Give Glamour!: Terra Viva Home & Garden
Forget the toasters and towels; giving glamour is the way to go when it comes to engagement and wedding presents! Even those starting married life on the most stringent of budgets need some sort of glamour in their lives. The bare necessities don’t always cut it when it comes to presents.
The renaissance of house plants as an essential part of the interior home décor scene makes a living present easy, and healthy. We know now what great air cleaners houseplants make. The spectacular phalaenopsis orchids are one of the most popular houseplants. Their flowers last four months and they come with care sheets to ensure success. Peace lilies are the most popular foliage plants with striking glossy bold leaves and the bonus of pure white flowers and with one of the strongest air-cleaning abilities of all. The contemporary foliage on both the fiddle leaf figs and the trendy monsteras make them some of the current easy-care favourites.
The key to turning beautiful houseplants into glamour wedding presents is using great containers to add the finishing touch; the strong trend in houseplants has encouraged a much wider choice in the ‘cover pot’ range, from ceramics to baskets to hand-finished aluminium. Add a stylish pot, have it gift-wrapped and hey presto, you have the complete present with minimum fuss. So real you won’t believe they’re not real! Not sure if the happy receivers of the living, breathing present will be committed to houseplant care? Then check out the artificial options because these days they’re so realistic only an expert can tell the difference and the artificial range opens up the possibility of having a big show-stopping vase of flowers or foliage all year round.
Less is definitely more when it comes to making an impact with flowers, so choose less varieties – or better still, just one – and use good numbers to get the best effect. The most effective and most popular varieties are peonies, hydrangeas, magnolias in flower and bud, roses and sweet peas. Once again the arrangement is set off to perfection with the right vase or container and, with using the artificial flower option, a waterproof container isn’t necessary so the world’s your oyster. Baskets, funky tins, cardboard, aluminium, unglazed ceramics and glass all make good containers.
When it comes to glamour there’s plenty in the homewares department to make an engagement or wedding present easy, from the more classic to the latest in contemporary décor. Hand-finished, lightly burnished aluminium ware works with just about any décor style and is one of the most popular timeless wedding present lines – champagne buckets, salad bowls, candelabra, trays etc. Glass is another easy winner, from cut-glass vases to cocktail glasses to decanters, to wine glasses. The small, round, hand-forged black iron folding occasional tables fit in with any style and are super useful – they’ve been around for years but are always popular.
Find all this and more at the city’s literal and figurative oasis, Terra Viva Home & Garden on the corner of Wairakei Road and Roydvale Avenue or visit www.terraviva.co.nz.
