Blondie’s is proud to be one of Polarmoss’ United States, Northeast distributors. Relying on the high-quality of Polarmoss, we have utilized their products for many years in a wide range of design applications. Whether you are in need of bulk supplies or customized design elements, Blondie’s can provide a range of services including design, custom fabrication and installation and shipment of this versatile and unique product.
2015 Holiday Showcase
Every year Blondie’s Holiday House designs and installs hundreds of Holiday displays. Each account is unique, site-specific and produced in our Holiday workshop that functions year round. Now that it is early January we have a flood of decor streaming back into the building. Each account is assessed and stored until it is time to refurbish or redesign for the next holiday season. 2015 was a really exciting year with an emphasis on monochromatic and tonal design. We saw ornaments being massed together to create a tight and opulent texture as well as an interest in a mixed metallic palette. Incorporating natural elements such as pods, ferns and cones was also very popular. Here is a sampling of what was out there this year…. enjoy !
The Art of Replica Walls
Replica Greenwalls are catching on quickly, boasting all the visual appeal of living walls with a fraction of the maintenance. A gorgeous, inexpensive alternative to vertical plant walls, these systems look every bit as good as their living counterparts, while requiring no irrigation and almost no upkeep. A cross between botanically inspired art and horticultural collage, these replica walls layer color and texture to great effect, eliciting oohs and aahs and sparking interest and curiosity.
The replication of plants and flowers, once referred to as “silks”, has experienced a revolution. Materials and technology have come together to create images of nature and beauty that are being presented in new ways. Replica green walls are an elegant and outstanding alternative for projects with budgetary constraints or areas with limited accessibility. They outperform live plants in areas with lowlight or in healthcare settings which may have stringent rules concerning living plants (check out our post on plants within the healthcare system). Project managers can be confident with an upfront ‘all in’ price, and the easy install replica plantings offer. Operations and Facility Managers love that the replica walls brighten and beautify their space without costly, time consuming maintenance.
We’ve also applied these walls to specific areas within the architecture that one would like to draw attention to, or highlight, such as a column or crevice. Eva Vessio, Creative Director of Blondie’s Treehouse Inc., has created a number of national and international installations with our Replica Studio. “Difficult areas for live plants to grow well are a wonderful fit for a replica planting. However, I never seek to replace live plantings with replicas by any means. Depending on the location, the wall art can be designed with nature in mind and be very stylized and chic. These installations also give me a level of artistic freedom that is sometimes out of reach with live material. It’s ART, replicated in the spirit of horticulture.”
Also important is the substructure that these panels are built on top of. Blondie’s woodshop custom builds lightweight wooden frames to support each design and provide the needed structure for easy and secure installation. While we’ve heard it been said that a Replica Greenwall is hardly a “Greenwall” at all, in truth introducing botanically inspired elements into a space is inspirational and conjures that sense of wonder that only nature can provide. Take them as an artistic gesture that invokes the natural world, beautifying our constructed space with a sense of the wild.
Thanks to Botanical Designs for sharing their awesome image with us!
Designer Spotlight: Daria Snyder
Recently, Daria Snyder, Blondie’s National Design Consultant has been featured by Autograph Foliages.
Check out the article below or link to it here.
Daria Snyder has been an interior plantscape designer for nearly 30 years. She develops & manages large national projects for Blondie’s Treehouse, Inc. based in New York. Working with Blondie’s, the sixth largest interiorscape company in the United States, she handles everything from holiday design to interior plantscapes, hotels to shopping venues. Based in Denver CO she is centrally located to service all national accounts.
Daria uses Autograph Foliages in a big way. Recently she was in charge of a project for a major hotel chain with many sites. Daria says that our succulents provided the perfect elements for her design. “They are so real both to the eye and to the touch”, she said. Included was a 12′ by 6′ green wall of succulents, along with other elements like a custom Polyblend® podocarpus. “I love the non-fade part of the Polyblend®,” said Daria, “from shape to size and coloration, the plants were perfect.”
“For another project we created long trough planters in a number of food courts and filled them with succulents top-dressed with Autograph’s green moss. The end result for all of these projects has exceeded our demands and the client was thrilled”, said Daria. “Autograph is my go-to resource for replica plants as well as holiday material. I can always count on their customer service, the variety, and the ‘realness’ of their products. I have so many choices and they custom fabricate whatever else I need.”
“One thing I love is that no matter what the exterior plant material palette is in any part of the country, they have the material available. So, if I am working in the California area, the Southwest, or Northeast, they have the right artificial/replica plants for the geography. To do what I do, I usually need huge variety and large quantities. Autograph fills all my needs. Blondie’s does a lot of huge projects and when we need replica or holiday, Autograph fills all our needs whether it is a few plants or thousands. It is great to have such an outstanding vendor to always be able to count upon. Thanks Autograph.”
Daria Snyder
National Design Consultant | Blondie’s Treehouse Inc.
Color in Tribeca
Referencing this square footage as an internal courtyard might be a stretch. A more accurate description would perhaps be the awesome things that New Yorkers can do with the tiny spaces we have.
The parameters of the project lend to its description. This Tribeca residential building’s shared amenity space and gym on the lower level opens up onto a 350 square foot space of brick walls and concrete pavers. The south wall of this space is made up by the terraces belonging to the residential units above and while the setting allows for minimal ambient light, each balcony looks down onto the shared space below.
In order to provide visual interest from the gym and the overhead views, Blondie’s designers Sara Baerwald and Eva Vessio utilized Jay Scott’s rectangle containers lining the north wall as well as surrounding the utilities in the southwest corner. They then created 8 foot faux boxwood hedge on the north wall and the appropriate height to conceal the utilities. From below the hedge creates the feeling of a courtyard and from above it softens the view of the once barren space. Adding color and functionality, the concrete pavers were replaced with rubber tiles in a bright aqua. To play off of this color and add a unique level of visual impact, artist Chris Pearson designed and painted a multi-color prism mural. Primarily on the east wall and then stretching over the hedges to the south, the depth and dimension that this mural provides for the space is incredible. It is a testament to the successful solutions we conjure when thinking outside the box and allowing for unique site specific resolutions.
