Styling a little botanical corner with Laura Ashley

The botanical trend is everywhere at the moment, and I love playing my own part each month with Urban Jungle Bloggers, a monthly series all about living with plants – in your home, in other interiors and in public spaces. Since joining in I’ve collected lots of different types of plants I would never have thought to buy before and it really does make the house feel alive. Now I have little pockets of green dotted around the flat, on windowsills, on bookshelves, in the bathroom and on the coffee table. They bring life and colour to my mainly white-walled surroundings, and also give me something to nurture and look after. I now get ridiculously excited when I see a new stalk or bud growing and buy a new plant whenever I pass the florist (which is probably quite a lot!). 

So when the lovely people at Laura Ashley approached me and suggested styling a botanical corner, I couldn’t wait to give my plants some love, care and attention. Plants look great in clusters, their different shapes and sizes, colours and contrasts, giving a space both texture and height. This corner is in my living room, right near the balcony, so perfect for a bit of natural daylight and fresh air. Often the stool is piled high with magazines, but cleared of clutter, it can become the ideal home for a group of succulents.

I chose this lovely ceramic Brooke vase for fresh flowers, I love the calming duck-egg blue colour. The clean lines and natural finish also allow the lilies to speak for themselves, instead of fighting for attention with a lot of detail. It would look great with some pastel-shaded tulips or soft pink peonies.

  

I also made a cushion with this Heligan fabric, I’m sure it must be named after the wonderful Lost Gardens of Heligan near Mevagissey in Cornwall (if you haven’t been, you must, it’s a botanical paradise, with aged and colossal rhododendrons and camellias, sub-tropical tree ferns and apparently, Europe’s only remaining pineapple pit…). The hydrangea print reminds me of an outdoor swing hammock my parents used to have when I was younger; it reminds me of greenhouses and conservatories, sunshine and being outdoors. And I think it’s just crying out to be among greenery! 

It’s perfect for bringing a bit of the outside in. And because there’s no room on my balcony for a chair, a cushion is the comfiest way to perch among my pot plants and herbs. Neatly stored in this white, woven and bamboo storage basket, its easy to nip out when the sunshine does decided to rear its head. It’s quite a sturdy, heavy fabric so ideal for using outside where it might get a bit of wear and tear. I also have this clever garden twine tin to hand, just in case I need to tie up my clematis on the balcony or stop my over-enthusiastic sunflowers from drooping to one side.

    

So there we go, that’s my botanical corner. It’s brought a lovely bit of the greenery from outside on the balcony right into the living room and created a focal point along that long, plain wall (to the right are some books shelves and the other end there’s our round dining table for two). You could do the same with a small side table or odd chair lying around the house, or even create a cluster of plants balanced on top of a pile of books or magazines (just be careful not to water them in-situ!). And if you’re not very green fingered – I have certainly killed a few in my time (!) – then add colour and foliage with botanical prints, fabric and cushions, easy peasy.

All images my own

(The fabric’s unavailable on the website at the moment, but here’s another lovely hydrangea fabric from Laura Ashley) 

Disclosure: The Laura Ashley items were given FOC for the purposes of the post, all opinion, as always, are my own.