Category: Life Hack

Hey! Are you storing your tomatoes in the fridge?

14/6/2021

Are you storing tomatoes in the fridge? / blogpost by House of Thol - photograph by House of Thol

Tomato: the fruigetable

With a love for Italian dishes and two little boys constantly hungry for snacks, tomatoes are pretty much essential in our household.

Did you know tomatoes are not actually a vegetable? At least, botanically speaking they aren't: Since tomatoes are the edible berries of the tomato plant (Solanum Lycopersicum), they are botanically classified as a fruit.
That said, due to its umami or savory flavor and low sugar content, in the culinary world the tomato is considered a vegetable.
Well, from now on, i'll be calling tomatoes 'fruigetables'.

Another fun fact: 'Pomodori' may be considered a pillar of Italian food nowadays, it took until the late 17th century for the tomato to be incorporated into Italian cooking.
Considering tomatoes are a staple in virtually every dish Italy is known for today, I still find it difficult to imagine the ancient Romans had no idea what a tomato was.

Now, the fridge thing...

Best practice to store your tomatoes for a longer period of time is to pick them green and store in a cool and dark place like a cellar to slowly let them ripen to red perfection.
That's how it was done for centuries.

However... nowadays very few people have a house with a functioning storage cellar.
Leading to the question: fridge or counter top?

Important to know: when tomatoes are stored at temperatures below 8°C it can negatively effect their flavor and cell structure.
In other words: Do not store your tomatoes in the fridge unless you prefer them washy and soft.

Storing tomatoes at temperatures above 20°C will speed up the ripening process, which might be a problem if you are not planning on eating them Today or Tomorrow.

The best way to keep your tomatoes fresh and tasty in the absence of a storage cellar, is by storing them at (or slightly below) room temperature and in the dark or out of direct sunlight.

When you bring home a fresh batch of tomatoes from the store, or -even better- if you pick them and bring them indoors from your garden, remove the stem and leaves, make sure they're dry and undamaged (eat damaged ones straight away) and softly place the tomatoes upside down one by one with as little touching as possible.
Hold off washing the tomatoes until you are ready to eat them.

Tomatoes should not be mixed with other fruit and vegetables because of the ethylene they emit during the ripening process (and lots of it).
Ethylene is known to speed up the ripening of everything exposed to it, which can result in prematurely rotting food and bitter tasting bell peppers. The ripening gas is even known to make flowers wilt faster.

So definitively no storing tomatoes in the fridge?
Well, it's not thát black and white.
First of all: Once cut, fruit and vegetables should always be kept in the fridge (and best eaten within a day).

Also, if your tomatoes are in danger of going bad and you're not ready to eat them yet, keep them in your fridge for a maximum of one or two days to stop the ripening process. Allow your tomatoes ample time to get back to room temperature before eating them.
Your tomatoes wíll lose flavor and structure, but at least no food will go to waste.

Are you storing tomatoes in the fridge? / blogpost by House of Thol - CC0 photograph

The do's and dont's of storing tomatoes at home

1. Store at room temperature (or slightly below) and out of direct sunlight
2. Remove stems and leaves and make sure each tomato is dry and umdamaged (only wash right before use)
3. Handle your tomatoes with care and place one by one upside down with as little touching as possible

4. Keep shielded from other fruit and vegetables (and flowers) to prevent the negative impact of ethylene
and
5. Do NOT keep tomatoes in the fridge UNLESS the alternative is to throw them out

How we use the Patera Magna to store out tomatoes

We always store our tomatoes under a lid in one of the compartments of the Patera Magna, the 'large bowl' of the Poma/Olera series.

We remove all foliage and check each tomato before carefully placing them one by one, stacked in two layers if needed.
When stacked, best practice would be to use a piece of paper to keep the layers apart. But honestly, i usually don't bother, since we normally finish the tomatoes of the top layer within a day or two.

During hot days we fill the Patera Magna with water that will evaporate through the outer wall, creating a slight cooling effect that is perfect to keep your tomatoes fresh and tasty.

We only take the lid off when needed, keeping the ethylene emitted by the tomato away from the other fruit and vegetables stored in the Patera Magna.

