We’ve made it a full year! Granted, not one step of it has been easy but EVERY step of it has been blessed. Thank you to all of my wonderful clients/friends who have made it so incredibly worthwhile. It seems impossible that I could have met so many wonderful people just by collecting things I love but I’m so grateful for it!
Rainy Days and Escapades
First, I want to thank all of my wonderful customers for continuing to support and love Apartment 46. For those of you that don’t get the eNewsletter, I had to take a full time job to keep afloat during these unsteady times. The desire to provide a beautiful, comfortable and interesting shop is so important to me that I’ll do what it takes to keep the doors open. Valentine’s Day was outstanding! I was caught up in such a flurry of bouquet-making that I didn’t actually have time to photograph the flowers!
Celebrate Your Space
As Summer comes to an end I’ve been exploring new themes in anticipation of Fall – darker colors, warmer woods, and interesting plants that invite a second look. Creating sacred space to me is about combining things that you truly, deeply love, with comfortable furniture or warm, soft, textiles.
New Bouquets
The past couple of weeks have been really rewarding and exciting for me as a floral designer. I’ve had the opportunity to finish a number of very different floral arrangements – from dramatic to laid back summer dinner party – and with each new arrangement comes a new opportunity to learn and grow.
Big Things Come in Small Packages
My love affair with succulents continues. I have just discovered the beauty of Carpet Sedum which is so soft and spongy that I have a hard time keeping my dirty little hands off of it! It looks so elegant in a worn stone urn that it would be as perfect indoors as it would be out.
One of a kind treasures
One of the greatest things about Apartment 46 (and of course I am terribly biased!) is the unique nature of every item in the shop. I do carry a few vendor lines, but they have met stringent criteria and are both beautiful and natural.
I am often asked where I get all of the things I have on offer. They come from all over the place – from outdoor markets in Amsterdam to highest bidder estate sales in Hillsborough. I am constantly on the hunt for cool new items to share with my clients.
Life as Art – The Mystical, Magical Air Plant
I gravitate toward unusual plants and flowers so the stranger they are, the more I love them. That’s why I am mad about air plants (proper name, Tillandsias). A member of the Bromeliad family, they are usually found growing happily in tropical environments but can do quite well indoors with the right amount of love.
Color and Texture – Experimenting With Flowers
I am definitely not a traditional florist. In fact, I don’t consider myself a florist at all. I consider my shop a design lab. Ordering flowers from me might seem like a visit to a circus psychic (I ask a lot of questions about the receiver), but I strive to design unique and amazing arrangements that stand out from the regular fare. Twice a week I visit the San Francisco Flower Mart in the wee hours of the morning (before 7am to be exact) to see what interesting things the vendors might be selling.
Succulent Love!
I confess that I am a new convert to the joy of succulents. Growing up I was never drawn to them but my mother had a hulking mass of one in our yard that seemed to always be freezing to death and coming back to life. Other than that, it wasn’t very spectacular to me.