*Photos by Rebecca

I was first introduced to botanical design back in March and at one glance, it caught my eye and sparked my interest. The unique blend of variously shaped succulents and cacti, multi-colored gravel, stones, branches, and earthy artifacts was alluring. I was set on acquiring at least one similar conversation-starter piece for my new apartment (for entertaining, of course), that at the time, was about three months away.

Fast forward to the present. I am now inhabiting a new soothing SoCo space that was just waiting to be decorated with such pieces. Thanks to Allison, I was referred to another talented source of such exquisite natural artistic creations at Big Red Sun, which provides ”full-service architectural, environmentally conscious landscape design for residential and commercial spaces”. I visited their showcase and boutique at 1102 E. Cesar Chavez four times in the past two weeks, and my experience was  the epitome of true local customer-service, and the results were just fabulous. The first time I visited, I met Robin, the friendly mother of Big Red Sun’s owner, and Morgan. Both were so helpful, showing me around the grounds and inside their boutique house where potting containers, designed pieces, and architecture books are displayed. Morgan suggested I make a stop at Uncommon Objects on South Congress to pick out unique and reasonably-priced vintage containers that would fit my apartment decor that they would then convert into botanical wonder. I did just that and ended up with a copper bowl, and an antique. rectangular wooden drawer.

The second time I stopped by Big Red Sun, I took my visiting Mom and sister Allyson to see their wonderous natural beauties. The third time, I dropped off my containers, and gave Natalie, one of the designers, an idea of the types of succulents (water-retaining plants) I liked and possible colors to include. I left the rest up to the experts! Twenty-four hours later, I returned to pick up my latest obsessions. I was amazed! Production Manager Justin Kasulka wasn’t even present when I described my design preferences, and yet, he developed the most beautiful, rejuvenating, and fresh combinations that I knew would add a new level of life to my living space for me, my roommates, and guests to enjoy!  Each piece was priced at only $35 dollars- very reasonable considering this could take the place of a nice painting that would typically adorn a home, and can be costly. And, these plants retain water, so they only require minimal maintenance, which involves eight spritzes from a water bottle once a day. Big Red Sun also offers “refreshes” if the plants outgrow their containers or need some adjustments as they live over time. Since these plants can be kept up without significant water resources and they are all natural, they fall into my Green Entertaining category!

Green Entertaining and Home Entertaining Rebeccammendation: If you like to entertain yourself or guests at home, I Rebeccammend livening up your space to make it welcoming, innovative, and magnetic with botanical art! Stop by Big Red Sun to see what kinds of indoor or outdoor creations of all sizes they can custom-make just for you. Here’s a group of photos of the two pieces they made for me. (I had trouble narrowing down to just a few!)

Add some life and a fresh look to your entertaining space! Big Red Sun can help!

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