Tag Archives: house plants

Creating a Living Wall

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Katie | 5 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I am terrible with house plants. Either I forget to water or I neglect to re-pot when they’ve outgrown their space or the cats decide to tear them to shreds. But after I saw Dana from House Tweaking’s living art frame, I had to give indoor plants one more shot.

I’ve been enamored with the concept of living walls for a long time but never had the guts to go forward. This is a much smaller scale project than a full-blown living wall, so failure is not so painful. And best of all, since the frame rests on the wall, it doesn’t take up valuable tabletop space and the cats can’t mess with it.

For this project all I needed was the living art frame kit which I ordered from Wayfair, potting soil and some house plants.

The kit comes already assembled and has detailed instructions for filling and maintenance.

As you can see, the frame has slanted slots for ten plants. This keeps the plants and the dirt from falling out and making a mess on the floor. There is a built-in watering system so once it’s mounted, you water from the top of the frame and the water trickles down inside the planter. There is a hidden bucket at the bottom to collect excess water.

First, I filled the slots with some soil.

Then I divided up the larger plants and placed them all in their own cubby, covered with more soil and some water, making sure everything was neatly yet gently packed.

And voila, I was done. I set the plants outside for a few hours to soak up the sun and to give the soil some time to rest before mounting.

The kit comes with a bracket you attach to the wall with two screws and then the frame rests on the bracket. Easy enough. A few minutes later, the wall came to life.

I put the frame at the top of our stairs to liven up the boring white wall and so the plants can enjoy the sun beaming down from the skylight. Every time I go upstairs, I smile.

As I stated before, I don’t have a good track record for house plants, so we’ll see how this works out. Good news is if any of the plants don’t make it, I can easily swap out new ones. I might even put some shade-loving annuals in there if all else fails or pop in a few air plants which don’t need soil at all.

Have you had success with house plants? Have you installed a vertical planter or living wall? Would love to have some tips or advice to keep this alive and well!

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Posted in Eco Del Ray, Garden/Outdoors

Tagged house plants, living wall

Making Your Home Smell Clean and Fresh, Naturally

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Leslie | Leave a comment

The last thing anyone wants is for their home to smell musty, or like the fish they fried for dinner, or of the dog or cat — as much as we love our pets. We want to breathe easily and also know that our home smells clean and inviting to family and guests. Rather than just covering up cooking, pet, mold smells with a scented candle or cloying spray, here are some tips and ideas that remove bad odors naturally.

Basic supplies to keep on hand:

Vinegar
Baking soda
Lemons
Oil of lemon
Other essential oils
Cinnamon sticks

1. Put a few cinnamon sticks in a drawer or on the shelf of the linen closet (break them up or just place them in there whole). The smell is subtle but it acts as a natural deodorizer. You can also add the sticks to boiling water on the stove to make a stovepot potpourri.

2. Mix oil of lemon with some baking soda. I bought the oil of lemon from Mom’s Organic Market but you can find it in most natural food stores.

I sifted the baking soda with the lemon oil to break up clumps. Then, I put the mixed in the original baking soda shaker container.

I went around the house and shook the powder on all carpets and on the sofa and chair where the dog lies. I added extra on problem areas, where she has had accidents (although I had used an enzyme solution on these areas when I first discovered them).

After I let the powder sit for about 8 hours, I vacuumed it up. (Added bonus, Ana said her feet smelled like lemon. Great, I said, it’s natural foot deodorizer too!)

3. Slice a couple of lemons in fourths and let them boil on the stove.

The clean bright smell wafted throughout the main floor. I then carried the still steaming pot around the house, and let me tell you, I felt like I had just done a major spring cleaning. The effect is so immediate and satisfying.

Afterward, I wiped the sink with the lemon peel and then ground a couple in the disposal to deodorize it.

4. I put a cup of vinegar under the sink where we usually keep a worm composting bin.

It normally doesn’t smell at all, but a little odor eliminator can’t hurt. You can also put a bowl of vinegar or baking soda, or even coffee grounds in the refrigerator or freezer to absorb unpleasant smells.

5. Finally, every house can benefit from house plants. They really are the most effective means of cleaning the air according to a NASA indoor air quality study.

Natasha at Pure Prana Yoga Studio has some great tips that you can use in your home too. In our tour of her studio, she shared her recipe for an all-purpose cleaning solution and showed us how she cleans the studio using only natural products.

Now, once you know you’re conquered the source of bad odors, adding a nice scented candle or some herbal soap is a great idea. We especially like local DIY soap makers: Wessex Soap and Truly-Life handmade soaps.

And if you want to make a nice spritzer, these four scents make for a warm seasonal room spray (a few drops of each mixed in a spray bottle with a distilled water).

After you give these techniques a try, maybe you can add build on them and experiment with more “advanced” techniques. Do you have any tried and true natural remedies for removing odors in your home?

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Posted in Eco Del Ray

Tagged air quality, baking soda, house plants, lemon, odor elimination, oil of lemon, vinegar

Del Ray’s Quirky Comic Book and Plant Store

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Leslie | Leave a comment

Every neighborhood seems to have an eccentric shop in its midst, one that sells the odd assortment of vintage and dusty trinkets, but manages to stay in business year after year. Del Ray’s Exotic Planterium and Card and Comic Collectorama is just such a store.

