The English Maximalista

Our darling little ranch house is built into a hill, where one of the bedrooms has a window-well built into a steep slope. In the event of an emergency, egress will be through the 5’ high window, then up a metal ladder leading into the garden.

I recently got to test this ladder, when I decided to climb down it and make the bottom of the window-well look pretty. Having spent an inordinate amount of time scrolling through Pinterest for some inspiration, I settled upon the idea of creating an idyllic zen garden in the minuscule 3’x4’ ground at the bottom of the 6’ deep window-well. 

Mr Maximalista stood in the garden above me, handing down the bags of decorative rocks we had bought to place on top of the boring drainage gravel. It may not surprise you to learn that — considering my renown for impracticalities and frequent citing of, “as long as it looks NICE!” — I had chosen white marble rocks to gentrify this tiny space. 

My reasoning being that it would look clean, and helpfully reflect natural light into what is, essentially, a subterranean guest bedroom.

Happily, the peacock bedroom benefits from full sunlight for most of the day, and is actually an unexpectedly bright and cheery corner of the love shack.

*****

We spent quite some time fiddling around with the rolled-up reed screen we had purchased to disguise the ugly corrugated metal wall. It needed to stay upright, yet be easily moved in the event one might need to climb the ladder. But eventually, a little bit of jiggling and wedging the reeds into the new marble rocks did just the trick.

The plastic bonsai tree was an ancient find from a thrift store, back in Wisconsin. It looked rather lost and pathetic at first, until I decided to sit it on top of some small boulders I found in the garden, giving it the perfect amount of elevation.

I was also playing around with putting up a small string of fairy lights, deciding against that idea only once I realised what a massive PIA that would be.

So we plonked in one of my Buddhas, which completed the look I was hoping to achieve: quietude and relaxation. I think it looks great!

Lots of love,

M xo