Garden inspiration mood boards

April sure is a funny month isn't it?  There's been highs and lows of temperatures and let's hope they're back on the rise again soon.  But a glimpse of sun, or rather a lot unusually as was the case, and it doesn't take much to convince us that it's here to stay, and we're going to have the hottest summer ever (again).  

Only for our hopes to be dashed when overnight the temperatures plummet to single figures. But that's the 'joy' of the English weather, and it doesn't stop us enjoying our gardens does it?  With the early glimpse of sun, I don't expect I'm the only one making plans to enjoy my garden. There's quite a bit of work to do before I can pull the sun loungers out though, but for now, let's get some garden inspiration from these mood boards which use items from Wayfair's Outdoor range

Knowing me and colour, you'll not be surprised to see my first three boards contain bright colours, but even I don't do full on colour all of the time, so I've also included a couple of calmer boards too, and all of the boards contain items I love and think you will too.

brights + stripes: Virrat chair | Stockholm lantern | Crystal plastic drinking glass | Monza plant pot (set of 3)

That pink chair!  I'm a fan of this style of chair and have seen it increasingly this year - my fear though is that it'll be much harder to store than the traditional deck chair shown below.  I've a suspicion that it won't be too long before I've found a way around my dilemma - did I mention that I've scheduled in a clear out of the shed for next weekend?

modern traditions: Cold Summer folding deck chair | Askö Bar Serving Cart | Giant Dominoes

A drinks trolley is also on my wish list. I know I said I wasn't sure if I was keen or not, but I've talked myself round and MOH is keen too.  And, that means when he makes drinks, he'll be out of my way as he'll have his own drinks making space.  I know that in reality, he'll use this space and the space he previously used, but the fine will be to make me more cocktails, so I think that's a win!

For me, summer isn't summer without a barbecue, a picnic or an ice lolly or too.  Adding these all together really do bring fab times, which of course is a classic whichever way you look at it.

fab times: Salida charcoal barbecue | Sweet Summer days ice lolly plastic drinking glass | Outline insulated picnic tote bag

I told you that the first three boards were colourful, but I hope you'll agree full of summer fun.  There's times - and gardens - that call for something altogether calmer, and dare I say it, more elegant. The metal tree seat is an absolute classic, but sadly wouldn't work in my garden, we'd be sitting with at least one foot in the flowerbeds.  

english garden: Varda metal semi-circular tree seat | Artificial Daisy /Hydrangea wreath | Snuffle vintage planter box

I'm much more likely to have zinc planters, in fact I'm always on the look out for zinc planters and I'm convinced I'll find some in the junk shops of Norfolk. I keep looking, and with no joy yet, so maybe I'll given in soon and treat myself.

My final board is a nod to how our gardens can calm us, how they can be places to sit and watch the world go by. Whether that's watching the wildlife go about its business, watching the temperatures (hopefully) soar, or to relax watching the dancing flicker of a flame late into the evening.

calming elements: Dragon fly garden wall art | Garden wall thermometer | Insect, butterfly, bee cottage, hanging bird house | Burn stainless steel propane gas fire pit

So there you have five different mood boards providing garden inspiration, which inspires you?

* This is a collaborative post, but all views are my own.

Corrugated colour and flip flops

From the vibe of the decor in the restaurant which billed itself as serving Rio street food I had high hopes for the decor in the loos in Cabana. As I reached the staircase, made of scaffold poles and planks for the treads I started to think I could be right, but I had no idea what I was to discover.

It was quite a trek down, and on reflection the ground floor was a light and double-floored space so perhaps that shouldn't have been such a surprise.  When I entered The Loos, as they were signposted, this is what I was met with.

It was as if I'd walked into one of those storage containers, albeit a pretty pastel rainbow one.  Showing how pre-programmed we are, and conforming to type, I headed left to a door with pink flop flops nailed on.

As I had the space to myself I took a peek behind each of the pink doors.  The decor behind each door matched its place in the rainbow, but all of them had these funky, beaded oversized lampshades.

LILAC

CANDY PINK

CERISE PINK

But it wasn't just the paintwork or the corrugate finish. The mirror and sink also stood out - and behind the mirror there was a tame hand dryer, with a more ferocious one out in the lobby.

The tap almost looks out of place, but I coped.

Fun isn't it?  And totally in keeping for the restaurant's vibe, but also far from what I expected when I opened the door.

Those pom poms in the Botanical Bedroom

In my Ideal Home Inspiration post last week I teased you with some pom poms, today I'm sharing the rest of the bedroom - a botanical bedroom room set, at that.  I wasn't surprised to see the botanical theme pop up in one of the roomsets, as it is one of the trends for 2018 and I've spoken about that here on the blog before, but I didn't expect it to be the bedroom.

Nor did I expect it to be quite so stylish.  I'll admit, that even as a plant lover, I'm not so sure about having so many in the bedroom, even though they're fake, but I did love the colours and the effect. 

A FOUR POSTER WITH A POM POM THROW

The muted greens, greys and neutrals were set off with the purple and lavender greys and the overall result for me was a calming and relaxing room. Even the wood of the four poster bed toned with the colour scheme, and what an elegant four poster.

The louvre doors of the wardrobe also work with the style of the room.  The top of my wardrobe would never look so stylish though, I've long since learnt to have floor to ceiling wardrobes so that I can hide things like suitcases and extra storage for the wardrobe I'm not wearing.

Looking across to the wardrobe gives a really good overview of the colours used, and don't they work well?

The other nod throughout the room set to the botanicals look are the black edged mirrors and terrariums, shown well on the dressing table.  I've only just spotted the shaped mirror leant against the wall and it's the little touches like this, that made the room sets feel like proper rooms for me.

But at times I think they can be totally impractical.  The photo below sums that up perfectly - the ivy climbing into bed with you and the very pretty, but less practical bedside table - is it just me?

The room sets often challenge and push my opinions, but at times they're pushed in a direction that I don't expect to like. Take the artwork below, if you'd described the picture then I might be wary. Clearly I can see it's some kind of skull, but it's prettier than you could ever describe it, don't you think?

Lighting is something we often take for granted, and this roomset had some interesting choices.  Of the bedside lights and ceiling lights, I much prefer the bedside lights - although I'm sure I'd walk into them regularly!

And remember that mustard armchair from the inspiration post? Well I hadn't forgotten to include it, but I thought I'd save it until now so you too can fall in love with the room all over again, just like me.  It's not the obvious choice to put with the muted colours, but I really like how its turned out, don't you?