We’ve been busy on Pinterest recently, getting excited about gardening! Well, it is (supposedly) summer. We’re not all blessed with an outdoor space at home, but we still want a garden. So, we’ve been checking out clever and beautiful solutions to make our indoor garden without the whole house getting taken over by plants. We’ve never had green fingers but these might be a little easier for us…hopefully!
This is a brilliant use of sleek shelving units from Nordic company Muuto. Their shelving comes in a variety of sizes and can be mix and matched and stacked to efficiently use whatever space you have. We particularly love the idea of fitting plants into a shelf of similar dimensions.
While we’re looking at fitting plants into neat spaces, we love this idea of growing plants inside bottles and bell jars- a fun twist on having flowers in a vase that looks great.
Some of us might need to be a bit less clumsy for that one, though!
This is a beautiful variation on the theme, using old-fashioned glass bottles and wood and glass display cases gives a museum feel and makes the plants automatically interesting and exotic.
This bathroom is wonderful- the combination of old fashioned tub, tiling and wood, with trailing leaves feels so fresh and clean; and it must be like taking a holiday every time you take a bath- like being in the rainforest!
Terri Planty is a brilliant blog showcasing all kinds of horticultural delights. Through her we found The Plaid Pigeon, who make plant pots from old children’s toys. Some of these will go very well in a room with our new wallpaper…
She also lead us to some more great DIY space-saving DIY ideas.
These plastic bottle planters might not be the most delicate of decorations but it’s a great idea to save space and re-use materials )and you could always find some prettier bottles!)
And finally…OK, it’s not strictly indoors, but we’ll maintain the owner doesn’t have a “proper” garden. Either way, a rooftop garden in Greece is such a dream, tucked away like your own private secret space. One day….
Hope you’ve enjoyed the images- and do let us know about how you get green-fingered at home! We’d love to see pictures tweeted @sianzengstudio or posted to our Facebook.
We’ve been hosting a guest here in the studio recently. Her name is Mabel, and she’s got four legs and is pretty low to the ground:
So, in her honour, we’ve been looking at some design work that thinks about man’s best friend.
The Architecture for Dogs project has designers inventing creative and original dog houses to cater to the needs of different breeds. We think Mabel would really appreciate Atelier Bow-Wow’s creation for dachshunds, to give her some often-needed height.
The best part is that all the blueprints are free to download, so you can make one for your own pooch!
Dog Milk, from the folks at Design Milk, is a great resource for dog owners, showcasing dog design from the ridiculous to the practical and back again.
Practicality-wise, check out these collapsible water bottles and bowls from H2Fid0 (great name, always love a pun):
Ridogulous labs’ Smart Collar is wonderful, with loads of different functions controlled by a smartphone app. Check it out here:
For a pampered pooch, Love My Dog have a range of high quality, sophisticated dog apparel- their quilted raincoats are particularly indulgent:
We can’t resist a hound, and we’d love to see yours- tweet us @sianzengstudio!
Finally- the sun is out! With temperatures rising it feels like we gave up on spring and now we’re hurtling into summer. Hopefully it’ll last more than a couple of weeks this time.
While it’s hear, we’ll be dashing off to local parks (or our gardens if we’re feeling lazy) for picnics galore. Here are some things we love for al fresco dining:
This Picnic Pie Set from Anthropologie is so cute, and the perfect solution for transporting individual slices of deserts or pies. At £14 for 10 it’s good value too!
Of course you will need something to put in these boxes, so why not try one of Domestic Sluttery’s delicious recipes? We love the idea of this Pear and Gruyere cake for a picnic staple.
Paperchase always do picnics well, with an ever changing range of cute plastic plates, cups, cutlery and lunchboxes. We particularly like this set of snack boxes which can all be packed away into the biggest box, so a great space saver at home. We also love this quirky set of paper plates, which comes with matching napkins and cups- perfect for taking the kids out (or for those of us who are a bit more childish ourselves)!
