Steal This Look: It's Complicated Kitchen Garden
From Julie
Last week, we saw a screening of Nancy Meyers' It's Complicated (thanks to Universal Pictures, an RM advertiser) and fell in love with the idyllic Santa Barbara Spanish colonial house, complete with kitchen garden and potting shed (shown in the photos below), owned by Meryl Streep's character. Recreate the look with a few ideas from seasoned set decorator Beth Rubino, an accomplished gardener herself (she has a 52-acre farm in Connecticut), who worked with Andrea Fenton and Nancy Haigh on the project. Rubino travels back and forth between LA and the East Coast, so she has a wide and deep list of sources, some familiar, some obscure: White Flower Farm, Rolling Greens, Peddler's, Berkshire Home & Antiques, Jollys Garden Clogs, and Jamali Garden.
Above L: Peddler's Wire Basket; $98 at Uptown Country Home. Above R: Peddler's Folding Canvas Bucket; $45.95 at Green Depot.
Above: Rubino swears by the Japanese-made 12-inch Bear Claw Hoe (perfect for aerating soil); made of steel with an oak handle; $21 at The Gardener in Berkeley.
Above: Ben Wolff, the son of master potter Guy Wolff, makes pots in shades of white, gray, and black; his work can be found at Grdn in Brooklyn and Walt Nicke's Garden Talk.
Above: Rustic hooks fashioned in Vermont from tree branches; hand sanded and finished with predrilled mounting holes (screws included). $40 each at Live Wire Farm.
Above: Every gardener needs a bandana; we love the Large Selvedge Chambray Handkerchief; made of Japanese indigo in New York City; $44 at Hickoree's Hard Goods.
Above: Thrown by hand, fired for hours in wood-burning kilns, the clay Crete Labyrinth Pot is approximately three feet tall; at $999 it's a major lifetime investment at White Flower Farm.
Below: Vintage wood crates from Antique Mystique ($15 each).
Above: Pair of Vintage Iron Hay Feeders; $175 at Stone Cottage Antiques, located in western Connecticut. Mounted on a wall, the hay feeders make a perfect stashing place for gardening tools and accoutrements.
December 16, 2009
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Just saw the movie, love Meryl, love the garden, love the courtyard...sigh.
I may just have to blog about it myself.
I loved the look of the garden, but honestly, some if it almost looked computer generated in it's perfection.
Lovely blog post.
Saw the movie and was in awe of the house and the garden. The attention to detail in the film was a WOW. Did I also, mention the white outfit Meryl had on in the opening scene - what fun.
Lovely, so inspiring. Although all that stuff stacked around would be infested with big scary wolf spiders here, but it looks like in a photo.
The third photo down is a rather large weaved basket trunk with a lid. Does anyone know where to find this?
Thanks so much:)
This garden look so serene and tranquil. Its the type of garden I envisage caring for in my dream home when I retire. The set director obviously has an impeccable attention to detail, yet the garden translates onto the screen so organically, forgive the pun. It would be truly fascinating to be able to see what the kitchen garden looked like before Beth & the team worked their magic to see what impact they had on the project.
Dream home and garden, indeed! As a real gardener, I know that you can't really (and shouldn't!) get a garden that looks like that: all harvest-ready at once! Have to have crops maturing at different rates to make it work. And WORK is the key in ANY garden!
Anybody know where the tomoato cages are from? I was so inspired by this garden!
i'm totally inspired by Nancy Meyers design aesthetic. she inspired my kitchen remodel. so i loved this new movie and want to know if anyone can tell me the plants that made up the hedge in her front yard. it all looked so organic and natural and i'd love to recreate this in my front yard.
I love those tomato cages and would love to reproduce them!
I loved the tomato cages, too. Where can I find them? ...or do you have a picture of one, so I can reproduce it?
Absolutely agree - Love the garden..those tomato cages are great! Loved the wardrobe in the movie. The foxglove is just perfect for height and color.
I am also very interested in the Obelisk tomatoe trellises. Did not see anyone reporting where to buy them. If not I may have a carpenter that could make them if from a good picture.
