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Smart gardens: how to grow an indoor garden with no effort!

Smart gardens: how to grow an indoor garden with no effort!

Welcome to the amazing world of smart indoor gardens! If you are like me and cannot seem to find a way to let your garden grow, you cannot manage to remember to water the plants in your apartment, or simply do not have time to care for your indoor greenery, the smart gardens can come to your help!

There are several choices out there, as the market of smart gadgets for the house is expanding. Let’s have a look at some of the most interesting and compare some of the devices.

What is a smart garden?

The idea behind a smart garden is quite simple. Everybody enjoys having fresh herbs to use in their kitchen or nice flowers to stare at, but not everyone is able to plant and take care of plants or, simply, not everyone has the right environment/knowledge for the plants to thrive.

The more common issues are:

  • Lack of daylight – perhaps the windows in your apartment do not have the correct exposure for your plants to absorb the beams of sun;
  • lack of time – you always work late or rush around all day and forget to water your pots;
  • mistakes – do you know what is the correct amount of water for a plant of basil?

These devices will solve all these issues for you.

It is as simple as inserting the pods of choice, load the tank with water and connect to a socket. The machine will provide the light, it waters the plants for you and ensure that they grow healthy until ready for the harvest. They are also supposed to sprout faster, due to optimised soil and controlled environment.

Some of the more advanced model will also provide information about the status of the plants, even incorporate a virtual assistant like Alexa, but let’s keep it simple, right?

Finally, an important parameter for this review is indeed the affordability. Therefore, the selection below is taking into consideration only the basic models that the companies are offering.

Lilo by Prêt à Pousser

Prêt à Pousser – the smart garden that feels like home

The first smart garden is from a French company called Pret a Pousser. The company claims that:

The seeds come from special selected seed companies in France. The aromatic seeds are organic and grow in peat and coconut fiber. Our pods are made out of bioplastic and are biodegradable: when your plants grow tired you can repot them or compost them.

from the Prêt à Pousser website.

Lilo has a design that is familiar and clear, formed of three small elegant vases, will fit in your kitchen or living room as element of contemporary decor. The vases are made of bamboo and are environmental-friendly. Even the pods used to grow the plants are biodegradable, to avoid any negative impact on the environment.

Lilo is provided with a light that will turn on and off automatically to reproduce the natural day/night cycle. With its 37 LED light consumes only 6.5W.

The watering is taken care of through its hydroponic system and you only need to fill the tank with water any few weeks.

Pros:

  • organic seeds and biodegradable materials,
  • good selection of seeds, 38 between herbs, vegetables and flowers,
  • the seeds will sprout in only 3-10 days,
  • extremely compact,
  • elegant and familiar design,
  • Light exposure modes “spring” and “summer,
  • harvest after only one month.

Cons:

  • the same light for all the plants,
  • only has space for three plants,
  • can accomodate only one salad at the time due to reduced dimensions,
  • mobile app not available,
  • seeds in purchased pods only, can’t use own seeds.

If you are interested in purchasing Lilo, it can be bought here (UK – USA).

Smart Gardens-Smartandgrow - cover
Smart Garden 3 by Click and Grow

Click and Grow – the smart garden inspired by NASA

Click and Grow have a mission: bringing the benefit of living with plants to people living in urban areas.

The journey of their smart gardens started back in 2012, and after many prototypes and products launched they have now developed an elegant solution that will help you experience a garden inside your house.

After reading a NASA report about growing plants in space, Mattias Lepp became inspired to develop the first ever indoor garden that took care of plants automatically. After working with universities around the world to fine-tune the technology, the concept of the Click & Grow Smart Garden was born.


from the Click & Grow website

Their proud is the smart soil inspired by NASA. The growth medium contains a nanostructure which helps water and nutrients to be evenly distributed to the roots. The plants will always absorb the correct nutrients in an optimised environment that is set to achieve the right ph.

The devices is made out of thermoplastic and the design is adjustable to allow for the plants to grow.

The LED lights consume 8W of power, a bit more than Lilo, but still quite a good result.

Pros:

  • growth medium made of renewable materials with no pesticides, fungicides or hormones.,
  • good selection of seeds, 55 between herbs, vegetables and flowers,
  • the lights can be adjusted to the correct height to give space to the plants’ growth,
  • biodegradable pods,
  • the seeds will start sprouting in only 3 days,
  • compact and contemporary design,
  • It is possible to use any seed you want thanks to the experimental plant pods,

Cons:

  • materials are not biodegradable
  • only has space for three plants,
  • mobile app not available,

If you wish to purchase Smart Garden 3 you can find it here (UKUSA).

Smart Gardens-Harvest-AeroGarden

AeroGarden – the soil-free smart garden

Probably Harvest by AeroGarden has the less accomplished design between the three smart gardens. For clarity, Harvest is not the basic device of the range, the company sells a smaller device (Sprout) which is also cheaper, but for the sake of this comparison, I picked the device with a similar selling price.

The company claims that the plants will grow 5 times faster than in a normal outdoor garden thanks to the optimised light with integrated timer.

The Harvest’s grow light hood contains 20 watts of white, red and blue LED lights, giving your plants the full spectrum of sunlight they need to grow, and grow quickly! Plants grow 5X faster than in a traditional outdoor garden.


from the AeroGarden website

The timer will also notify when it needs water or when it is time to add the liquid feed to provide the roots with the necessary nutrients. This is probably the main difference with the smart gardens we have seen previously. Harvest does not need soil but the system works with water and liquid feed only.

But Harvest somehow feels like a more flexible device. Indeed you can buy their pre-seeded pods but, if you prefer, you can rather use the seeds of your choice with their ‘Grow Anything Kits’,

Pros:

  • ‘Grow Anything Kits’,
  • Can accomodate up to 6 plants,
  • reminders for water and plant food,
  • very big catalogue of seeds including 45 herbs, 47 flowers, 44 salads and 40 vegetables

Cons:

  • Look not as elegant as the other devices, ‘industrial look’,
  • need to buy additional liquid feed.