< Read more about the Patera Magna and Poma/Olera series here >

Patera Magna design by House of Thol / photograph by Masha Bakker photography

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saving food from the bin - check out this lovely post about the Patera Magnus

27/1/2021

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Patera Magnus - een bijzondere fruitschaal | blogpost by Huize Chaos // Design by House of Thol, photography by Huize Chaos

Patera Magnus - a special fruit bowl

We were super happy with this blogpost by 'Huize Chaos', one of the first happy users of our Patera Magnus.

Since we make each Patera Magnus by hand (quite an extensive proces), and the high demand means we're still producing orders from last year, the Patera Magnus in use is still quite a rare sight.
(We're working on it!!)

In this Dutch blogpost, user Marieska describes how she uses the special fruit bowl and how it indeed helps her to eat more fruit and vegetables while less food ends up in the bin.

Read the full Dutch post <here>, and read all about our Patera Magnus and the Poma/Olera series <here>.

All photographs in this post by Huize Chaos

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A hint of spring on a bleak day // All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer

14/1/2021

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All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer // Flower Constellation by House of Thol | photograph by Masha Bakker photography

image by Masha Bakker Photography

Yearning for color

I don't know about you, but i've seldomly been looking forward to the sunshine of spring more than this year.
Although we still have a few months to go before the bright green starts to pop, tulip season has in fact already started.
Time to bring a hint of freshness into the home!

Luckily, tulips are sold at both supermarkets and convenience stores as well as flower shops, so even in a partial lockdown, you should be able to get your hands on them.
That said, the taller stemmed French tulips you see on this photograph are usually found in more luxurious flower shops.

Being Dutch, it is about time to learn more about our national flower and how to properly care for them. Read on to find out what i learned.

From Central Asia mountains to Dutch Mania

though we very much hijacked the tulip as our Dutch national flower, the bulbs originate from Central Asia.
The word 'Tulip' is said to be derived from the word 'Turban', (because of the similarities in shape), and it wasn't until the 16th Century that the Ottoman empire brought the flower to the attention of the West.

The Europeans, with the rich Dutch in particular, were so smitten with the novelty flower, a Tulip Mania ensued, with prices for tulips in the Netherlands going through the roof (a bulb going for a house) before dramatically collapsing.

After a short crisis, the prizes stabalized again, and the Dutch have remained the leading producer of commercial tulip plants ever since, creating an abundance of colors and varieties and producing over 2 billion flowers and bulbs annually.

All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer // Tulip field // Public Domain image via Pixabay

Dutch tulip field, image via Pixabay

All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer // stillife with flowers by Hans Bollongier, 1926 / via Rijksstudio

Stilleven met bloemen, Hans Bollongier, 1639

A national symbol

Since the mania in the Dutch 'golden age' (debate is on about whether we should still call it that, as the riches of the Dutch empire were won mostly from slavery, exploitation and claimed foreign land)....
Anyway, since the Dutch 'Golden Age' master painters often depicted tulips in their works and the tulip trade was here to stay, the tulip became our nation's symbol.

Since 2019 we even have a stylised orange tulip in our official country logo (click).

Tulips were so valuable back in the day, enormous stacked tulip vases were designed specifically to showcase each individual expensive flower.

Tulip Vases - via The Hague art museum

Tulip taxonomy & a beautiful virus

The tulip is a genus of the Lilly family and is taxonomically divided into 4 subgenera: Clusianae, Orithyia, Tulipa and Eriostemones (more here), with by far most cultivars in the Tulipa group.

However, modern day practicality kicked in, and a new division of 15 groups, based on flower type, size and blooming period was made (see them all here).

The red/white striped petals seen on the botanical drawing here, are the result of a virus 'breaking' the tulip.

These were the most sought after flowers during the Tulip Mania, and one bulb of the depicted 'Semper Augustus' could cost as much as a house.

All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer // Two tulips by Jacob Marrel / Via Rijksstudio

Two Tulips (Semper Augustus), Jacob Marrel, ca 1640

Sadly, the beautiful virus impacts the tulip negatively, and each next generation of bulbs becomes weaker and weaker, until eventually too weak to bloom. As a result, many of the old 'broken' breeds have gone extinct, as did the valuable Semper Augustus.

