This month's Urban Jungle Bloggers topic was rather easy. Because in our cinema room where Robert and I have dinner-for-two, it's impossible to dress the table without plants. Well, usually they are not ON our dining table, but the last time I counted there were 66 plants in this room. On top of all the Billy drawers full of movies, are tiny cuttings, like the Tradescantia zebrina from Finland and my first Pilea peperomiodes and older plants like the Philodendron xanadu and my thrift shop plant. Every night before having dinner I check to see how things are going and give them some water if needed. It's part of my routine. It helps that I never cook and simply wait for dinner to be served by Robert 😉
Because it's too dark to take photos by the time we have dinner, I decided to bake something for "le goûter" (a late afternoon snack in French). Some simple sugar-free strawberry cakes did the trick. The recipe is very easy and a slightly different version from these orange cookies. I used less butter, added a little baking soda and 2 egs instead of 1, mixed a few cut strawberries through the batter and put a strawberry on top. Easy peasy and a nice little snack for the two of us.
As a playful twist I used two Philodendron leaves as botanical placemats. Two leaves were starting to fade from the plant on top of our fridge. As you can see one leaf even turned limegreen/yellow, so I cut them off. If you want to do this, make sure to avoid touching the stem of the leaf, as Philodendron and the juice is toxic when ingested by humans and pets. As a safe alternative you could use fake leaves or leaves from non-toxic plants like Boston Ferns or Banana leaves.
Another little green tip that I discovered the other day when I took some mint twigs from my overgrown vegetable pad (yesss I'm a bad gardener!): if you place the twigs in a glass of water, they will grow roots in no time and you have a nice new mint plant. I used some leaves to add some flavor to the water, but also use if for mint tea every now and then:
I'm curious: do you ever use plants when setting your table?
Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series hosted by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date via Facebook or Instagram. Want to join? Find out how on our website and use #urbanjunglebloggers on twitter and instagram. Let's bring some green into our homes and blogs!
What a lovely sweet break surrounded by plants!! Just the way we like it:-)
Merci Igor! Voilà, exactly how we like it ;)
66 plants???? Wow, there's quite a bit of watering going on unless they are all cacti and succulents:-)
It all seems rather red instead of the yellow I've come to expect but then cinema room!!! So jealous. I want a cinema room, and a double shower, and more space and and and…. lovely post x
Lots of cacti & succulents here, because they're cat-safe and I couldn't handle all the watering and caring for so many of them ;) And yes, we do have some other colors in our home too. Hahaa space is overrated, you have a rooftop VIEW, Tina! xx
Agreeing with Tina here: 66 plants! Wow. :D Everything looks so cheerful and love the idea of leafy placemats.
Thanks Yvonne! It's definitely a cheerful room and yeahhh there were 66 plants in there (oops!). I'm taking a few to Munich tomorrow, so that their plant dad can take care of them ;) And there are some other temporary plants too, so it will be more normal again soon :)
Oh my 66 plants in that room alone. It looks like the perfect green oasis! Your little afternoon snacks look delicious as well! I also love the idea of the philodendron placemats! :)
To be honest, I never set the table but I certainly used this as an excuse this month and made myself do it !
Thank you Vin! We rarely ever have seated afternoon snacks, especially not in the cinema room, but it's nice to shake things up sometimes, especially when you have a good excuse (UJB) to do so :) Glad you had fun too!
Love your table and your room! So light and open. Love your placemats,too! I never set the table, or I should say very rarely. But, when I do, I have to move plants off the table to make room for the dishes.
Thank you! Hahahaha it's the other way around at your place: plants first then food :) That's why you're the Guru ;)
Those strawberry cakes look delicious. What a lovely dining room. Wish I was as great with plants as you are. x
Thank you Geraldine! I definitely have lots of plant failures too, but I try to stick to the plants I love and that work in our home. I'm sure anyone can do that ;) Have a great evening!
You have 66 plants in that stunning room -very impressive ;-) I have 17 in my living room, and I love them all – makes me happy and makes the place feel bright.
Remember around 5 years ago, when all one had was an orchid, that was almost impossible to look after ;-)
Take care Judith – Axx
(PS: I'm writing from a new email as I have finally moved to WordPress – so fab :)
Ax
such a sweet setting and i love the bright colors in your pictures, so fresh!
Gosh I'm hungry now. Those strawberry cakes look amazing and your pictures are simply inspiring. Wish I had a room at home with so many plants like you have but with 3 kids it's kind of tricky to have cactus around. :)