Less Is (probably) Enough

Whether wading into the design quicksand for the first time, or giving your living room its 29th makeover, there is one fashion "mantra" that we think will always serve you well. KISS...Keep It Simple, Silly. (My mom never allowed us to use the other "S-word". Thanks mom!)

A simple, classic color palette, few and tasteful accessories, appropriately subtle lighting...all are good starting places for a design. And often, the starting point is also the perfect finish! Start out small and understated, then step back and take a critical look. You may be surprised that what you've created is perfect, just the way it is. We may open a design magazine only to see an enormous room layered with silks, brocades, bull-fringes, velvets, gilt-this and polished that. At a glance, we think wow!....but many of us would not be comfortable living in these spaces for long.

The same ideas hold true for our lawns and gardens. When you love plants (I LOVE plants), and you're at a great nursery, it's very tempting to grab one or two of every plant you see that you like. Unless you're doing large, mixed perennial beds (for your cottage in England), resist that urge! As in interiors, start by simplifying with multiples of two or three varieties of plants, then group plants of the same variety to create the shape of your garden or plant beds.

Since I used to nursery shop a lot, and grab everything I found that I thought was unique, it wasn't long before our garden became a confused hodge-podge of plantings. (The same thing happened inside the house--couldn't pass an antique store without making a purchase--but that's a story for another day!)

It took a long time for me to realize that the garden was not the relaxing environment I was trying to create, and even longer to get it moving in the right direction. Here are some examples of the adaptations:

These two plant beds mirror each other at our pergola entrance. They now contain two plant varieties, and one climbing vine. (I used to have about six plant varieties here.)

This bed at the front of the house has three plant varieties, and one climbing vine. I'm thinking I could have dropped one of the plant types even still!

This simple, one-plant-variety hedge mirrors the opposite property boundary. Repetition is always important in design.

By not under-planting these Crape Myrtles, you're able to focus on the beautiful bark and trunk formations. (Previously, they were surrounded by a bed of jasmine which just complicated their form.)
As another plus, simpler design will often mean less maintenance, which is never a bad thing. Take control of your designs...follow the simple path!