Question: What’s better than a client who loves to use what she has and even enjoys furnishing her rooms with recycled furniture found on Freecycle and Craig’s List? Answer: A client who is also eco-conscious and farms her own produce in her New York City apartment. Yes, in her apartment! 
The other day I met such a woman. Her name is Beverly Shutes and her approach to making her home her nest was a revelation. In front of each of her windows over-looking the East River sat long farmhouse tables completely covered with rows of pots of flowering plants, herbs, miniature fruit trees and vegetables. There were rows of trees lining the floor, too. Every room was a veritable garden.
Beverly is discriminating and she has patience. She is willing to wait for fine cherry furniture and unusual plants to find their way to her, no run-of-the-mill cutesy stuff here. Somehow, she gets what she wishes for. People sometimes tell her, “You can’t grow such-and-such in an apartment!” She politely nods, and then proceeds to show them she certainly can.
The minute I walked into her living room and saw her L shaped conversation area with a pair of comfortable club chairs flanking her sofa and surrounding a coffee table, and also noted that all of her plants were in uniform terracotta pots and saucers, it was obvious she’d read Use What You Have Decorating.
She also started collecting old fruit crates years ago, too, before Pottery Barn deemed them stylish.
During her decorating consultation, Beverly shared interesting tidbits about her horticultural and furniture finds (a $2000 chair in perfect condition for $30!) and she also spoiled me with a scrumptious organic lunch topped off with homemade blueberry muffins, baked with almond flour rather than wheat. Yum.
We spent the afternoon creating a detailed plan for redecorating her living room, dining room and master bedroom so she now knows exactly what to do and what to look for going forward, to create her dream home. And, like her prodigious indoor garden, no doubt Beverly will eventually have it all.
Do you, like Beverly, love to find recycled treasures or have a special indoor garden?
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All of the precious things in your home reflect who you are. You can use what you have to create the home you’ve always dreamed of.”
– Lauri Ward, Use What You Have Decorating
