As regular followers of my blog know, one of my favourite haunts is Petersham Nurseries which is about 20 minutes from my home. It's somewhere I go for inspiration and to take photos. It gets my creative juices going and all I want to do is take loads of photos and buy lots of plants and items for the home! I've become quite obsessed with photography since I invested in my first DSLR camera, a Nikon D5500. Macro photography is my passion so Petersham is the perfect place to go as I can take closeups of flowers, plants and the gorgeous items for sale.
The way they style the shop and the glasshouses with plants and flowers is absolutely superb. And there is the added bonus of great food and coffee in the cafe or if I want to treat myself, the other end of the glasshouse where the shop is located is a Michelin star restaurant! The floors in the glasshouses are just earth, even in the Michelin star restaurant but that's what makes Petersham so unique.
If I have some free time and the sun in shining my first thought is to head to Petersham. I could bore you with loads of superlatives but I'd rather stimulate your creative juices with a visual feast. It's not the same as being there in person but it gives you a good idea of why I love the place so much.
Some advice when looking at the photos below. Look at the way they style the items in the shop as this should help you when you style your own home - the way they group items, colours they put together, textures etc. This is one of the things that I really find helpful when I go there. I hope you enjoy my photography; don't all budding photographers aim to take the perfect photo?!
I'll start with some closeups of the flowers
I have a passion for vintage chandeliers and Petersham always has a range of the most beautiful ones (in fact I bought a small antique French chandelier from them a few weeks ago which is being wired up currently and will then have pride of place of my kitchen table).
The sun was shining on one particularly large chandelier this time, and I was mesmorised by the colours in the crystals so became rather "trigger happy" with my camera. These images come with a health warning - you may need your dark glasses on !
There was a lot of new stock in the shop since I was last there a week ago and quite a number of ceramic pots with incredible shapes and textures. You can see from the scale of the small items next to these pots the sheer size of some of them.
Petersham always has a good selection of vintage mirrors. I have bought quite a few over the years and recently have been buying some of their convex mirrors in various sizes. And then there are so many other interesting items on display which you think "I want that" but then "where can I put it in my home?" and then "oh heck, who cares, I just want it" and you go ahead and buy it !!
I hope you enjoyed these images and that they have given you some fresh ideas about how to style your own home. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.
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This post is for all you garden lovers. If you are lucky enough to live in London you have the chance to see the gardens of Petersham House, the home of the owners of Petersham Nurseries, Gael and Francesco Boglione. Their home is adjacent to the Nurseries and is a stunning Georgian house with extensive gardens, swimming pool and tennis court. They have a substantial vegetable garden which is used for the restaurant in the Nurseries.