Book Review : Urban Jungle | Living & Styling with Plants

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and were able to take time off to enjoy all the festivities with your loved ones. We certainly did. Christmas has become so much more fun and enjoyable since we’ve had the kids, they really do bring a sense of magic and excitement to this special time of year. As usual it all went too fast, I don’t feel like I’ve had enough time to indulge at all and I certainly haven’t eaten enough mince pies yet. In fact I’ve been really rather restrained this year, which is disappointing. But I have had a little time to relax and I’ve finally got around to reading an amazing book that has been on my shelf since about October. Today I wanted to share with you this brilliant book that has me totally inspired for the New Year. 

Urban Jungle is written by two amazing bloggers. I’ve known Igor Josifovic for years now, since back before he even launched his hugely popular blog Happy Interior Blog. He is an amazing person who fills the people who know him with joy and happiness and he is one of the most inspirational people I know. He co-authored this book with Judith De Graaff of Joelix. Judith is a Dutch graphic designer who now lives in France. Together, Igor and Judith founded an amazing community of about 1,200 plant loving bloggers who share a passion for bringing more plants and greenery into their lives and their homes.

The aim of Urban jungle Bloggers is to highlight the beauty and benefits of houseplants and other greeneries in urban spaces and how plants can make our lives better, healthier and more beautiful. The Urban Jungle Bloggers community has been massively successful and I’m sure this has something to do with the current trend for plants and foliage in interiors. Now that Pantone has announced the colour of the year for 2017 as greenery this is surely only going to see plants becoming more popular additions to our homes. In September 2016, the success of the community lead Igor and Judith to publish their first book and it is that which I would like to share with you all today.

Urban Jungle : Living and Styling with Plants is a beautiful book packed full of inspirational plant styling ideas and practical plant information designed to help anyone who wants to bring more greenery into their homes and daily lives. It is broken down into a number of different sections.

At Home With…  features five planty homes and their owners. There are beautiful images of the way in which these plant lovers incorporate their green friends into their homes and plenty of background information on their passion for plants. This section is peppered with random facts about plants, cool ideas to steal, styling tips, care tips, and expert tips in the form of a mini interview with the homeowner.

DIY is another section which features cool projects that you can do to bring more planty goodness into your home. Projects include hanging planters, plant stands, botanical frames, and Japanese moss balls.

Plant Portrait features in depth information on specific types of plants including cactus, succulents, Aloe Vera, Monstera Delicioso, Ficus Elastica, Palms and many others. These portraits offer valuable information on the plant species along with random facts and care tips.

Styling Tips offers some great advice on how to get creative with plant pots, how and where to display your plants, how to keep them looking shiny and healthy, and how to combine different types of plants for maximum impact.

 

The final section of the book gives advice on how to create your own urban jungle including how to choose your plants, and a selection of easy care plants ideal for beginners. Igor and Judith believe that there is no such thing as a black thumb and that anyone is capable of creating a healthy and thriving jungle at home. We just need to do our research and select the right plants for our home environment and our lifestyle.

This book is such an inspiration to me. I’ve never been able to keep plants alive and I was convinced i could never have plants at home. Then when Urban Jungle Bloggers came onto the scene I was motivated to try. I picked up snippets of information and, as suggested, I did some research into really hardy plants that can withstand a fair amount of neglect. I now have my own little plant gang at home that makes me proud and happy every day. Following some of the tips and advice in this book I hope to expand my plant family in 2017. I’m feeling confident!

I’d like to give a shout out to my friend Ruth and her gorgeous dog Darwin. Ruth took these pictures for me as her home is far more photogenic than mine as it isn’t completely overtaken with kids toys and other paraphernalia. Ruth claims to have a black thumb and has killed every plant she has ever owned. I’m hoping that 2017 will be the year that she manages to keep one alive. Although I think she’s opting for faux foliage now as the guilt was becoming too much to bear.

So if you’re indulging in a little post Chrimbo shopping spree, I highly recommend you stick this beautiful book right at the top of your shopping list. Living with plants will transform not only your home, but also your life, so make 2017 the year you hop on the planty band wagon. You wont regret it!

Photography & Styling by Ruth Adams