interior designers in wilton CT

Delighted to Become a Part of Hiden Galleries!

This year is all about new opportunities for our team here at Marvin Gardens! Already this year we have been delighted to continue sharing our love for bringing together distinctive and intriguing elements for home designs that transcend traditional trends. In support of our efforts to continue to expand our collections and make them available to you, you will soon find Marvin Gardens at Hiden Galleries in Stamford, Connecticut.

hiden galleries from above — Hiden Galleries offers guests a wonderful opportunity to find truly unique elements for their homes.

Within the antique district of Stamford, Hiden Galleries (47 John Street, Stamford, CT) is the premier location for lovers of all things antique and vintage. The 48,000 square foot showroom houses 275 antique and artisan dealers offering some of the finest decorative furniture, artwork, and garden pieces in the tri-state area.

Marvin Gardens has had the distinct opportunity of becoming a part of Hiden Galleries and will soon offer our products at Booth #1424. Our location will evoke the conservatory style setting with both the indoor and outdoor living pieces that we’re known for. You’ll find plenty of cast iron urns, vintage and antique garden element, as well as patio furniture!

Over the next week we will be moving into our newest location and sharing all the updates with each of you! Once we get settled in, we hope you will all join us in celebrating this exciting addition by stopping by for a visit!

Image via Hiden Galleries

Don’t Forget to Plan for the Garden Essentials!

garden sculptures — Do you have any ideas about what unique pieces you might like to add to your garden this year?

Have you begun planning for your spring garden yet? Though it certainly doesn’t feel like spring temperatures, the season will be here before you know it! This time of the year is always an exciting for us here at Marvin Gardens because of the upcoming garden shows as well as the approaching warmer season. For our readers, it also means that it’s time to start planning for your own spring landscape additions! Planning for you garden isn’t at all a chore, it’s something to look forward to.

First, begin with the basic garden essentials. Of course this year at Marvin Gardens, we will continue to bring you beautiful, large art forms to provide your garden with its staple elements. We will also continue to bring you our classic and traditional cast iron urns and statuary. These crucial pieces provide you with the building blocks for creating any dream garden, whether it be formal, country, eclectic, or contemporary in style.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing more with you about the unique and vintage garden accessories we’ll be bringing you soon! And as we mentioned, take this time to consider how you make your landscape more interesting and dynamic. Feel free to visit Marvin Gardens on Facebook for a little inspiration while planning!

Finalize Last Minute Gifts at Marvin Gardens!

With the holidays right around the corner, our team at Marvin Gardens has been busy bringing you the finest garden décor and modern accents available. We’ve also enjoyed being out and about in town sharing our favorite pieces with neighbors and local businesses and of course, spending time with each of you!

Hopefully you’ve finished up your holiday shopping and can take the next few days to relax. But if you still have a few last minute gifts to pick up, don’t worry – we have you covered! Our shop will be open until tomorrow, December 23^rd.

We also wanted to take a moment to say “Thanks!” to our amazing clients, readers, and team members for all the support throughout the year. Working with a dedicated team and eager clients makes our job enjoyable and allows us to take our passion for design to an entirely new level.

From our team to yours, we’d like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday!

Image via Alex Marcano

Winter Care Tips for Your Outdoor Plants

wrap a plant in burlap — Caring for you plants now will ensure that during the spring season, you'll have a flourishing garden!

When the holiday season passes, get ready for the true New England winter weather to set in. While we take the steps to keep our homes well-maintained and warm this season, make sure to protect your outdoor plants as well. Last week, we shared with you how to care for your houseplants during winter, but how do you plan to care for your outdoor favorites as well? Fortunately, the process is simple. Just follow these easy winter care tips to keep your plants blooming and brilliant for next spring!

For shrubs or small trees that are newly planted, create a cocoon of course burlap to cover the plant from top to bottom.
If you’re worried about a heavy snow or ice pulling the plant over, add a few tall tomato stakes to help support the plant before wrapping it in burlap.
For most perennials, simply protecting the crown of the plant is sufficient. Using a glass dome accessory called a cloche can be especially helpful for this.

Then, just in time for spring, uncover your plants and ease them out into the fresh, warm air! You’ll be surprised at how impressive the blooms will be and how Old Man Winter couldn’t touch them. For more winter garden inspiration, visit Marvin Gardens on Facebook!

Source and Image via Fine Gardening

Bring New Life To Your Winter Landscape

During the dreary winter months, it can be tempting to allow our gardens to retreat into hibernation. With the fall season in decline, along with the season can go the beautiful warm tones and rich colors. Winter doesn’t have to be a colorless season, but rather it can be a time where we strategically take advantage of the colors of the season. Take a look at a few ways that you can bring new life to your winter landscape this year.

Since it can be difficult to find colorful winter flowers, instead use a natural colored container for your greenery. The warm colors will draw attention to the plant and to the focal point where is is placed. It will also play up the colors of the season.

Add depth and vibrant tones to your landscaping by bringing in inanimate but colorful pieces. Furniture, garden accessories, and even rocks will greatly enhance the space.

Plant shrubbery with berries that bloom during the winter for an added seasonal appeal.

Stay tuned to the Marvin Gardens Blog as we continue to explore new ways to design and enhance your home’s landscape!

Images via Marvin Gardens and Campobello Island

Use Interior Plants as Your Hostess Gifts This Season

There is no season quite like the season at hand. During the peak of fall, there are so many exciting events that are looming in front of us. In fact, with all of the approaching holiday parties, you might be getting concerned about gift ideas for your endearing hostesses. What kind of gift sends a polite message and is also useful? We have just the idea for you.

Interior plants have been a kind gesture for a long time. They have been both symbols of peace and beauty since the tradition of gift giving was even founded! This year, consider offering your hostess a striking angel vine, olive tree, or miniature potted lavender as a kind gesture. At Marvin Gardens, we also carry other ferns, succulents, or meyer lemon and tangerine trees that would serve as wonderful gifts. Afterward, your friend can use the plant to provide a lovely addition to the home’s interior space.

If you haven’t been to Marvin Gardens lately, be sure to stay updated with our newest items by “Liking” Marvin Garden on Facebook. There, you’ll find pictures of our décor and plenty of inspiration for your home.

Add Cast Iron Urns To Improve Your Entry

Earlier this week, we told you about some of the beautiful ways that you can decorate for the entire winter season rather than just for the holidays. Today, we wanted to take a closer look at one of the essential pieces that you will need to provide this look. Have you ever taken the chance to browse the large selection of cast iron urns available at Marvin Gardens? If you haven’t yet, consider this your golden opportunity!

If you’re not sure how to use them, consider adding a pair of cast iron urns by the front door to improve the look of your entryway. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how the urns help frame and balance the look of your home. Urns are also a great addition because they welcome guests in a grand way upon arrival.

Whether you’re looking for amazing garden accessories or fantastic pieces to complement your interior design, a visit to Marvin Gardens will bring inspiration into your home.

Preparing Container Plants for Winter

Now that September is here, it’s time again to start preparing our gardens for winter; this includes moving outdoor container plants indoors for the chilly season. While preparing to bring in the container plant, it is critical to make sure your plants are not bringing in any unvisited guests. Outdoors can carry pests and diseases that spread through indoor plants faster than outdoor plants, so don’t convince yourself that you’ll quarantine the plant will treat the problem. The good news is that plants can be easily treatd for pests with natural home remedies.

The simplest way to fill a basin or water with a natural, non-detergent liquid soap, then take the potted plant and fully immerse it into the soapy water. You can leave the plant sitting in the water for up to 3 hours, the soapy solution should force any bugs living out of the soil. Don’t worry this solutions is actually quite good for the plants roots and will the roots nicely hydrated.

Now all you have left is to clean the lefts and flowers; using the same soap solution, mist the plants (you can purchase a new spray bottle from the local dollar or grocery store, but recycling an old spray bottle will just fine too).

Now that you have treated your container plants, you are safe to bring them indoors without fear of bringing any pests as well.

Connect with Marvin Gardens on Facebook to receive more gardening tips in your Facebook newsfeed!

Eleven Shades of Brown!

If you’re a regular reader of the Marvin Gardens blog, you’re probably already familiar with the fact that we have a category called, “Eleven Shades of Grey.” Why, you may ask? Well that’s a completely separate story for another time. But one of the main things that prompted the category’s name was the fact that within every color’s index is an expansive catalog of hues or “shades”. Shades of red. Shades of yellow. Shades of grey. Aside from grey – which, as you can tell, we love – there are so many beautiful neutral and earthy colors that are adequately representative of both the garden and the home. Blues and beiges are great examples. Another wonderful example is the color brown, which also seems to be making a strong comeback in the design world.

From Canadian House & Home:

Brown tones are just so darn classic and versatile, and their earthiness brings warmth to a farmhouse or lends a posh feeling to a penthouse. And yes, I know for many of you classic sophisticates, brown has never left.

London Clay (244) from Farrow & Ball is a muddy brown favorite of mine.

Durango (2137-30) from Benjamin Moore is nice, too.

Above is Michael Penney’s fave: Bittersweet Chocolate (2114-10) from Benjamin Moore.

And how about a timeless fabric?

Photo credits via Canadian House & Home:

1. London Clay (244), Farrow & Ball
2. Durango (2137-30), Benjamin Moore
3. Bittersweet Chocolate (2114-10), Benjamin Moore
4. Imperial Trellis II in Java/Cream (174413), Schumacher

The Power of Art

The power of classical art could and should never be underestimated. Take a look at these photos and you’ll know exactly what we mean. We came across these shots by Heather Clawson over at Habitually Chic and we found them to be so inspiring that we just had to share them. They’re of statues in Florence and The Louvre by Christopher Draghi at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and simply bleed beauty. It’s amazing how much detail was put into each and every inch of these sculptures and how much of a story they seem to tell with every finely chiseled bit. Marvin Gardens would like to know, what artistic pieces do you love the most and find to be the most inspiring?

Photo Credit: Photos by Heather Clawson via Habitually Chic