After posting this nighttime instagram photo…

…many of you noticed something missing.

Remember that beauteous living art frame? And my apprehension at keeping all those plants alive given my hastiness in selecting the plants and my tendency to bring death to all things green? Well, some things happened. Some expected and some unexpected. The African violets died. EXPECTED. The rest of the plants lived. UNEXPECTED. Not only did they live – they thrived! So much that they quickly outgrew the wall planter. They became top heavy and it was obvious {even to me with my black thumb} that they couldn’t stay within the confines of the modestly sized wall planter for much longer. Reluctantly, I transplanted the living plants to an outdoor planter on our back patio.

This picture doesn’t do them justice. They are huge. I removed part of the snake plant and put it in our bedroom but a little off shoot is still going strong outside in the planter.

With the plants living happily ever after outside, I was hesitant to replant/rehang the living art frame. I really liked the look of the succulent/fern mix I had going on previously but I wasn’t keen on having to transplant another round of plants in a few short months. Plants that aren’t so heavy, won’t grow so large, or plants that can be trimmed/cut back regularly would be ideal. And then while cleaning out the attic, I came across some artwork.

It is a painting of mine and HH’s first home in Illinois. Our best friends had it commissioned for us as a going away gift when we moved to Ohio five years ago. It means so much to us and I was ashamed {but excited!} to find it in our attic. HH and I both agreed that it needed to be put on display ASAP.

Now it lives in our kitchen where the wall planter once hung. It brings a smile to my face when I’m washing dishes or unloading the dishwasher. Lots of memories in that house. It’s where we brought home our firstborn. It’s where we first tried our hands at DIY and attempted {but completely failed} to find our style. Still, I can’t help but feel nostalgic when I see it.

I hung the painting with my trusty 3M adhesive strips. Do you recall my frustration with the magnetic spice containers? I added a picture ledge and eight spice jars from IKEA to remedy the situation.

I had problems with powdery and/or gritty spices getting stuck around the metal-to-metal closure of the magnetic containers. Over time, they became extremely difficult to open. These new spice jars have a glass-to-plastic closure. I transferred my powdery and gritty spices into them. So far, so good. I don’t have any problems with dried herbs or leafy seasonings in the magnetic containers so they are still living on the side of the fridge.

Can you believe I haven’t spray painted the lids gold yet?! Haha.

Sorry about the harsh lighting and shadows in these images. The skylights were doing their thing.

I really enjoyed having live greenery in the kitchen so I’m itching to add some pots to the windowsill. What about the living art frame? It’s here, chillin’ in the garage with all of the other future project supplies. What is its fate? We’re 99% sure we want to grow a kitchen garden at some point. I think I’ll eventually plant herbs in the wall planter and hang it out back near the grill. {The planter can be used indoors or outdoors.} I’m hoping the herbs will fare better {not outgrow the planter} since I’ll be cutting them regularly. We’ll see…

This is what it’s like to live with me. I am constantly changing stuff around until it works and feels right. Tweaking, if you will. To family and friends, it’s like a game figuring out what is different from their last visit. But once I find the perfect spot for something, it sticks. I think this kitchen art is a sticker.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I mentioned wanting to add a few houseplants in our apartment to help get rid of the inevitable ‘apartment smell.’  I decided to go with a few snake plants since they’re one of the top 15 NASA recommended house plants for improving air quality.

I picked up 2 snake plants {one large one and one small one}, 2 bags of sheet moss and one bag of potting soil at Home Depot for about $40.  I already had two large planters on hand.

The white textured one is from HomeGoods.  I bought it over a year ago and planted a bamboo palm in it at our previous house but it didn’t fare so well.  {i.e. my black thumb killed it}  The smaller black and white floral motif planter was an estate sale purchase.  I paid less than $50 total for them both.

I filled each planter with potting soil then added a snake plant.  I really needed a tad more soil in the smaller pot but ran out and didn’t want to buy more so I made do with what I had.

I’m so glad I did this outside on the balcony of our apartment as I made quite the mess!  Dragging a small trowel and gardening gloves out of storage just seemed like too much of a hassle at the time. So, yeah, I did it all with my bare hands.

I cut and placed a layer of sheet moss on top of the soil.  I’d never used moss on top of soil in a planter before but I wanted to give it a try since it gives the planter a more organic feel and hides the dirt.  I ended up needing only one of the two bags of moss.  I even had a little leftover from the first bag after covering the soil in each planter.

I love the extra green and added texture of the moss.  Makes me want to zap myself with a shrinking laser and traipse through the pot à la Lord of the Rings style.

Luckily, Handy Hubby was around to carry the {heavy!} potted planters inside from the balcony.  I had him place the larger one in the living room next to the sofa.

Snake plants can survive with little light and in this position, the planter receives north light so I think it will do okay here.  I just have to remember not to overwater it!  Snake plants can survive with little water, too.

I placed a cork circle beneath the planter to catch any run off and avoid carpet stains.  {The planter has a drain hole in the bottom.}

I placed the smaller snake plant on a wooden trunk in our bedroom beneath a north-facing window. Again, this one could use some more soil to bring the plant up a bit.  Maybe I’ll get around to that…

I love the oversized scale of it in the bedroom.  The patterned planter is one of my new favorite pieces.  So happy I broke down and bought it at an estate sale last spring.  {It belonged to the Underdog’s previous owner.}  I wasn’t sure what to do with it at the time but I think the clean lines of the snake plant are a great contrast to the swirly floral motif.  Plus, the upward reaching snake plant leaves give a clear view of the planter’s pattern.  I wouldn’t want to cover it up.

There’s even subtle pattern on the rim of the planter.  So charming.

With two snake plants in our houseplant mix, we now have 5 NASA recommended houseplants {along with a few succulents not on the NASA list} in the apartment.  While it’s a far cry from the 15 that NASA recommends {yikes!  That’s triple what we have!}, I still feel good about our plant arsenal. More than likely, I’ll continue to add to it when we move into the Underdog.  Plus, I don’t think HH would be too happy about carrying 15 large planters down the 3 flights of stairs that lead to our apartment when the time comes to move {which we’re thinking will be November} into the Underdog.

While I can’t say that the apartment smell no longer exists {I still get a whiff of stale air and old carpet every now and then}, the good news is that I spent less than $40 on this apartment project but it will completely carry over to the Underdog.  No money wasted!  The pop of living greenery really brings a fresh look to the apartment too.

What plants do you have in your houseplant arsenal?  Which is your favorite?  Are you closer to the NASA recommended #15 than me?

FYI – Snake plants are toxic even though they’ve been used in some herbal remedies.  Always use caution when handling them and use supervision when kids/pets are around!

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking