Dull Corners

Every room however carefully planned usually ends up with a dull corner or two. Most furniture has straight sides and squarish shapes and simply doesn’t fill corners perfectly so empty gaps happen whether we like it or not. Low seating units are often placed at right angles to each other with a coffee table put where the two meet. Behind it there is an inevitable blank. Pictures and prints are generally hung on walls in central positions so that they can be seen at their best leaving the corners bare. A corner by its nature may only receive a small amount of light but in a room with a good source of natural light to start with there should be enough to grow quite a few types of plant.

The choice of how to display a plant or group of plants in a corner is wide. You could use a hanging basket fixed either from the ceiling or from a wall bracket, a specially made corner shelf unit or a container standing on the floor for a tall plant. Small plants can be placed on a low piece of furniture or plant stand. One of the prettiest shapes of plant to grow in a corner is the standard form, that is a tall bare stem with all the growth branching out from the top. Read the rest of this entry »

Although for much of the time we choose a houseplant because we like the look of it, we sometimes pick one to fill a special position, where we know from experience it will be highly successful. As well as the obvious places there are dozens of other less obvious ones throughout the house which, with a little thought, can be transformed by the right choice of plant. Most houses have alcoves and recesses, dull corners or redundant fireplaces, all of which could do with being brightened up and put to good use. Even the most unlikely spaces can make a home for some ‘kind of plant. Here are ideas for plants to fit any odd empty corner you might have. Read the rest of this entry »