I do love a shelfie. They give such a fascinating insight into how people arrange their spaces and what objects they value, and I’m always trawling Pinterest for styling ideas. So when this month’s Urban Jungle Bloggers challenge – a ‘plant shelfie’ – dropped into my inbox, I was rather happy.
Several rooms in our home contain alcove shelves which were designed and built for us by a local Bristol carpenter, and they’re perfect for displaying my ever-changing selection of houseplants. They’re among my favourite bits of the house, and I spend quite a lot of time faffing around with them, much to the amusement of my other half. I shared some photos of the dining room alcove in an earlier Urban Jungle Bloggers post, so now it’s the turn of the living room.
I didn’t actually style the shelves for these images as they’re always home to two or three plants, along with books, magazines and a few treasured items (a model tram from Lisbon, candleholders and vases from Scandinavia, a cat print by Bristol artist Laura Robertson). I like things to look tidy and uncluttered, and I always try to leave blocks of the wall colour on show to give a minimal look – although the neatness doesn’t extend to the jumble of books on the very top shelf as I have far too many for that!
I’m sure I’ll decide to move things around before long, and I hope the ivy will grow to produce a lovely cascade of leaves, so they’ll probably feature again in a future post…
Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series run by Igor of Happy Interior Blog and Judith of JOELIX.com, with the aim of encouraging people to use greenery in their homes. To find out more, head over to the website or search #urbanjunglebloggers.
All photography by Abi Dare
Jill says
I just love your living room (and the Moroccan pouffe is simply fabulous!). And how great to know that you’d aced an urban jungle blogger challenge without even trying!
Abi says
Thanks so much for the kind words Jill! Sadly our cat also loves the Moroccan pouffe, and if you look closely it’s covered in scratches, but it’s all character I suppose…! x
Erica says
Gorgeous pics Abi. Love those ‘russian dolls’… but I do have a bit of a soft spot for them generally, don’t you?
Abi says
Thanks so much Erica! Not sure if you can tell from the photos but they’re actually Russian cats – a present from my lovely mum a few years ago!
Claudia says
Gorgeous plant shelfie in your home! Such a cosy ambiance in your living room!
Judith says
Beautiful #plantshelfie Abi! And just as Jill says above: acing without even trying! Already looking forward to one of the next posts with the lush ivy 😉 Happy weekend Abi!
Abi says
Thanks so much Judith!
mel says
Abi you have such a beautiful home you stylish lady! Such a good idea to have built in shelves, my biggest problem moving around all the time is not having enough display space. Lovely plant shelfie x
Abi says
Thanks for the kind words Mel! I do love the shelves, though I’m always faffing with them…! X
Laurie says
Lovely pictures and beautiful shelves! I have serious shelf envy. Shenvy?!
Also loving the pale grey walls, can you let me know what colour this is? Thanks! x
Abi says
Thanks so much for the kind words Laurie. ‘Shenvy’ – I love it! I often get shenvy over others’ houses too! x