Nature is the best designer and public gardens often have the most inspiring displays! I have recently discovered the pleasures of walking the paths in our local Arboretum that is only half a mile from my house, and I find it brimming with inspiring summer colors that would make gorgeous palettes for designing a room.
Bridges along the Wildflower Loop Trail at the Acton Arboretum wander through woods of varying shades of green with assorted bark in taupes, browns, and grays,
There are several design lessons we can learn from nature:
Green is a neutral
Really! You thought you could only use gray and beige or black and white as neutrals? Look around outside - green is everywhere and it makes a stunning backdrop for flowers and fruits in all the colors of the rainbow!
Part of the Orchard Loop Trail at the Arboretum. And yes, that’s a grape arbor…growing actual grapes!
Blue is an ideal companion to green
The striking cerulean of the summer sky on a clear day is a beautiful counterpart to all the lush shades of green.
This one is from my yard not the arboretum, but still…stunning blue and green combo!
Mix shades, shapes, and textures
Nature mixes yellow greens and blue greens…long skinny leaves and heart shaped leaves, shiny and matte and it all blends together into a lovely symphony creating a green texture that is so much more interesting than a one note single green repeated in a space. Mixing differing shades and textures of green in a room requires a delicate balance, but can make the difference between a ho hum green room and a stunning one.
Don’t these look like something fanciful from a Dr. Seuss children’s book?
This hosta and fern garden is a lesson in mixing greens shades, shapes, and textures
one of the ponds covered in leaves of tiny yellow-green duckweed during the summer
Here are some garden inspired fabrics and wallcoverings (click on each image for more information):
My recent binge of walking has required me to find suitable footwear and I am delighted to have found THE most comfortable sneakers! I have a really hard time buying shoes and these come in widths ranging from extra narrow to extra wide for the perfect fit. I bought these black ones, but they come in several other colors as well.
My new FAVORITE sneakers from Propét!
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