Although a few breeds survived, like 'Zomerschoon' (Summer's Beauty') and the golden/brown Absalom, 'broken' flowers are considered a threat to gardens and industry nowadays, and the Dutch government has banned the sale of infected bulbs.

Instead, breeders have succeeded in creating extravagant striped, flamed, variegated (multi-colored) and even fringed tulips, like a.o. Rembrandt Tulips (a nod to Tulip Mania), the large Parrot tulips and the Creme Upstar Tulip in beautiful powdery pink and creme. (see more varieties here).

Via Tulips.com

bulb-planting & the green flower

Tulips are a great addition to any garden, and super easy to plant.
That is: if you remember to plant the bulbs at the appropriate time...
Most bulbs should be planted from September to December, and will start to bloom in early spring to give your garden that pop of color.
Here's a guide about do's and don'ts when planting tulip bulbs.

If you don't have a garden, or -like me- forgot to plant your bulbs (again), you can still enjoy the tulip as a cut flower.

In the Netherlands, tulip season is festively launched around the middle of January each year.
Since tulips are grown locally and on open ground, they are considered one of the most sustainable cut flowers in the Netherlands and are available from October to May. (more about that on Milieucentraal)

7 steps to keep your tulips fresh for longer

A while ago, we created the 'Rookie's guide to Flower Care' as an easy tutorial to keep cut flowers fresh for longer (read the full guide here).

Tulips can have a vase-life of up to 10 days when cared for properly, and although tulip care is quite similar to most flowers, there are a few things specific to tulips that you should take into account to keep your flowers fresh for longer.

All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer // A rookie's guide to flower care by House of Thol

1. Start with picking the right tulips: choose the ones with tall, strong stems and buds that are still closed and mostly green.
Make sure to handle the flowers carefully when bringing them home, as stems and leaves are easily snapped.
Ideally place them in a vase immediately.
If you can't, keep the tulips in their sleeve and place the stems in cold water until you're ready to arrange them.

2. Choose a vase as tall as at least half the length of the flowers to prevent stooping. Clean the vase thoroughly and prepare with cold water with mixed in flower food.

photograph by Roza Schous

3. Remove any leaves lower on the tulip stems (leave no foliage under water) and diagonally cut about a centimeter off the bottom of the stem with a sharp knife before placing in the water. (read more about the why and the how of the angular cut here)

4. Arrange your tulips spaciously in the vase, making sure the stems are not squashed together.
If you like, you can use a Flower Constellation to arrange your tulips in a playful and spacious way, like i do on the photograph. Make sure to choose the right hole for each stem, and be careful not to damage them.

image by Masha Bakker Photography

5. Here's the thing you should be aware of: unlike other cut flowers, tulips tend to keep growing while in the vase.
Since they grow towards the sun, you should check the vase daily and rotate the vase to keep the stems growing straight.

6. Keep an eye on the water level. As they grow, tulips use a lot of water, meaning you should top it up daily.
Ideally refresh the vase every 3-4 days.

7. Place the vase on a cool spot out of direct sunlight or drafts and keep away from the (ethylene emitting) fruitbowl.
If you like, you can move your flowers to a cooler spot overnight, keeping them crisp for longer.

Bonus: I have yet to try this, but apparently you can revive droopy tulips by poking a small hole at the top of the stem, right under the flower head. This releases trapped air and can revive the water flow.

One more thing: Don't mix tulips with daffodils or hyacinths.
Although you'd think they would compliment eachother in a spring-themed arrangement, flowers like daffodils exude a gel-like substance that can clog up the tulip stems, obstructing the waterflow

Finally: I like to keep my tulips in the vase as long as i can: until they start losing their large petals. However, take note: similar to lilly's, tulip pistils can hold quite a lot of pollen, and these can leave stains on a surface!

Edible beauty

Like many flowers, tulips are actually edible.
I wouldn't advice taking a bite out of your store-bought bouquet, as they might be treated with something to keep them looking fresh (you never know). Tulips from your own garden however, can successfully be used in a salad, with dip, or as a stylish edible amuse-holder.

