A shower over the tub

After the last post, from the dining room, you’ll know that the bathroom was MOH’s favourite room. It’s the last room in the ‘house’ and it was pretty spectacular. It was also hard to photograph, but that didn’t influence my decision, the dining room was my favourite. After seeing each of the rooms we dutifully dropped our tokens into the respective perspex boxes (a bit like you do in Waitrose).

It’ll be interesting to hear which room is overall most popular, I suspect it might be this one as it did have the wow factor. And it’s the last room of the Giant Houseplant Takeover.

As soon as you enter this room, you know it’s going to be special. Not only as the bathroom sink is the first glimpse you get, but also because people are reluctant to move on and vacate their viewing position. It’s understandable, but frustrating though I’m sure I did exactly that too.

I was surprised that MOH opted for this room as his favourite as he’s really not a fan of Mind Your Own Business, which I’m cultivating very happily in our garden to soften the edges of the slate and paving, and the edges of the sleeper raised beds. He’s all for ripping it up, and I’m sure is more enthusiastic about any ‘pruning’ that I authorise than I intend him to be. I’ll be able to remind him that he was a fan, next time he rolls his eyes at the MYOB though, won’t I?

The shower over the tub, as I’ve titled this post, was the main and spectacular centrepiece for this room. But it’s not just about the cascading water, which is pretty cool, look at the detail of the shower head, and how the plants behind the cascade echo the downward movement. It’s very clever, and not something that’s been thrown together.

I was fascinating by the bath structure too, and as you can see from the photo above it’s supported by a couple of posts, which gives it that ‘floating’ feeling. The blue also helps it both stand out and blend in to its surroundings. The plants throughout the exhibition were fantastic, but it was here (along with the leaves on the bureau in the living room) that my interest was really piqued.

A BIRD’S NEST FERN

I’ve not seen plants like the Bird’s Nest fern above before (it’s ‘Crispy Wave’ if you want to know more) but I’d very happily see much more of this, and seeing it closer to home (i.e. in my back garden) would also be welcome. Though the fact that it was in the hot houses at Wisley, probably means it won’t be so happy out side in all weathers.

Once again it pays to look up, as there were these quite large plants and their bound root balls above our heads. These reminded me of the snitch (or ball) used in the quidditch games in Harry Potter. I’m sure they’re probably supposed to represent something else, but that’s the first thing that came to my mind. I’m not quite sure what that says about my mind though…

It was good to end the tour of the house with a pop of colour from these Birds of Paradise-like plants, especially for me, you know how much I love colour. You already know which rooms were mine and MOH’s favourites, but which is yours?

A bed of dreams

From the living room with the chess table, we moved towards the bedroom next. Where the first two rooms had been green with lushness, in the bedroom there’s a bombardment of colour. It’s hinted at to start with, but when you set eyes on the bed, it’s full on. Reds, yellows, oranges, burgundies and pinks against a backdrop of green, and more brown furniture.

I did warn you.

The plants here, the brochure tells me are “neat and low maintenance” and just like me in the mornings may take some time to be at their best, but and now I’m wondering about the comparison I’ve started, “are capable of bringing drama and life to the house.” That’s definitely true of the plants, the photos show that, and probably true for me too, but sometimes in a more understated and less in your face kind of way - or I’d like to think, anyway.

One detail that many people were missing (or at least the people viewing this at the same time as us) was the adornments on top of the four posts of the bed. They’ve a pineapple like look to them, but I couldn’t see enough to know for sure - and my knowledge of how pineapples grow is pretty limited too. But the fact that there were pineapples on the dressing table, indicates they very well could be.

And for once, the dressing table looks quite naked in comparison. Maybe the plants will actually grow and embrace it in their own way, although the mirror placement is clever and gave the opportunity for a last glimpse of the colour before moving on. But more on that next week.

Looking up in Porto at facades and roofs

Ah, just look at those blue skies - I was editing my photos and could almost feel the heat from our trip in October, either that or I had the central heating up a notch or two higher than normal. We've had blue skies here, but they've been distinctly lacking in heat haven't they?

I've already shared some of my tile pictures from Porto, and they are the most obvious part of its charm but as we wandered I was looking up and started to notice some strange going ons on the roofs of Porto. Like many cities many properties are unable to expand outwards, in London there's a trend to dig down, but it seems in Porto for many years the attraction has been to extend up. 

But not just extending, we also spotted plenty of roof lanterns, there's three in the photo below - and yes, you can only just see the top of the third, it was on a relatively busy junction and I didn't get too many chances to get the best shot and live to tell the tale.

I couldn't help but wonder what they were like on the inside. It wasn't long before we walked past our first facade, and in our short time there it turned out we would walk past many.  I had to do a double take to see where the rest of the building was, but the giveaway was the very top floor and being able to see the sky through the openings. 

Even with the graffiti many of the facades are still beautiful, and by retaining the frontage it's most likely what's led to the higgledy-piggledy-ness nature, which is spectacularly charming. I'm sure the recent years and hardship haven't helped many in Porto and of course for some the buildings will also fall into disrepair. 

There was evidence though of building projects which is always a good sign, we know that from redevelopment in London too. The hardship isn't restricted to any one area, although clearly some have been more affected and less affected than others. 

There's a mix of materials used too, just look at the yellow, red and black building below. I think its unusual to have the darker colour at the top, but - and I know it's a smaller footprint - but it doesn't dominate does it? 

Even on the more touristy waterfront there's also upward extensions - my favourite part of the photo below is the pink drainpipe on the black roof extension - quirky isn't it?

Also on the waterfront, snuggled alongside the bridge over to Gaia was this small three storey property - obviously the colour caught my eye, but look at the tiles on the property next door.  In Porto, any colour, any tile pattern really does go!

I lost count of the number of these shed-like extensions, many clad with corrugated steel, some weathering beautifully.

I'm a big fan of looking up - and in Porto it really did pay it was much more rewarding than I ever expected it would, and we noticed parts of the city that I suspect passes many people by.