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published by KatieDid Design
Wasted Space - Decorating Recessed Cabinets
by Richard Bedsole, http://www.floralclasses.com
Don't you love the recessed cabinets in your
kitchen and bath? But what do you do with all that wasted space?
Impractical people like you and I look at that space
and want to decorate it. Others just cram old cookie jars and trivial dust
catchers. I've even seen Mickey Mouse ears up there (which is great I suppose
if you have a Disney theme in the kitchen), but what else can you do with
it?
I love to take old wine bottles and empty them out
(you use your method and I'll use mine). Make sure they're completely dry
and drop chile peppers, okra or raspberries in them, then fill them up with
distilled vinegar or olive oil, replace the cork and VOILA!!! I've
filled those bottles with everything known to man. I especially like using
'drieds' such as long grain rice, spinach pasta, dried beans....heck, I've
layered macaroni and dried field peas, one layer after another and then corked
it back up. They look great, just tie a little raffia around the top and
throw it up there.
Okay, so the bottles look great, but a thousand
bottles of vinegar and dried beans might be considered overkill. What else
can we do????
I'm sure you've seen all the decorator magazines
lately with those plants above the cabinets. Yeah right......as if I want
to climb up there every 3 or 4 days and water them and then have to worry
about wiping (or mopping) up the water that doesn't make it into the pot.
Don't fret. There is an alternative. Artificial greenery.
Artificial greenery looks FANTASTIC above the cabinets,
it requires no water, or sun for that matter. You don't have to worry about
insects and the only upkeep you'll have is taking it outside every month
or so and hitting it a few times with the feather duster.
There are so many beautiful artificial plants available
today it's just hard to go wrong. The nicest part about the artificials.....you
don't even necessarily need a container, just a slender piece of Styrofoam
will most often do the job. Depending on the distance between your
cabinets and the ceiling, you have so many choices. Today you can purchase
small palm trees for taller areas or stick to the low 'growing' philodendron
if you only have a little space in which to work. Just in the ivy family
there are so many varieties from which to choose.... grape ivy, frosted ivy,
variegated ivy, mini ivy, giant leaf ivy....the list goes on. You get the
idea.
So fill up those old wine bottles, grab a piece of Styrofoam and a fake plant and lets get busy.
To see items that you can make on your own, drop by American Floral Arts by going to http://www.floralclasses.com, click the link to The
American Institute of Floral Arts and look for the "NEWSLETTER LINK" to see the photographs of what you can create!
Happy Decorating!!!
Aticle copyright 2003 - Richard Bedsole, used with permission.
Richard Bedsole is the host and instructor at The American
Institute of Floral Arts Distance Learning Program.
Bookmark http://www.floralclasses.com click on the link for
the American Institute of Floral Arts!
http://www.katiediddesign.com
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