Cincinnati Flower Show

After my Earth Day post, I was inspired to spend the day at the Cincinnati Flower Show, which happens to be endorsed by Royal Horticultural Show. But I'll be honest, I don't have a clue what that means. It does sound important though.

While there, I got tons of garden ideas and took some pictures to share my favorites with you. Although, bad planning caused my camera to run out of battery right at the beginning. So most of the pictures were taken with my cell phone. Sorry about that.

My favorite garden of the day was one inspired by beach shacks. It was so beautiful because it was absolutely bursting with color.

I thought this was a great example of how to make an outdoor fireplace look beautiful. Instead of having a picture or mirror outside, use plants to adorn the mantle. So smart and pretty.



You could say I'm a bit obsessed with window boxes. I think they're one of the best accessories for a bland home exterior. So I was thrilled to see tons of window box examples at the flower show. Here were my favorite three.







To my surprise, Dick Wells, the orchid expert I interviewed last year for two videos: Orchid and Orchid Care, had a giant display at the garden show. He showed off tons of beautiful orchids in a pretty, white greenhouse. Unfortunately, Dick wasn't at the show yesterday.

View the Comments    Leave a Comment

E-mail • Furl • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • NewsVine

Garden Inspiration

The big thing on Earth Day used to be planting a tree. Every year as a kid, I would be reminded to plant a tree, and on few years I actually did ... or thought about it.

While the idea is a good one, not everyone has a place to plant a tree. But almost everyone has a place for a garden - even if it is small. So this Earth Day consider planting a garden, whether it's a window box, container or traditional garden.

And to give you some inspiration, here is a list of the Most Beautiful Gardens in America and a list of the Most Beautiful Gardens in the World.

Happy planting. Now I've got to decide what I should plant ...

View the Comments    Leave a Comment

E-mail • Furl • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • NewsVine

A Little Spring Inspiration

I went on a walk yesterday and was amazed by the vibrant, little flowers in bloom. It's so easy for the long winters to make you forget about the beauty of spring, and after being cold and gray for so long, I want to bottle up that color and life and bring it indoors.

And in case you feel the same way, here's a snapshot from my walk. The bright yellow, green and white would make for a beautiful, cheerful color scheme.

View the Comments    Leave a Comment

E-mail • Furl • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • NewsVine

The Beauty of Simplicity

While in San Francisco, I got the chance to interview Jun Pinon, who is one of the top floral designers in the Bay area. His rise to fame is due to his stunning, yet simple, style. And it truly is simple. I was even able to do it. But you'll get to see that on video very soon.

During the shoot, Jun's cousin Iah Isip was there to take photos of the event -- and to make me nervous. Being in front of one camera is enough. But I shouldn't complain. Iah is a highly requested fashion, fine art and landscape photographer -- so it was an absolute honor to have him around for the day.

After filming, I took a look at Iah's portfolio and realized that the eye for simplicity ran in the family. His pictures are stunning examples of the beauty of restraint.

Gorgeous floral arrangements, photos -- and especially rooms -- don't need to be complicated and filled with tons of colors and textures. Often the simplest things are the most beautiful, and the pictures above are a perfect example of that. Maybe after seeing them you'll be inspired to simplify the decor in your home. I know I was.

To see the rest of Jun's gorgeous floral arrangements, visit www.pinondesign.com. To view more of Iah's stunning photography, visit www.iahisip.com.

View the Comments    Leave a Comment

E-mail • Furl • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • NewsVine

25 Things You Want to Do (In Your Home) Before Next Year

While in the San Francisco area, I was lucky enough to get to spend a day at Google. My host for the day, who was - and is - an extremely nice and intelligent man, excitedly showed me all around the Google headquarters. I saw everything stereotypically Google, the sleep pods, micro-kitchens, massage rooms and swimming pools, but the thing that stood out the most was not what he showed me - but what he said at the end of the day.

Being a very polite man, he asked me if he could offer me some advice. "Of course," I said.

"Meghan, you should write down the 100 things you want to do before you die," he said.

That's not exactly what you expect to hear while at Google. But rather than look dumbstruck, I proceeded to tell him that I had to do that for a class when I was a freshman in high school, and I'm sure the things I wrote were completely unrealistic and irrelevant to today.

"I think one of the things I wrote was to tame a wild stallion. They were totally ridiculous," I said.

He looked at me completely serious with not the hint of a smile on his face and said, "What's so ridiculous about that?"

I was completely taken aback. Not ridiculous? But he was right.

Anything is possible. No dream or idea is ridiculous. He taught me the importance of taking my aspirations seriously and treating them like real goals rather than daydreams.

I'm still working on my 100 things. When I finish, I'll let you know.

Creating my list made me think about our homes. We talk about how we want to remodel our kitchens or redecorate our bedrooms, but we rarely write down our aspirations for our homes. So rather than writing down the 100 things you want to do before you die, why not write down:

The 25 Things You Want to Do in Your Home Before Next Year

Your list will be very revealing and can contain absolutely anything. Remember nothing is unreasonable. I'll even help you get started with some ideas.

1. Have everyone gather in one place - other than the kitchen - where we all relax together rather than going to different rooms at night.
2. Make a charity box where I can put the things I no longer need. Then actually take the box to charity.
   
3. Start a food fight and not worry about what will be ruined.
4. Create a space for after dinner dancing equipped with good music and low lighting, and use it more than once.
   
5. Grow a plant. Make sure it survives longer than a week.
   
6. Hang a full-length mirror and not be afraid to look into it.
7. Host three dinner parties that are such a hit people I don't know want to be invited next time.
   
8. Look through my pantry and not find stale food.
9. Make a real fire. Maybe even roast s'mores.
10. Create a craft area, and actually make something.

View the Comments    Leave a Comment

E-mail • Furl • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • NewsVine