Old-School Green Design: Art Imitates Plants

I love designs where the site and environment are considered and fully integrated into home design and decoration. Nature's designs are beautiful, and when our homes connect to our environment's design, space seems to live larger and expand into the surrounding hillside, forest, or rooftop garden. Let's appreciate beautiful designs of art imitating plants.

Claudia Leccacorvi: In this design, the table is laid out to reference rows upon rows of grapevines. Doors and windows placed for open vineyard views; even the light fixture aligns with outdoor plantings.

On a vertical plane, curved topiaries imitate the upward thrust of skyscrapers beyond.

CAROLE MEYER: In this seating area, colors and shapes in an abstract painting pick up on lines and shades of the surrounding garden.

Curtis Horticulture, Inc.: The shapes of these grasses — clumps at bottom, short whimsical plumes at top — referenced in the fence design. Without literal interpretation, the two work together as subtle shape repetition.

Randy Thueme Design Inc.: In this example, the fence also relates to surrounding plantings as it weaves through. Like waving grasses, the fence says this home is relaxed and easygoing.

Randy Thueme Design Inc.: This fence is another example of seamlessly integrated natural materials. Color variations between white and black appear in birch tree trunks and on fence posts and railings. The horizontal fence line references horizontal striping naturally occurring on birch bark.

Susan Wallace: Plants definitely influence the beautiful screen door designs of Austin artist Susan Wallace. The slightly abstract metal drawing of a morning glory could become a perfect entrance for a secret garden.

Randy Thueme Design Inc.: This beautiful statue arches back into the wind, just as surrounding trees and grasses do when a gust blows by. The tall, skinny nature of the statue complements and imitates the line and shape of trees beyond.

Tell us: Do you have a beautiful old oak tree or field of meadow grasses that could inspire a new backyard design? Perhaps inspired by classic peony blooms or graphic red-hot poker. How could you reflect their brilliance in your artwork or outdoor room design?