trying for a "natural" look
pablo snazzy
I've been inspired watching "tribal life" on the Discovery Channel, so I am trying to create a "natural feel" to our living room. I took up the carpet, all the way down to the hard floors, then i put down a mix of sand and soil. i'm hoping to grow natural plants and small trees inside my living room. The problem is none of the plants seem to take, they end up dying. i water the floor and there is enough sunlight coming through the windows, but nothing i do seems to work. Any ideas or suggestions?
daveontheroad
Pablo - we tried a similar thing and you may want to think twice. A couple of years ago my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to go with a "hair"theme in our living room. I don't know where we got that from; probably too many "Trading Spaces" episodes.... Anyway, we worked with a local barber and in time had accumulated enough hair for material to use for a multitude of purposes. We applied it as a type of wallpaper, used it on lampshades and throw pillows. My son even was able to weave a throw rug out of it which we placed under the coffee table. The problem was, when we got all done with it, it didn't turn out to be such a good idea after all. I'm just saying - you might want to really think through your plans to see if this is what you REALLY want.
shawnlyons
ROOTS, they need solid foundation for rooting, start all over, first thing is start with a container,somthing to catch the water, giant size planters, plan on losing a little over three feet, in height.....create a design so as to sit and a path to walk through, build a high patio, the plants and trees will be lower but will grow up in time. Also home depo,lt, they can hook you up, I always wanted Ivy growing on my walls and pillars next to my bed with waterfalls.Statue stores are great and laying brick
catwoman708
Is this for real? I've heard of this before, sometimes called either "nature" or the "outdoors", but where I'm from it's called gardening.Really, it sounds like a good way to cause major damage to your home, unless you live in a crappy old shack or tree house, then knock yourself out! If you are for real, then would just a more natural "look" or "feel" satisfy your love of nature, rather than literally turning your living room floor into a giant planter box? If you want to bring the outdoors in or create a "jungle", you could trowel mud onto the walls then imprint fossils, shells, or leaves, and leave it with a natural, flawed or slightly rough texture. Paint it with a natural stone color, let it dry and dab on a slightly darker shade, then wipe off while still damp. It should leave you with natural stone-looking walls. Put a sisal rug on the floor (it looks like rough burlap or a straw mat). You could line one wall or corner with natural cedar to simulate tree bark (with a grouping of hanging plants to simulate a tree canopy). To simulate a "grass hut" look use lightweight "bamboo fencing" (Home Depot or Lowe's, looks like a giant bamboo roll-up window shade) that can be stapled right to the wall, and/or use bamboo shades on the windows, with sheer curtains over it (to simulate mosquito netting). Use as many plants as you can get in the room. If you don't have enough light, use grow lamps disguised as something else, or flexible skylights (ask at Home Depot or Lowe's). I'm thinking a parrot or some birds would be a nice touch, and a water feature such as a free-standing water fountain/waterfall can add a nice touch, or a tropical fish tank with ivy draping off the top of it (or from a shelf over it). (There is a restaurant called the "Rainforest Cafe" in a mall near us, if you have anything like that you might get some ideas.) If you want to live in the outdoors, add on a "garden room" of a roof with skylights, walls with lots of windows, and a palm leaf ceiling fan. It could be like a greenhouse with furniture! No flooring, just use the ground for your plants, & leave a smooth area for your furniture or use some pavestones. You might could find comfortable lawn furniture of bamboo, natural bark bent wood or logs. Check anywhere they sell lawn and garden furniture or someplace that sells or decorates log homes. Along with nature be prepared to embrace lots of bugs, vermin, fungus, mold, mushrooms, rotting or damaged wood and building materials.Why not have a tribal council and toss some ideas around?
catwoman708
Sorry, I didn't mean to sound sarcastic in my previous post, it really is a cool idea. But you could really screw up your floors, walls with all that water and dirt, which could cause expensive damage, dangerous mold, and all kinds of bugs and icky stuff. I had another idea for natural looking "planters". Have you ever been to the garden centers where they have pond displays set up? They use a plastic pond, place pavestones around it to hide the outside of it, then set plants all around it and water plants and fish in the water. You might could use the plastic mold filled with dirt for a planter (shore it up underneath with Styrofoam or sandbags) plant tropical houseplants of all sizes (largest plants in the deepest areas). To hide the pond, stack natural stones around your "planter box" and plant ivy or trailing plants/vines around the outside edge of the planter to camouflage where the stones and plastic pond meet. You can take large pieces of bark and place them strategically to hide the man-made edges also. (Make sure there are no bugs in the bark by soaking it in saltwater for a few hours or overnight, then drying it in the oven for several hours at a low temp, until dry.) I you have a large room it would be neat to have planters AND ponds.
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