So I live in a historic area close to the center of town…the homes are close together and close to the street…I love it because we can just walk to restaurants, stores and theatre…However, we do need our privacy and I wanted natural light coming into our kitchen…Although the house next door is a beautiful brick antique (nice to look at), my neighbors can look right down into my kitchen..I thought if I could put plants strategically placed around my window, it would give us privacy with calming green plants to look at, and even use them to spice up our food:) All I have to do is think up an idea and Victor is on it, working his magic…so he bumped out the window to give us a wider windowsill and then added moldings halfway up the window sides to hold a shelf!!! I used a new board and roughed it up with a hammer and screwdriver then stained it with a coat or two of polyurethane, to give it a rustic vintage look..and there you have a shelf for plants.. I can even remove the shelf for window cleaning or if I decide I didn’t want it for a time…This could be done on a regular window as well.  The shelf would have to be narrower, for smaller potted plants….like this window I found through Pinterest, click here to see it.  Or you could put brackets on your wall like this window from Pinterest.  Click here for a look.I also have placed some of my cook books and family pictures among the plants with fairy lights for a soft warm glow as it gets dark or on a gloomy day…I have had house plants in my home from the moment we bought our first house, way back 46 years ago, see picture below…this is our little “honeymoon cottage…”  The styles for home decor in the 70’s were hanging plants in homemade macrame plant hangers, among the harvest gold appliances and orange congoleum flooring…remember???  So over the years plants have always inhabited my homes:)  

Now for the wellbeing benefits of house plants…Did you know that the presence of potted plants in your home can lower blood pressure, therefore lower levels of anxiety…they can also improve air quality by reducing carbon dioxide levels and increasing humidity!!!  All you have to do is meditate on a flower, such as this lone flower left on my Christmas cactus…the color, texture and shape is enough to awe you into amazement of how the universe can produce such beauty…and just connecting with nature in this way will give you a sense of wellbeing and calmness in your life…Now who wouldn’t want that while washing dishes?!!!