A Decorative Idea

This is the time of year that you can find primroses at your local garden center or hardware store. I love these little flowers because like gerbera daisies, they come in fantastic bright and cheery colors.

I found this silver plated decorative bowl about 5 years ago at an estate sale. I think I paid $8 for it. I had wanted something that had some impact to put between these two lamps, but that wasn’t too tall so that it wouldn’t block the family tree behind it. I have wanted to use it with flowers, but I was struggling to find a plant that wouldn’t be too tall that was the right color.

A little bit about this vignette: My great uncle Ignaz (Ignatius) in Germany put together the family tree information that you see on this wall (and there are two more in the hall from the front door just around the corner) in 1957 when he turned 50. These hung on the wall in the old farmhouse where my dad grew up. When my last great aunt died, my brother (who lives in what used to be the hay barn behind the farmhouse) took them down and had high quality digital scans done of them. He sent them to me and I took them to a photo finisher in town (who printed the photos of JFK Jr’s wedding) and had sets printed for me and my two boys, all my siblings, and my parents. I finally had them framed when we moved into this house. It traces parts of the family back hundreds of years. (I really wish that I could read German.) They are pretty intricate and were done freehand. It’s just pure luck that the colors he used go perfectly with my decor.

The lamps, at first glance, look like they are a matching pair because they are the same height, have the same visual weight, and I used the same shade on both of them, but they are mismatched. This is a classic instance of the high/low approach to decorating because we paid $5 for one of them, and quite a bit more for the other. The cherry and tiger maple chest came from a little antique store just inside the GA line in Tunnel Hill which is sadly now out of business. It was a great price, especially since it didn’t require any work.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you have seen photos of the “great room” and know that it is quite small. This particular wall was a little bit of a puzzle when we first moved in, but after I centered the chest on the wall, I knew I wanted to put a bench on either side. These are two Stickley benches that we had custom made because the standard bench was about 10″ too narrow. They fill the space perfectly and provide extra seating when we need it. I had the cushions made locally to coordinate with the rest of the fabrics in the room.

Back to the bowl….. I put a stainless steel mixing bowl that fits perfectly inside the decorative bowl, because I didn’t want to put wet putting soil directly into the bowl. I put some potting soil in the mixing bowl and then three primroses and then filled the gaps with potting soil. I watered it well and it has been there for about a week. By the way, primroses don’t smell great, but fortunately aren’t very strong smelling. I love that the color of the flowers coordinates with the decor.

I purposely chose primroses that had more buds hiding under the flowers that were blooming so that it would last a few weeks. They can get gangly if your house is too warm.

Happy Friday!