Furnishing The Old Window Greenhouse

The All Important Rustic Decor

The decor is everything - how I plan to furnish the old window greenhouse is a personal challenge, and I'm willing to take it on.

It will be rustic, that I can tell you, like all the decor in my homestead and farm. If it's rusty, or has twigs, barnboard, or old glass, it will be included.

As the windows themselves are salvaged and worn, these will be the backdrop. Against them will be collections of shells, driftwood, sea glass, crafts made from any of these, as well as my topiaries in training, grown from seed or cuttings. These will be rosemary, and ivies trained up wire frames.

I haven't decided whether to paint the window frames or leave them chippy, but if I do paint them, the framing is going to be white, using a matt finish paint that was very economical to buy.

There is also the difficult choice to make on the pieces of chippy gingerbread I've had in the hoard for a while. Do I paint them, leave them as-is, or give them a coat of my favorite waterbased polyurethane? I'm tending towards the latter, to maintain the aged and weathered look while preventing (and protecting) it from more.

That's what to look for; if you see something that you use a lot, like white paint, grab it. Especially if it's latex and a matt finish, which can be tinted with acrylic craft paint to give you any color you desire.

I'll have some curtains - every little greenhouse needs shade and privacy at times. They will be made from lengths of burlap, over twigs that hang above the windows.

Two essential pieces of decor will hang from the outside; a hummingbird feeder and wind chimes. Not sure how many yet, but at least one of each.

There will be some shelving, maybe a work area, and a small table with chairs for guests to sit on to trim things and take cuttings for a rosemary topiary, or make a craft like a willow wreath, or just have a cup of tea.

The hand painted garden signs that I use as my therapy will also be in proud display against any of the walls that don't have windows.

Terracotta clay pots, whether planted or empty, will be stacked or set carefully into baskets or boxes. Some of these might even have twig handles. Others may have wooden bases with willow twigs found in the ditches around here as the top part, like a kipsy basket.

In addition, there will be a potting bench or a table made of driftwood, along with window boxes on the outside where I'll plant petunias and other tough summer annuals.

For the potting bench, I have an interesting old piece that could have come off a church organ, with twisty bits of trim. If it works, that will be something completely original and unique.

All in all, charm will be layered on charm, and over all it will have so much appeal it makes me giddy. A weathered barn board bench for company or a rustic display, some hand made baskets for craft supplies and flowers, and Birdobelia will be ready for action.

I might have a weathered weather vane on the roof, maybe a rooster or a crow, as those seem to fit with the general theme.

Stay tuned; even though winter descended upon us and forced a hiatus, we're still thinking and planning how to furnish this cute and fun spot - whether it's a place to cogitate, or a work space remains to be seen.