A few weeks ago we co-hosted a GREEN DAY with The Hood in Paris.
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Green Day at the Hood
Tag: jungle
Today we are happy to share with you yet another inspiring green home story by our friends Freunde von Freunden. They visited the creative and lush home of spatial designer Ruth Bartlett in Berlin and examined how she grounds herself through every day rituals – one of them being her devotion to beautiful houseplants. Have a look!
Ruth Bartlett’s apartment sits on the top floor of a building surrounded by the perfect mix of nature and unique structures. The interior landscape of her home reflects that same balance: a bright, open space filled with plants and rustic wood pieces along with modern creations of her own design.
There’s no one way to describe the décor of Ruth’s home; modern, classic, earthy—a testament to her love of experimentation. Natural elements and handcrafted touches are intertwined throughout to tell the story of the progression of the London-born designer’s career.
Bartlett’s passion for spatial design was planted in her early on. “I think I drove my parents crazy as a kid because I would make floor plans of their house for them and then I would design their garden, telling them how they were doing things wrong—I think I was really precocious!”
By exploring and learning about different materials and processes or working with new crafts people, everything around Bartlett factors into the way she designs. “Every space you walk into lights up two more positions in your brain. That’s why it’s such a joy,” she says, before adding; “But you never get to turn off because everything you see can be a little idea. When your passion and your hobby is your work, then there is no off-time!”
Although her home is supposedly her space away from her professional life there are signs around the place she can never really get away from it all. As Bartlett points to the block color paint on the walls and a shelf hanging by the front door she describes how her design choices began as budding ideas for projects. “It’s where I like to test things, little ideas, shapes, color combinations,” she says, enthused.
But while design will always be a part of her life, she’s also conscious that sometimes it’s good to take some time to appreciate the space that’s already around her. “To live in a city where one can get close to nature, especially with the dog, it’s a huge bonus. There’s a lot of space to be outdoors and be peaceful for a change, I think it’s my favorite pastime. Just add food, wine, and good friends.”
For more from this interview with Ruth Bartlett, head over to the full version over at Freunde von Freunden, and if you’d like to take a look at the German version read it on the Manufactum website.
Text: Serita Braxton for FvF Productions. Photos: Dan Zoubek for FvF Productions
Let’s be honest: Plants at home also make work! But it is work we consider a pleasure not a chore, right? Apart from watering, pruning, fertilizing, cleaning and caring for our plants, we also get quite often a little heap of green garbage to get rid of. Lucky are those who have a compost heap as this is the best way to circle back plant waste into nature. For those living in urban spaces the best solution is a separate bin for biodegradable waste. And since we at Urban Jungle Bloggers always strive for something stylish for the home too, we might have a little suggestion for you: the new Bo bin by Brabantia.
The new Bo bin by Brabantia comes in two versions: As a Touch bin with stylish legs and as a Pedal bin for more compact spaces. It also comes in eight different colours and 3 different sized removable inner buckets, so you can definitely make your waste bin a stylish addition to your kitchen. We are using our Bo bin as a perfect solution for our plant waste. Our plant care routine is as simple as this: Once a week we dedicate an extra hour or so (depending on the number of plants) to go through all our green roomies. We check on their status of happiness. Who needs some water? Who needs pruning? Who is suffering? Who is growing new leaves? Ususally this plant routine hour ends up with a good handful (or two) of plant waste. And hop it goes into the new bin!
The new Brabantia Bo bin does not only look stylish and helps you reduce your impact on the planet, but it also has a pretty small footprint itself. Like many Brabantia products, Bo Pedal Bin is Cradle-to-Cradle® Certified on Bronze level. For every Bo Pedal Bin sold, Brabantia donates to The Ocean Cleanup.
Here are just a few simple tips for your plant care routine:
- Dedicate one specific day/time for your plants and mark it in your calendar! No forgotten dried up plants anymore!
- Make your plant care routine a good me-time. Play your favorite music, get in comfy clothes, brew yourself a coffee. Make it enjoyable to the max!
- Get a nice watering can to add aesthetics to your watering routine! We rounded up some favorites here.
- Have your urban jungle kit ready: plant scissors or a sharp knife, fertilizer, a damp cloth to clean off the dust from your plants, a mister, a bin for the plant waste.
