the home: my indoor plants

left to right: orchid, scindapsus pictus argyraeus, dracaena fragrans (corn plant), senecio radicans (string of bananas)





living room plants

the three hanging plants in my living room are my very favorite! the succulent closest to the window (senecio radicans) has his position because he requires medium-to-full sun. i water him lightly once a week, and he grows rapidly. the middle plant hanging from the beam (scindapsus pictus argyraeus) is another low maintenance plant, and i have a second one in my office. they love bright light but have to be kept out of direct sunlight, and he’s due for a trim!

the largest one (cordatum philodendron), potted in the coconut fiber planter, is my newest. his original hanger wasn’t long enough for the beam, and couldn’t be hidden by some clever jute/hemp design, so i created a 12-knot jute hanger for him! i have two other cordatums (in my kitchen), and am working on some cuttings from them. there are hundreds of types of these, and this particular strain i believe is ‘brazil,’ identified by the yellow streaks or splotches in some of the leaves. cordatums have been my most successful houseplant to date — they grow rapidly, need watered once every 7-10 days, and grow in partial shade.

below are two cuttings from the cordatum that i started a few weeks ago — they’ve grown roots so much more quickly than the cuttings i placed straight into dirt, so i’m planning on planting them this week and hoping they survive!


kitchen

more cordatum on the hutch, as well as asparagus densiflorus cv sprengeri on the top left of the hutch. and of course, pixel checkin’ out the new babies. asparagus densiflorus also goes by asparagus fern, lace fern, plumosa fern….it has a lot of names. it’s pretty delicate and they are quick to dry out — you have to keep a close eye on their dirt and keep them damp (but not soaked). 24 hours dry and they die pretty quickly. they also need fairly bright light, and i’d consider them one of the hardest houseplants i’ve kept — but they’re worth it because of their delicate airy-ness!

kitchen, continued

below is my kitchen table as i was getting ready to built a jute hanger, and figure out which new houseplants would be best for the office + kitchen windows!

the itty bitty guys are hyposteses ‘white’ (keep moist + bright light) and a korean rack fern (keep moist, but low to medium light). the mossy looking plant is another one of my all-time favorites: selaginella kraussiana or “krauss’ spikemoss” or “gold club moss.” it’s sooooo beautiful for houseplant arrangements, both hanging or not. out in ‘real life’ it is a ground covering. it does best in shade (with minimal sun) and weekly light waterings, so i decided to hang it at the very top of a window in order to give it filtered light.

lastly, the button fern. excuse me while i shout that FERNS ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING EVER MADE. button ferns are a bit more adaptable to apartment life than some of the other delicate ones (maidenhair ferns, asparagus ferns) so this one is great to start with if you want something a little more unique than your standard boston fern. i decided hang him from the curtain rod in my kitchen, since it’s bright light, but not direct. remember that ferns enjoy the sun, but ALWAYS through a filter (forest plants!), and never directly. or they’ll just….toast.


the office

here is the little gold club moss, in the double-pot jute hanger! below you will see that i originally was playing with putting a jade plant at the top, but i’m keeping him outside for now, as my indoor jade plants have all died from lack of heat/sun/whatever it is that succulents just really want to be experiencing in their life.

below you will also see the asparagus fern at the top of the bookshelf, and the scindapsus pictus argyraeus on the middle shelf — as well as the cordatum cuttings. i haven’t decided what will sit in the bottom pot of the plant hanger yet.

smaller version of the scindapsus pictus argyraeus


this is a virginia blue fern, and they do well in low-light, so i have him in the middle of the living room



bedroom + kitchen

above are two succulents in my bedroom. i don’t actually know the name of the top succulent, as it’s very rare and i just got him from the succulent cafe in oceanside, california last weekend! i’ll edit this post when i find out.

the second succulent is the common sedum morganianum (or donkey’s tail, or burro’s tail), who will grow up to look like this. i have one of these on my patio as well, and so far, they’re suuuuch sloooow growers.

to end the post, i though i’d leave you with petunia and the button fern. she is the Arch Enemy of all my houseplants, and it’s been quite the feat to keep as many plants alive as we have. approximately 50 valiant plants have died in the pixel & petunia war against plants. you can see more of them both at pixelandpetunia.tumblr.com. <3

next, i’ll be blogging all my vegetables and herbs that i’m growing from the patio of my los angeles apartment, and sharing how i’ve arranged, seeded, and cared for them in the extremely non-garden friendly environment — hehe.

until next time!! xoxo

ivy and cordatum in the new home

i feel like i’m climbing out of bed for the first time in five months and sheepishly brushing hair out of my eyes as i squint to see everyone again. hello, good morning, hello. can you believe that’s how long it’s been? five months.

i’ve been resting, focusing on work, healing, and – i’m thrilled about this part – moving into a new apartment! i live for new spaces and new home projects. after a year and a half of a “let’s save rent!” apartment, we just moved into a precious little 2 bedroom full of perfect natural light that i am reveling in. max and i have spent the last couple of weeks making it into our little sanctuary. and i’ll continue to do so for awhile. i’m so excited to slowly make my way back into sharing my little living spaces with you all. thank you for always listening.

this sentence deserves it’s own paragraph: i finally have an office!!

my plant addiction is thriving. this week’s babies have just found their new places. cordatum in the kitchen, and ivy in the office.

ps. i can’t stop listening to daughter. they’re stunning.

