Ideas from Taipei

In my last entry, I said that I would share a couple ideas I got from my short trip to Taipei. I was surprised to see how "green" that city was. Most of the corners I turned, I could see houses and shops with potted plants. Many of the apartments also had plant-decorated balconies, although the plants were primarily placed on shelves and in the usual plant pots we see here. 

A metal cat sits at the doorway to a teahouse. Love the plants that surround it. 

There were some places were the usage of green really popped and caught my attention. I didn't manage to catch all of these examples but here are some... 

Pruned bamboos.

On our trip up to one of the mountains and getting thoroughly lost while trying to find a lake, I spotted this building with its stunning bamboo plants. Made me wonder how they pruned the bamboo such that it has this shape. 

Another day trip to one of the popular touristy locations brought me to a public washroom, where I was pleasantly surprised. They have obviously tried to maintain a wall of greens within the washroom. 

Although you'll have noticed that most of the plants are missing and it doesn't appear that the plants are getting much sunlight, the remaining plants look quite healthy and happy.  This layout of plants is one of the ones I've been working on lately. Remember one of my posts where I shared a picture of plants in frames? 

The other thing I noticed from this trip lies in the selection of plants. I've done a bit of homework since and I suppose most of you may already know this - some plants are just more suited for the low lighting indoors. Those might be the plants to consider if you're also planning to have plants as indoor decorations. 

A wall of plants in a public washroom.

That being said, I've been taking a long break, what with the dreadful cold and cough I developed during the trip. And my mind hasn't been idle. With various festivities coming up, I guess decorating our house to receive guests may be top on our minds. I'll be sharing some of the ways I've transformed the containers lying around my house and how discuss how you might want to consider using them to decorate your house for the rest of the year and the next year.