- Group plants together according to their needs (light loving plants, humidity loving plants, desert plants etc.). It will make plant care much more efficient.
- Love your plants! As simple as that!
Thank you to Brabantia for sponsoring this post. As always all thoughts & opinions are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help support this blog.
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Green Fingers at Woolrich in Milan
If you have been interested in plants for a while, it’s nearly impossible that you never heard of Satoshi Kawamoto, the Japanese plant artist and creative director behind Green Fingers. Satie San, as he is called by his friends and loved ones, has a unique way of working with greenery, which he explores in the several books that he wrote about plants and styling. He also decorated many shops and department shops around the world, always focusing on making greenery a natural and familiar presence of the surroundings. His style is very recognizable, with a hint of wabi-sabi, lots of natural textures like wood stumps, driftwood, dried mosses, and vintage furniture.
At the end of 2017, well known outdoor brand Woolrich opened their new Milan flagship store of 650m2 where they sell their full collection of outdoor fashion. The flagship store also houses an Extreme Weather Experience room (where you can try the Woolrich outdoor wear) and in the back of the shop, you’ll find a wonderful green plant shop with a small mini garden terrace: Green Fingers.
It’s not just a few cacti here and there, but a true experience of style. Tall Euphorbia and hanging Lepismium Bolivianum plants grow side by side, among flea-market-sourced accessories, Japanese-made housewares, dried greenery and flower wreaths, and some trinkets designed by Satoshi Kawamoto himself. “People who are not interested in plants but who are interested in looking for clothes, may end up buying plants,” And the opposite is true as well “people who are looking for plants may end up buying some well designed Woolrich clothing.”
What makes the Green Fingers shop in Milan different from other plant shops is Satoshi Kawamoto’s signature styling: the styling of the plant around the shop is not glossy and sleek, but lived-in, earthy and a true feast for the eyes. The diversity of plants, the different textures and shapes, in combination with vintage plant pots, ceramic bowls; terracotta planters and dried leaves and flowers make that you discover something new in every corner.
Green Fingers offers plants for any budget, for people with or without* so-called green fingers:
* Just a little side note: we don’t believe in having green fingers, or a black thumb. If you are willing to invest a little bit of TLC (time, love and care) into your new green friend(s), and if you do your homework, you can have a healthy and thriving jungle at home. More about that in our Urban Jungle book,
Would you rather pick a small Crassula ovata (Jade plant), a spiky cactus plant in a small ceramic planter or one of the many different species of Sansevieria? Isn’t this the coolest DJ-booth ever?Wabi-sabi with Tillandsia airplants in a wooden apothecary cabinet. If you have read our Urban Jungle book, you may recognize this idea from Pepper’s beautiful green home!
“The garden was not built in a day”. These words are tattoed on Satie San’s arm and represent the need for patience when growing something truly inspiring. You can find the text also on T-shirts in the shop. Or rather go for the “Grow Damn It”-shirt if you are still learning about growth and patience *wink wink*. Satoshi Kawamoto’s books about styling and plants are also available:
Green Fingers shop in Woolrich Flagship Store Milano
Corso Venezia 3, 20121 Milano MI, Italy
Open Monday through Friday 10am – 7pm, Saturday 10am – 8pm, Sunday 11am – 7pm
Plant care is more fun with nice gear. Invest in beautiful accessories to make your plant-care sessions even more pleasant: a lovely watering can, special gardening shears, little spades, watering bulbs and more. Plant care will not only be more fun, but more stylish too! These are some of our current favourite watering cans:
1 – Bowli watering can by Xala
2 – Roxi Gold mini watering can by Urban Outfitters
3 – b. for soft watering can by Elho
4 – Watercan Chrystal by Garden Glory
5 – Kaenjusai watering can via Ode to Things
6 – Sproeigieter by Studio Harm en Elke
7 – Kontextur X3 watering can by Paul Loebach
8 – Vivero brass watering can by AYTM via Made in Design
9 – Botan watering can by Kristina Stark
10 – Deuce pitcher watering can by Umbra Shift
This is not a sponsored post. We genuinely <3 the products above!