If you want to buy Harvest you can do so here (UKUSA).

Pastel Pink interior design – how to use pale pink to create stunning interiors

Pastel Pink interior design – how to use pale pink to create stunning interiors

Pastel pink interior design is all the rage at the moment. Well, generally pastel interiors, but the pink is the ever-present actor on the scene and the binding agent that pull everything together, most of the time.

There are so many examples and the colour is used in so many variations that it is not easy giving an overview. I have so decided to use this post as an index for a series of posts. The posts that will follow during the next weeks will show the pastel pink in all its declinations.

I will be updating this post every time a new post is published, so stay tuned!

To convince you that this is worth having a look at, below a selection of nice examples of pastel pink interior design.

Bedroom by Habitat
My favourite for the season : transparent furniture!

My favourite for the season : transparent furniture!

With the spring blooming all over us and the summer fastly approaching, I just fell in love with the acrylic and glass design. Indeed the only kind of furnishing that will transform the sun sipping through the curtains in pure magic. Let’s all welcome the transparent furniture season!

It is probably not a case that all over the internet it is possible to find all sorts of designs that use a minimalistic approach. They did serve contemporary society well for many years now. However, recent trends stretched the minimal approach to the next level.

Simple lines and clear design is not enough anymore. The world is transforming into a colourful mix of images and people are seeking for new sensations.

The struggle to impress is growing and designers are challenged with the task to create pieces that will satisfy the customers’ desire for an instagrammable life. And here it comes the transparent furniture!

Colourful gradients and pastel nuances are blending with light design to create ambients that, in their simplicity, can be of great suggestion.

Bolt colours and neon effect

The colours on this glass table are brightening the forms like neon lights. they create a dramatic effect that contrasts well against concrete or neutral surfaces.

Patricia Urquiola is not exempt.

In fact, the famous Spanish designer and architect created a collection in collaboration with Glas Italia, which was presented during il Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2015.

The laminated glass comes to life thanks to the changes of the gradients, donating a fresh look to vintage lines. The subtle mirror effect invites the light to play the main role, increasing the reflections and the chromaticism of the space.

The Crystal Series – when geometry emulates the natural world

The same idea permeates the creation of the designer Sae-rom Yoon. His tables are made of dyed acrylic resin in the attempt of emulating the bold shapes and lights of crystals.

What happens if we add artificial light to the equation?

We obtain these amazing lamps! Shadows and colours play together in creating evocative blends over the surfaces. Geometry and minimalism are absolute key players in the Day and Night Light design by Éléonore Delisse.

I completely love the effects the light creates on these pieces. But I have to say that I will not probably be buying any of them as they are likely to be a nightmare to clean (LOL). Just imagining the amount of fingerprints they would collect makes me throw in the towel. But let me know what you think.

Do you want to take part to the trend?

Kartell is probably the undisputed leader brand in the market of the transparent furniture, and some of their pieces – designed by some of the best in the world – are actually icons for all design lovers. Let’s have a look at some of the nicest items, .

A new amazing game…

A new amazing game…

Let just say that I found out a new game to entertain me…

Suppose that you have a nice picture by hand, like this one…

And now image you can transform this picture in a nice interior design…

Step 1: Let’s find out the colour scheme!

Is this palette looking familiar? Let’s say that this are the key colours selected out of the nice mountain image.

What shall we do now?

But sure, we need to create a setting, right?

Step 2: select a background for your room.

What should it be? A bedroom like this one?

Perhaps not, considering the scheme of colours you may want to select an ambient of the house that screams cozy but it must contain also a bold statement – remember the bright red/orange peak of the mountain?

What is better than a living room to host our palette. Let’s try with this one then…

Looks right, isn’t it?

Well, the floor is not quite fine though, so shall we try to select something that will fit better with our scheme. Navy blue is the correct colour, as is a strong presence in the picture.

What about this lovely floor? A mix of ceramic tiles and white painted timber planks..

Well, as nice as this is, it is not the good choice as it does not quite agree with the whole.

This one, on the other side, contains a bit of green and an hint of gold, which creates visual interest to the monochromatic walls and brings variety to the room, without going out of the palette. therefore, here we are, we like this one!

Step 3: Now Let’s go crazy with the furniture!

We need a few pieces, to give interest and texture to the room, something that may blend with the walls and the floor but still helping to make the room a place we would like to spend time in… rugs to soften the surfaces, accessories and a side table.

What about our statement? The orange burning at the center of the image… and what is the centre of a living room if not the sofa? Let’s add a strong and bright orange seating.

Let’s finish everything up with a warm lighting fixture that will give the room that sunset tones and mood.

What do you think of the final result?

Nice first combination and lot of fun tonight!

CURIOUSA & CURIOUSA – Craftsmanship made in Britain

CURIOUSA & CURIOUSA – Craftsmanship made in Britain

Surfing the web I was captured by this amazing lighting pieces made of glass. At first I thought to myself “this is another Italian brand” as the pieces recall the italian tradition of blown glass. The design of the lamps and pendants has some resonance from Murano and the Northern Islands indeed. I was very surprised in discovering that the brand is nonetheless British and proudly made in Britain.

Curiosa & Curiosa is all about the chromatic combinations. Together with the juxtaposition of sinuous and traditional lines they create a contemporary range of design items to decor our spaces.

The richness of the colours, the simple and fresh shapes… Even the simplest space immediately becomes vibrant and creative. For the best addition to an elegant room, the made in Britain caught me completely by surprise.


Let’s discover more of the best design for the home and more lighting design together.