Best thing to eat are the petals, which apparently come in all kinds of flavours depending on the color. Generally they supposed to taste a little like sweet lettuce (source), and you should pick them fresh, as they grow bitter over time.
The Guardian wrote an article about which flowers to grow for your dishes, <read it here>.

As the Dutch found out in WWII, tulip bulbs can be eaten too.
But beware: you have to take out the bitter core, as it is poisonous.
Also, it's notoriously nasty-tasting, and many people forced to eat them during the hunger-winter of 44/45, vowed to never eat them again.

All about tulips and keeping them fresh for longer // Edible tulip salas by Bon Appetit via The Guardian

image by Bon Appetit via The Guardian

image by Wolfgang Brauner via Pixabay

Résumé

Ever since tulips were introduced to the Dutch, the flower has played a part in our history: from the high and subsequent low of tulip mania, to the desperation of surviving by eating tulip bulbs during WWII, the colorful flower was there through the good, the bad ánd the ugly.
Dutch floriculture export is thriving, and we mainly have the tulip to thank for that.

After researching the flower, i would have loved to be able to recognize at least a few different tulip breeds by eye.
Alas, there are just too many cultivars, and new breeds pop up every season.

It was fun to find out about Semper Augustus, the viral infection causing the beautiful coloration on its petals, and the absurd value of a mere bulb.

I'm looking forward to gardens everywhere waking up to spring, and tulips slowly reveiling their splendour and bright color.
But before they do, i'm reviving my own sunny feeling indoors with a bouquet of color.
Going out to get a bouquet for yourself? Don't forget about your neighbourhood florist!

Happy spring-feeling everyone!

Sources: Wikipedia, Rijksstudio, Government of the Netherlands, Amsterdamtulipmuseumonline, Gardentabs, Tulips.com, Milieucentraal, University of Vermont, Maria's Farm Country Kitchen, the Guardian

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No Waste Week: ways to avoid wasting food

4/9/2020

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Filmstill ABN AMRO Gamechangers: Poma Olera

Save food from the bin

While researching for our Gamechangers design last year, we found out that about a third of the worldwide food production will not make it to your plate.
About a third of all produce is wasted!

Although a large part of this waste is early in the chain due to unfavorable harvest circumstances or less than great storage and distribution facilities, there's still a lot that's down to us consumers.

And food being wasted at the end of the chain, when so much energy has been used to get it transported, sorted, cleaned, packaged and in your house, is even more unfortunate.

In the Netherlands we throw out approximately 34 kilo's of food per person each year. (source: Voedingscentrum)
34 kilograms!
What a waste!
Not only because this is costing us about €120,- a person every year, but also because of the loss of valuable resources and energy.

Weighing portions and a smart grocery list

A lot of the food waste in our households can be prevented.
For example by making sure to weigh portions on a scale before cooking, by finding a way to use leftovers before they go to waste, and by not buying too much to start with: be smart about your grocery list and stick to it!

What also helps is to store your food in a way to help it stay fresh for as long as possible.

Did you know fruits like apples release a gas called ethylene which can influence the ripening process and taste of other fruits and vegetables?
It might not be such a great idea to keep all your fruits and veggies together like we do in a fruitbowl.

Also, did you know you shouldn't keep tomatoes in the fridge?
The same goes for bell peppers. But don't keep these next to the tomatoes, as the ethylene gas tomatoes release can cause the peppers to taste bitter.

Keep fruits & vegetables fresh for longer

We designed the Poma/Olera (Fruit/Green) series: a series of products (vessels) that help store fruits and vegetables in a better way and avoid food waste.

During the design process we extensively researched how to store fresh fruits and vegetables after bringing them home.
Which fruits and veggies should be kept in a fridge, and which should definitely not? What kinds of fruits need a dry space, and which types should you keep slightly damp?
We touched on all the kinds of fruits and vegetables we normally use in our own household, and collected a ton of knowledge.

Everything we learned is incorporated in our Poma/Olera designs, but to use them correctly, it is valuable to know more about the best way to store the types of fruits and vegetables you usually buy.