* cordatum: $8, local grocery store
**wicker & cast iron hutch: $70, garage sale
*** frames: $5 ea, melrose trading post
**** butterflies: $3, goodwill
***** glass jars/pots: $0.50-$2 ea, goodwill
****** candle: gift, anthropologie
* ivy: $8, local grocery store
** cast iron & metal bookshelf: $60, melrose trading post
*** lightbulbs threaded w/wire: gift

kittens!

so…this past sunday at the larchmont farmer’s market, i convinced max to let us foster three tiny kittens for an adoption agency there! we have these three babies until next sunday, at which point i will probably fall apart trying to give them back.
















note: if you are in los angeles and want to adopt one of them, let me know!!! they have their flea/lice meds & are 80% potty trained. haha. .

more of the hudson apartment, history, and little favorites.







six months ago: you can’t.
one year ago today: i found a lie inside my heart
two years ago: interplanetary + marine inspiration
three years ago: tiptoes + mistakes.

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all other: home + decor posts
all other: photography posts

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favorite songs of the week.

blog. aug 3, 2012. by lauren dubinsky on Grooveshark

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my bedroom. columbus.

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+ today. +






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+ my new babies! +

I HAVE AN UNREASONABLE LOVE FOR BABY PLANTS.

YES. This morning I went on the hunt for a handful of herbs to put in my windowsills. I miss gardening ohsomuch, and have no room to do so here, but indoor herbs I can manage. I’ve been doing my best to support local businesses recently, so I resisted the urge to default to Home Depot or Lowes, and went down the street to the ConcreteJungle in the Short North. Found my lovely thyme, lavendar, mint, oregano and rosemary and brought them home!


Dug up some cute little pot-alternatives on my weekly thrifting trip, and love them.

Also, last night I went to Wonderland with Krista. What an awesome place. I’m kind of loving Columbus this week. Shhh don’t tell. 🙂

SO HAPPY.

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+ the postal service. +

I have been developing a renewed love for the postal service. First, because Recycled Air by The Postal Service has been one of my favorite songs for six years now – I even put it on Tumblr so you can listen to it here. Secondly, my darling friend Lauren sends me the most incredible letters and packages. They are all amazingly unique, and you can check out her blog, Letters, She Wrote. Today, I came home to find this little adorable thing waiting for me, with a little canvas bag inside of it:

This new love for the postal service has also resulted in my Free Prints Wednesday project. I’ve only shouted about it on twitter and my tumblr so far, but will probably stick a little note in here on Wednesdays from now on. So yes, be warned. If you want a free print mailed to you, pay attention to me on Wednesdays! The first 5 people to email their snail mail address to me, after my ready-set-go, get the print. 🙂.

+ confession time: my closet upgrades. +

Confession time. I’ve been spending money.

Everyone has a few select things they drop the extra cash on. Mine are (primarily) moisturizer, my glorious bed, lingerie, and shampoo.

This weekend, I added hangers to the list. That’s right, hangers. I made a huge investment on Sunday afternoon to expand my closet space by building a customized Elfa system (post on this coming soon), and now I’m hooked on pretty hangers. At $1-$10 a pop (I get a discount but that’s hushhush), it will take me awhile to phase out the dozens and dozens of old ones, but these are the bestest and greatest and they are here to make my life beautiful and organized!

You can click all three of these photos to go buy some for yourself!

Those last ivory ones (Ivory Huggables) come in a pack of 10 for $10 from The Container Store (same place as the rest) and are incredible for our little strappy things that slip and slide all over the place. My days of picking up fallen dresses and silky tops are over, and I’m ecstactic..

+ pretttttty. +

My room is still a work in progress, as is everything in my life. Here are some pretty new additions as of yesterday’s little hunting trip. I’m working on pampering myself this weekend, in part because the concept of my deserving it is brand new, and also because my birthday is on Tuesday! I’ve never been a birthday or holiday person, but I’m working on learning to love them. They make me uncomfortable and seem to bring out the missing parts of people and families, but I am going to stubbornly work to overcome those bits and pieces. 🙂




In continuation of pampering myself, I am off to get my hair cut and colored and hopefully visit a beautiful park before I tackle a finances class this evening.

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If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then I beg him to open his eyes, and to see. Too many live their lives with their eyes closed tightly, seeing none of the beauty that is before them. .