White, bright, and out of my sight

I had a wonderful pair of Ikea Urban chairs on my porch the whole summer.  They were lightweight but not flimsy, pretty comfortable for an un-upholstered chair, and apparently are made out of some reinforced polypropylene.  I think they look a little futuristic.

Whatever, they were nice for the price of $0.  With fall rolling around I thought it was time to do a little patio rearranging and increase the light transmission into the living room for the winter months in the hopes of keeping the remaining houseplants alive through the winter.  So the chairs went up for grabs and some friends with a large deck and a penchant for dinner parties snagged them.

Here they are on the patio, just waiting for a party!

Happy Halloween, and Happy freestyling.

Going bananas

It just so happens that in addition to furniture I also come across discarded plants from time to time.
Sometimes they are in a planter, sometimes just in their own little dirt pile in a plastic bag - hoping to be rescued.
Last month I came across this monstrous dwarf banana plant, which I suspect is originally from the scandi-superstore.

 It was large, the photo doesn't really do it justice, but luckily the fronds are flexible and it made it to my balcony without shredding the leaves up too much.  Another friend had called dibs on it as soon as they saw the photo, so a month later the discarded banana found a new home.
First it had to survive a rather undignified car ride.....

But now it's found a happy sunny corner with lots of room to spread out. 

plants and books and plants and books...

As a bonus it sits on top of another freestyle find - a glass and metal coffee table.
Happy freestyling!

Prickly new friend and then some

As part of the Great Autumn Plant Rearrangement I paid the freestyle forward and gave away various plants to friends.  I adore this cactus with the soft white prickles, but since there is currently a cat in my apartment I didn't want to risk any feline foul play.  I know its new owners will give it love and a sunny windowsill to thrive on.

Also on the give-away list was this small pot of burro's tail / donkey's tail.

It's a great trailing succulent and complement to the taller more sculptural plants, but I have another pot full of it and needed to make indoor space for a few other plants that had summered outside.


Wherever you are, make it better, make a garden.

Happy freestyling.

June bonanza update, freestyle finds in their new home

You may remember the June bonanza post, or not.
 Basically I found a bunch of furniture and gave it to some friends who have a house to furnish.
Their car was packed.

There has been some progress in the redecorating front. 

The small metal and glass coffee table has a home in a sunny corner.

The large wooden corner shelving unit now supports a television and entertainment center.

And this Ikea botanical wall hanging brightens up the stairwell. 

Happy freestyling and sharing!

Yucca luck-a

Found: possible yucca plant in white Ikea cachepot, half-dead. One of three stalks was totally dried out and I pulled it out before removing.  The other two have signs of life.
Hopefully with water and sunshine this yucca with have some luck-a recovering from the tip necrosis that was affecting most of the leaves.

Some detail shots of the greenery, because why not?

Happy freestyling, don't be afraid to try your hand at plant doctoring.