This San Francisco Home Will Give You Serious Plant Envy
Finding your garden style can be a difficult process– especially when you lack a proper garden. Enter Zenaida Sengo, author of Airplants: The Curious World of Tillandias, who offers some serious garden inspiration to those working without the luxury of a big backyard. We found this feature of Sengo’s San Francisco house on The Knot‘s new home-decor page, The Nest, and we absolutely love her pairing of restrained mid-century furniture with weird cacti and artisan ceramics. Check out an excerpt of the profile by Alexis Jonnson below.
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San Francisco resident, Zenaida Sengo, had us itching to transform our homes into an airplant paradise after we read her book, Airplants: The Curious World of Tillandias,— not to mention that we were dying to see how many of these little plants she had growing in her own. So when we had the chance to photograph her SF pad, we jumped at the chance. Take a peek inside her minimalist yet greenery-filled space:
A simple mid-century modern couch in a neutral hue keeps the space clean and modern and allows for her little plants to take center stage. An avid rock climber, Sengo was inspired by the high deserts of California and Nevada. She brought the look home in a modern way with mid-century furniture, a simple kilim rug and lots of cacti. She states, “As an artist and horticulturalist, I favor minimalism spawned from organic forms and bold architectural shapes. After working with plants professionally for many years, I’ve come to love the ‘non-planty’ plants–the weirder the better! Conveniently, odd plants like cacti can go long periods of time without water, and with my busy lifestyle, they suit me well.”
“As a plant addict with no outdoor space, it’s easy to clutter a small apartment with an overabundance of plants. To offset the quantity of my plant collection, I opt for all white pottery and sleeker furniture. I’ve come to rely on lucite tables as plant stands–they don’t take up any visual space due to their see through nature,” says Sengo.
The Bay Area is known for its artists and as Sengo is one of them, she shows her cool eclectic side with a collection of naturalistic ceramic forms. We love the way she mixes rustic un-glazed works with high-gloss colorful vases, proving that avoiding the matchy-matchy look is best.
The author and artist continues the modern desert in the city look with simple Eames-inspired chairs and cacti in white pots. Sengo says, “My most favorite piece in my home would definitely be my cedar burl coffee table (top picture). I love raw chunks of wood that are left with their natural shape. I simply threw this cedar wood slab onto an old fish tank I was no longer using. The weight of it keeps it in place and a little epoxy keeps it from shifting or tipping from weight distribution. With regular sanding and gentle love with mineral oil, I can continue to use it as a coffee table, craft surface, and even a built in cheese board when entertaining. My love of it kept inspiring me to use wood burls to create more DIY furniture. They’re perfect for people who love modern, naturalistic wood furniture, but need to stick to a tighter budget.”
While she may be sans an outdoor space, Sengo utilizes the steps at her entrance for staggered plant life.
Read the rest of the profile at The Nest.
