like a saddo here no matter how I put this but your styling in these photo&#39;s is so good it nearly brings a tear to my eye!! In a good way! Great post xx

    • Kimberly Hughes on May 12, 2014 at 7:49 am

      Hahaha! Wow! Thank you so much hun! ;) xxx

  3. KL eternalicons on May 12, 2014 at 7:13 am

    I love plants but sadly haven&#39;t any inside yet. When the build is finished though I&#39;d love to incorporate some into the interior design. Yours look great! Indoor plants went out of fashion in oz for quite awhile; nice to see the return of some green!

    • Kimberly Hughes on May 12, 2014 at 7:50 am

      They went out of fashion everywhere for a while I think – it&#39;s so nice to see them back in style again :) x

  4. Jenny Hurren on May 12, 2014 at 10:46 am

    We recently had a glam greenhouse style shoot for our new site (coming soon) and bought LOADS of palm trees. I couldn&#39;t bring myself to throw them away afterwards. The office is too cold at night and my staff wouldn&#39;t take them (why, why?) so I&#39;ve crammed them all into my one bedroom flat. I intended to give them away to people slowly but it&#39;s not going to happen – I&#39;m loving

  5. Thrifted Treasure on May 12, 2014 at 11:43 am

    I love the idea of lots of plants in a home but sadly I am cursed with black thumbs :-( Yours look gorgeous!

  6. Alex - Hydrangea Girl on May 12, 2014 at 12:07 pm

    If I didn&#39;t have such a black thumb, I&#39;d have so many plants in our apartment. Like hydrangeas. And orchids. But I unintentionally kill everything. <br /><br />p.s. MAIDENHAIR FERNS ARE SO SOFT I SOMETIMES CAN&#39;T EVEN FEEL THEM. Totally yelled that at you. Nice choice.

  7. Holly on May 12, 2014 at 3:14 pm

    I love plants to the point where my husband politely asked me to not bring anymore into the house! Since I live in a desert climate, I have very bad luck with ferns–it makes me so sad! Those maidenhair ferns are gorgeous.

  8. Claire on May 12, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    I love these ferns, I think I might be making a trip to Homebase this weekend. I think I will have to check out the birdy plant pot this will make a perfect birthday present for my bird obsessed friend.

  9. em on May 12, 2014 at 5:34 pm

    I have been concentrating on the yard in recent years so we only have succulents in the house at the mo but in the long awaited new place there will be plants! We&#39;ll just have to keep them high up as flash likes to eat the ones at my mums!

  10. Julia Konya on May 12, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    Love the Maidenhair fern but my cats would eat it. I can only have certain plants :(

  12. Alexandra on May 13, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    I LOVE maidenhair ferns, but I have no luck with them. I&#39;m really really good with plants, only not with maidenhair ferns. I swear it&#39;s become so bad, the ferns literally cringe away from me when I walk past them in my favourite garden centre.<br />Oh, and I think your mystery plant might be a crassula – a special kind of jade plant. I know there&#39;s one that looks like this, all

  13. Hook, Line and Sink Her on May 14, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    Any plant that enters our house is sentenced to certain death. I wouldn&#39;t be surprised if one day I manage to kill a fake one. <br /><br />Cocktails, however, I can help with. My favourite summer cocktail is an amaretto sour- amaretto, lemon juice, and pink lemonade. YUM. xxx

  14. Claire on May 14, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    The burst of green in each room just looks so right. Spring is quite simply wonderful in my opinion and I&#39;m hoping to add several indoor plants pronto. <br /><br />Plus your cocktail sounds delish. <br /><br />Thanks for sharing x

  15. Dolly did it on June 14, 2014 at 5:12 am

    I also use a combination of real and artificial plants, I don&#39;t have enough light getting in for healthy happy plants everywhere I want them, so I say just for with what works for you, its your home after all <br /><br />AA xx

  16. Mira on March 8, 2015 at 7:17 am

    Learning a ton from these neat arlistec.

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