You don't have to use flowers to give your room some flair.
Liven it up instead using an assortment of foliage plants with distinctive leaf shapes, colours and habits, including trailing plants and plants with variegated or dentate leaves. Co-ordinate them with furnishings in shades of white, beige and grey. White candles and bath towels, terracotta pots wrapped with strips of tin plate and dried flowers all work well. If you're worried the effect is becoming too understated, add a touch of vibrancy with something that has a lot of character, such as mint-green tiles or a mirror with a colourful antique tiled frame.
If a sweet and pretty look is what you're after, try plants with lime-green leaves or white-flecked foliage. Go for dark-green foliage if you want a more mellow effect. You can easily change the impression of your room by using different plants.
Personally, I prefer my rooms not to be over-tidy, so in my new book, Decorating With Plants, I have attempted a comfortable, lived-in look, with nothing arranged in too orderly a fashion. A plant pot here, a book there - it doesn't matter if everything hasn't been put away neatly: I find this makes a room feel more relaxed.
PLANT CHANDELIER (top left, with Satoshi)
I used pale-tinted dried plants, such as eucalyptus, Japanese box and clematis, to create this plant chandelier. For a touch of colour, I combined them with several artificial succulents, chosen to fit in with the colour scheme of the rest of the room. When the light is switched on, fascinating leaf shadows are cast all around the walls.
STEPLADDERS (main image)
Ad hoc shelving like this lets you express yourself and have fun with plants, varying the look according to the seasons or your mood.
TOILET (top)
The restrained colours of the mirror and picture frames work well against turquoise-blue walls. The mirror, which occupies a prominent place, has special memories for me. It was my first serious attempt at producing an antique effect using distressing techniques. The large branches of dried eucalyptus look spectacular. Eucalyptus is easy to dry and smells wonderful. You can use smaller bunches as hanging displays.
HALLWAY (above right)
My front door opens to reveal a hallway, the walls of which I decorated with leaves taken from old books. A large butterfly specimen is mounted on a page of botanical illustrations.
KITCHEN (above left)
Decorate shelves and ledges close to the sink with fragrant flowers or cuttings from succulents placed in bottles. Something as simple as beads in a glass can make an attractive room decoration.
This is an edited extract from Decorating With Plants: The Art Of Using Plants To Transform Your Home by Satoshi Kawamoto, published by Jacqui Small, £18
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