For a bit of nostalgia, we love this plate from Lakeland decorated with classic ice lollies of our childhood!
To finish off, Anorak’s selection of picnicware is always a winner, particularly their waterproof, washable, lightweight picnic blankets. Their orange rabbit print is especially cheerful.
We hope you have plenty of time to get outside for a picnic! We’d love to see photos, tweet us @sianzengstudio 
We’ve been admiring Ali Miller‘s designs so much recently we just had to share. Our particular favourites are her range of crockery, carefully decorated with Miller’s whimsical collage designs, often inspired by fairytales and children’s books.
We LOVE Jim Bob Art‘s quirky anthropomorphised animals, found adorning side plates, serving plates and coffee cups.
The coffee cups are particularly ingenious, in sets of 4 stackable cups that when put together create an animal portrait. We think it would be great to buy more than one set and mix and match for an interesting new creature!
Sydney-based artist Anna-Wili Highfield creates wonderful bird and animal sculptures from torn paper and copper wire. We particularly love her birds, full of life and movement.
Anna has also worked for Hermès and the World Wildlife Fund among others. We adore her WWF panda.
We love reading. We love books. There’s a small chance that our homes might have books everywhere; on the floor, on the windowsill; on top of the microwave; even occasionally turning up under a pillow. We have bookshelves, but they’re not enough, and we know we’re not making the best use of the space we have.
Here are our favourite home libraries that really make use of the interior space, and look great too:
This is an absolutely genius way to store books in a small space- helps if the ceiling is low, though!
A book chair! Great for lazy days.
Staircase bookshelves are a clever way to use odd-shaped space and get more books in there.
Diagonal Bookshelves mean you can cram more books in!
This home library is literally packed to the rafters with books (ladder might be necesary!)And because we just can’t resist; some bookshelves that just look really cool.
We stumbled across these moo-vellous (sorry) animal storage cabinets via Fresh Design Blog. While they look just like crates- albeit, animal shaped ones- they contain cupboard and shelf space, making them a quirky and useful addition to your home.
Not for the faint-hearted decorator, these cabinets are available from Out There Interiors, along with a wide range of quirky home accessories, specialising in mirrored items.
We’re always looking for interior inspiration, but, of course, some ideas are more achievable that others, and some seem more practical for a living space. But, sometimes, we get tired of practical. Here are ten of our favourite examples of rooms we’ll never have, but wish that we could (you know, in our luxury 10 bedroom mansion while living our millionaire lifestyle.)
1. COR. This wall is actually part of the decorating scheme for a wedding, but imagine if that was your bedroom as a kid (or, er, now)! Giraffe, balloons, disco balls…amazing.
2. Who wouldn’t want this gorgeous treehouse in their garden? A magical-looking getaway.
3. Incredible bathroom.
4. Walk in Closet? Yes please! Especially if it also comes with a fireplace, a beautiful sofa and gorgeous rugs. Any way to pretend to be Anna Wintour.
5. Home Library/Dining Room. Books and food. Enough said.
6. A glass bottomed pool is one of those things that seems to scream luxury.
7. Who needs stairs? A home slide is a childhood dream come true. Who says fun is just for kids? We approve.
8. Though if you must have stairs, how about some like this?
9. This bathroom is just gorgeous. Particularly love the stand alone yellow tub- so relaxing.
10. One more bathroom- couldn’t resist! So over the top, but so luxurious- you could do your best Marie Antoinette impression in here!
What would you have in your dream home?
We’re always on the lookout for sharp new design, and Logical Art’s Air Tattoo Paper Necklaces tick every box.
These necklaces turn papercuts into wearable pieces of art. But more than this- they’re tough. The designers, Hanhsi Chen and Yookyung Shin, hunted down a paper that is not only eco-friendly but water and tear resistant, meaning unless you’re trying to tear it, you can wear the necklaces multiple times.
Aren’t they amazing? Would love to see these in a photoshoot with strong makeup and minimalist clothes.
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