Take a Seat Event: MC Jamie Drake

 

 

My recent participation in a charity event, called Take a Seat, allowed me to be creative and think outside the box when designing a chair to be auctioned off for hurricane Sandy and the tsunami in Japan.

The concept of “green design” was very intriguing to me and I knew from the beginning, this was the direction I was going to take.  I brainstormed ideas of how I could bring this concept to fruition. A lot of nights were spent sketching ideas and visualizing. My husband was a great sounding board for this. At some point, the idea of growing a chair went from being this crazy idea to actually working.

Recycling and repurposing  is a huge part of green design.  I knew I needed a chair that would allow flexibility in creating this masterpiece. By starting with the bones of a chair, which is the frame, you have so much potential to add to the design. I knew what style of chair I was looking for. It took a while, but I did find one on Craigslist. As for the process of transforming this chair into a living garden, I made it up as I went.

Chicken wire, stapled to the bottom, became the base of the chair. On top of the chicken wire, I placed a layer of moss and then filled it with dirt. The dirt was specific to succulent plants, which I found at a nursery. The back and arms of the chair were glued with a dry, sheet moss. Overall, the process took about a week to finish. I did make the mistake of putting the chair outside so the plants could get some sun. Not good for succulent plants. They actually prefer sunlight, but indirectly. A few plants were sunburned and had to be replaced. This was a fun chair to make and for a good cause. I will definitely participate next year and am already thinking of of ideas for my next masterpiece!

 

 

 

 

My chair, cleverly named “Roots”, was featured in a Fairfield county newspaper, At Home in Fairfield County. Thank you Judy Ostrow for the shout out! Below is the link to the article:

 

 

 

http://www.athomefc.com/ah/Design-Notes-2013/For-a-Good-Cause-Take-a-Seat/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is photo of our fabulous host for the evening: Jamie Drake (shown left)