The Succulent Way to Decorate

Happy March 1st and official SPRING FEVER time!  With visions of the sun warming our faces, many of you probably can't wait to get into your gardens to plant beautiful arrangements of loveliness and sweetness.  Unfortunately, I wasn't born with a green thumb...but I've found a way to fake it!

What is the perfect solution to gardening: no care and no maintenance but looks just as good as the real thing and lasts longer?  Artificial succulents from Urban Retreat!

Choose from a wide assortment of succulents like donkey tail, aloe, agave, and 10" sedum hanging stems, to name a few.  Next, choose from an assortment of our clay containers or vases.  We use succulents year round in the store for that extra pop of "green" to our displays. 

Urban Retreat and Cassidy Design

For those a little more adventurous, pick up some fresh succulents from your local Farmers Market and plant in your garden or container.  The photo below shows my arrangement which usually grows on my windowsill (taken down for photo purposes).  I found the distressed wood container at the Long Beach Antique Market and filled it with various succulents.  Honestly, it's about as "green" as I get.  I'm not sure if it's even growing...all I know is that it hasn't died which equals success for me!

I think the key to decorating with any type of succulents is to use unique and unexpected containers like  apothecary jars, vintage trophies, sea shells, etc.  

Style Me Pretty

Ciao! Newport Beach

Style Me Pretty

photos via: the nester | forget me not landscape | straight from the garden | floral verde

Enjoy your Friday and Happy Almost Gardening!

Pillow Talk

I have to be honest...I'm not good at pillow talk.  Looking at my sectional I see the same boring cluster of three pillows that I've had for the past 3 years.  I have resources available to me to get the most gorgeous pillows EVER and this is what I have.  So sad.  

Well, to be honest, this is how my sectional looks on a daily basis.  I think I leave it like this because I like the littlest pop of color from the princess dresses:)

In the "formal" living room, I'm ok with the pillows but I think I'd like to add more color against this pretty blue sofa.  This area doesn't get used except when the kids get in trouble and get sent to the "blue sofa" for time out!

Our designer, Jodie Labovitch, taught me how arranging pillows can make a big impact on the overall comfy, inviting look of a sofa.  

BEFORE:

AFTER:

When considering ordering custom accent pillows at Urban Retreat, the choices are plenty.  Not only will you decide on the size of the pillow and fabric, but you will also have an option to choose contrasting welt around the pillow.  Or, depending on the pillow, you can choose a different fabric on the face and back of a box pillow and another fabric on the side panels. 

The pink microsuede was used as an accent color for this sofa.

This photo below shows the option of changing the face and back of the box pillow and changing the welt on the accent pillows.

Below is a small sample of other pillow arrangements displayed at Urban Retreat.

Do you like to be symmetrical with your pillows?

Caitlin Wilson Design

Southern Living

Tobi Fairley

Or, coordinated, but not symmetrical?

Caitlin Wilson Design

Surya

Summer Thornton

Nate Berkus

Or, are you just carefree and freestyle?

Domino

Domino

Nate Berkus

Finally, do you prefer karate chopped, perfectly smoothed or the casual thrown in place look?  HIYA!

Decorating with Trays

We received our shipment of trays I recently purchased while in Atlanta.  I can't wait to take them out and start displaying them around the store! 

Trays are a great way to organize and declutter especially on a coffee table.  Think of a tray as a way to make the scale of a surface smaller so your coffee table doesn’t seem like a large slab of wood, glass or fabric.

Tips when displaying with a tray:

1. Showcase a collection.  
2. Create groupings, preferably in the same color palette. 
3. Layer books in a corner, smallest to largest.  
4. Add a favorite candle and fresh cut flowers.  
5. Keep it simple.

The great benefit of a tray is that it is easy to remove if you need more tabletop space when guests come over.

Breaskfast At Toast

Impossibly Chic DC

via House Beautiful

via Pottery Barn

@Urban Retreat

As an added bonus, here's a link for a DIY decorative tray by Martha Stewart.  Honestly, I'm not 100% sold on using an old baking tray...but leave it to Martha to think of that!

Martha Stewart