Dining with faded elegance

The good thing about spending some time over the weekend sorting and editing photos is that I got to relive quite a lot of our holiday to Barbados just before Christmas. I could feel the virtual sun, remember the spiritual-ness of our visit to Hunte’s Garden all while the March weather here did its thing. I’ve said this before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but Hunte’s Garden was an amazing place, and spending time working on the photos from our visit reminded me just how special it is.

We booked a driver to take us to the gardens, and while the island isn’t large it was about a forty minute drive from where we were staying. What we hadn’t realised when we negotiated a price was that our driver would stay there while we spent time in the gardens. He said it was a favourite place of his too, and when life was getting too much it was a favourite place to spend some time. And he wasn’t wrong.

Even at the entrance to the garden I knew we were in for something special, and I wasn’t wrong either. I’ll share more on the garden another day, but today after we walked down and around and back up and along exploring the garden we headed towards the house. Neither of us expected to find such a stunning dining room, which was full of faded elegance, with a tropical flavour that we’d come to expect even in our short time exploring the garden.

I think it looks more overrun or faded than it actually is. The roof generally looked to be functioning as a roof should but it was set as if it could almost be ready for a party, and what a party that would be. The garden sold its own rum, and that would help any party go with a swing. After we’d explored the garden, we thought it only right and proper to try the local rum and sit on the verandah and pretend the garden was ours…

From the floral tea set - more tea Vicar? - to the bird cage and other curios, everything felt as if it was in the right place.

Even the plants inviting themselves in through the gaps where the corrugated sheeting goes, and the open window.

Quite a random space, to discover set apart from the house, but still quite a special one. Hopefully once I share some more of the garden, you’ll be as awestruck as me.

Chess in the living room

The inhabitants of this house, if you hadn’t already guessed from my Enter through through the hallway post, is plants. It’s a fascinating display, and there’s more variety than you’d perhaps expect. The plants in the ‘living room’ are generally comfortable in low light. They’ve made themselves right at home as you’ll see from the photos in this post, and it’s probably the lushest living room I’ve ever seen.

Everywhere you looked, the houseplants were taking over. Which given the exhibition name, shouldn’t have been a surprise.

If you’ve seen any images in the media about this exhibition then they’ve probably included one of the chess table, and it’s easy to see why. It’s gorgeous, and even though I’m a confirmed succulent lover I think this will have a wider appeal. And wouldn’t it be fun to create yourself, in slightly larger pots for an outside game?

The other thing about this living room, is that it made great use of old ‘brown’ furniture. With the storage unit - writing desk - display cabinet that many of us no doubt have memories of. The plants definitely gave them a new lease of life, but it’s the detail too.

Did you spot the books in the display cabinets, they’re on houseplants, no doubt on caring for them and tips to avoid them taking over. But for me alongside the chess table, the highlight of this room was the variegated leaves draped over the edge of the writing bureau above.

They definitely had texture, and added drama. But even so, we’ve not got to my favourite room yet.

Enter through the hallway

I’m having a bit of a one-woman-Wisley-fest here at the moment, and that’s not stopping today. I was wondering where to start with sharing my photos from The Giant Houseplant Takeover at RHS Wisley, and then it became obvious. Start at the beginning, or as with many houses, the hallway. This one certainly set the scene for the rest of the exhibition, and also brought back memories of the telephone being in the hall at home and sitting in the hall to use the phone. We didn’t have the houseplants takeover, but there was, at one point, some green patterned geometric-ish wallpaper.

Our phone was slightly more modern than this one too, but the space was full of memories. At one point in my teen bedroom I decided I needed an ‘old-fashioned’ coat stand, and so I had one just like this. Without the flat cap, and plants, mind.

The amount of plants used throughout the display was phenomenal, and for those of us who have memories of The Day of the Triffids, a little bit to be wary of.

The sampler ‘explainer’ was also a nice touch, definitely taken out of the National Trust’s information approach. That works, so don’t knock it.

What was clever, was as you walked through the space there were glimpses of what was to come - just like all the garden designs book tell us.

And as a sucker for succulents I was completely drawn in. The air plants hanging sphere also had me hooked. So with the hallway under our belt, now all I need to work out, is where next, and when.