It’s well worth a visit when you’re in the neighborhood. In fact, even though it doesn’t have a Web site, comic book collectors come from miles around to peruse the vast inventory and chat up the owner, Dennis Webb.

Dennis grew up in Alexandria. His Mom ran a vintage store just down the street. When he was little, she gave him a corner of the store for him to carry his own inventory of magazines, toys, and games. He later pursued a degree in horticulture and eventually came full circle, opening the Exotic Planterium and Card and Comic Collectorama in 1974.

The door sticks, more so when the weather is warm, so you have to squeeze your way in. This and the fact that the interior is not very well-lighted lends itself to a feeling, at first, of apprehension. You’re then greeted by a friendly tropical fern under a grow light and an assortment of small house plants. I recently sought Dennis’s advice with my terrarium plant choices. He seems to have infinite patience and definitely knows his stuff.

The back of the store is taken up with shelf after shelf of comic books.

Even though it looks a bit haphazard at first glance, Dennis has created a very deliberate order, based on the era and type of comic book.

He keeps the rare editions in plastic behind the counter.

If you look up, you’ll see action figures in their original packaging hung from the shelves and you can also buy old Star Trek paperback books.

Dennis sometimes sells cold drinks to his customers and he keeps his own lunch in the ice-encrusted refrigerator.

The more time you spend in the store, the more treasures come into focus, like these binders bulging with baseball cards.

And a random collection of old LPs and 45s.

In a neighborhood that’s getting increasingly high priced, it’s rare that a store like this can last. Dennis’s plant and comic book store is certainly a rare gem, one I’m glad we have in Del Ray.

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Posted in Del Ray Life

Tagged comic books, house plants, plants, store

How to Create a Serene and Peaceful Home Year-Round

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Leslie | 2 Comments

Del Ray resident Marybeth Walsh, a holistic health coach, tells a moving story of her personal path to wellness on her Web site. In her personal life and through her work, Marybeth strives to impart a state of balance through nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle awareness. She also creates balance in her home.

Marybeth was more than happy to open the doors of her lovely and might I add, peaceful and serene, home to DIY Del Ray. As she says, “your home — whether big, small, or somewhere in between — should be your sanctuary, a place where stress is left at the door and your soul is nurtured.”

Here are some ways you can create a more comforting environment, just as Marybeth has, in her home during the holidays and year-round.

Bring the outdoors in. Cut flowers and blooming bulbs, or pieces of wood, rocks, and other natural elements can create a feeling of nature indoors.

Even beautiful woven baskets can enhance this feeling in a home.

Nuture green plants in the home. Marybeth recommends varieties that filter indoor pollutants. Some plant varieties include: Gerbera daisies, Boston ferns, English ivy, Chrysanthemums, Areca palms, spider plants and golden pothos. (We listed other house plants in our post about a local green yoga studio as well.)

Paint a room to correlate with how you want to feel while in that room. For instance, blue and green promote a relaxed feeling and may be good for the bedroom. Marybeth recommends these colors from Benjamin Moore:

For the kitchen, yellow-oxford gold #315
For the dining room, burgundy, caliente #AF-290
In a child’s bedroom, green, #csp-870

Surround your senses with beauty. Artwork, naturally scented candles, smooth textures, and calming sounds all provide a pleasant environment in which to relax. A fountain provides soothing background noise and in feng shui philosophy, running water attracts money.

Set aside a room or area for peace and calm. A place for spiritual reflection and meditation can provide shelter from noise and distraction. Marybeth meditates each morning in her living room with the fountain running nearby.

Clean out the clutter. A low-maintenance home is refreshing after a day of hectic meetings, errands, and chores. Fewer items can mean less frustration. Clutter drains energy.

Marybeth discards boxes from the grocery store and instead stores grains, cereal, sugar, and the like in neat containers.

She organized her sons’ favorite toys and momentos on a ledge shelf to keep his room less cluttered.

Marybeth recommends that you cover your computer when you’re not using it to minimize the electromagnetic emissions and also lower the stress that may occur when the computer beckons.

Create an atmosphere of love. Display handmade or meaningful gifts from loved ones and photos of family and friends. Children’s art and gifts from your children are a perfect way to fulfill this recommendation.

Marybeth also uses a lot of wood in her home as a way to ground the energy, like this distressed cabinet filled with beautiful glassware and framed family photos.

Allow natural light to flow into your home. To take advantage of the sun’s cycle without heating up your home, hang linen curtains (organic cotton, if possible) on windows that face north or south. If you have a nice garden or
view from a window or two, keep those windows uncovered as much as possible when you are home. Let the light stream in when you can as Marybeth does in her bathroom.

Having a mirror in every room is another way to enhance natural light and reflect it back into the space.

We are looking forward to another post that Marybeth and her mother, a feng shui consultant, are going to write for DIY Del Ray with advice for manifesting the life you want to live, through your interior design.

Posted by Leslie

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Posted in Advice, Interior Design

Tagged benjamin moore, decluttering, feng shui, fountain, house plants, interior design, paint, sanctuary