Below you'll find a preview of what we discovered during our research.
In the coming months we'll extensively share what we found out about storing your fruits and vegetables in a better way and keeping them fresh for longer, with or without the Poma/Olera series.

Poma / Olera : Keep your fresh food fresh // Design & Photography by House of Thol

Happy no waste week everyone!

More about the 'Verspillingsvrije week' (Dutch)

More about Poma/Olera

Poma/Olera: keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer // research: apples - By House of Thol

Poma/Olera: keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer // research: carrots - By House of Thol

Poma/Olera: keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer // research: tomato - By House of Thol

Poma/Olera: keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer // research: banana - By House of Thol

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Keep your fruits fresh: Patera Magnus available now

2/2/2020

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Get your Patera Magnus

It's there!
Patera Magnus can now be ordered via our webshop.

After launching the prototypes late last year, we received so many requests from you about when the Poma/Olera series would be for sale.

And we listened! The Patera Magnus can be ordered on our webshop now.

We're currently producing the Poma/Olera series by hand in our studio in Overasselt (near Nijmegen), so take a lead time of 3-4 weeks into account when placing your order.

Other pieces of the series will be added in due time.
The Poma/Olera series will not be available for wholesale (yet).

Read all about it here
and
order here!

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Poma/Olera - the road to the Dutch Design Week

17/10/2019

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A sustainable solution for the everyday

It all started with a phonecall in June: ABN AMRO was looking for designers to come up with a sustainable solution for everyday situations, and if we could pitch an idea in July?

Since our House of Thol slogan is 'Durable products for easy green living' of course we had to participate!
We had a few ideas up our sleeve that could perhaps impact a marker like Earth Overshoot Day.

Earth overshoot day was July 29th 2019 - via overshootday.org

Move the date: Food waste

We took a close look at our own day-to-day and found plenty of things that we still can do better.
One of the things that's a real problem, is food waste: with two young kids with fluctuating appetites in the house, we can't help but throw out food ever so often.
Such a waste! Not only because of the money, but also because of the resources we waste.

And this goes beyond our household: in the Netherlands we throw out 34 kilograms of food each per year, and globally one third of the food produced is wasted.
That's about 1.3 billion tons!

If we could save only a quarter of that amount, we could feed every hungry mouth in the world (source).

Poma/Olera: keep your food fresh

Bringing it back to our own small household: what can we do to avoid food waste in our daily lives?
We noticed we often have trouble with fruits and vegetables: what is the best way to store them, so they stay fresh for longest and we don't have to throw out wrinkled bell peppers?

Poma/Olera - the process by House of Thol

Turns out not every fruit and vegetable plays nice with others, so keeping them all together in one large fruit bowl might not be such a great idea: the ethylene coming from fruits like apples can negatively impact the taste or ripeness of other fruits in the bowl.
Anyway, learning about the best way to store fresh food involved a whole lot of research (spreadsheets, seriously) that deserves its own blog post soon.

The go and the process

Back to the process: We presented our plans in Amsterdam in July and the day after our meeting with the jurors we drove off to the Schwarzwald in a 42°c heat and two eager little boys in a car without airconditioning.

We spent two blissful weeks of summer break, and got the phonecall with the final go for our Poma/Olera project while en route.

These past months, ever since returning home from our break, have been all about Poma/Olera.

The design changed somewhat from the first drafts and we created a series of round vessels specifically designed to store fruits and vegetables in a better way.

The making process involved a lot of sketching,computer drawing, 3d printing, mold making, clay casting, finishing, failing, doing it again, changing the molds, recasting, firing the kiln, glazing tests, new glazing tests, production, production, production.

Well, your typical design process, really.

PicturePoma/Olera - the process by House of Thol

See you in Eindhoven!

We're super happy and proud to be able to showcase the first prototypes of our Poma/Olera series at the Game Changers Pavilion on the Ketelhuisplein during this Dutch Design Week.
We'd love to see you there!

read all about game changers here

Poma/Olera series to store fruits and vegetables better by House of Thol

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Changing the game - Poma / Olera helps you keep fruits fresh

16/10/2019

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Poma/Olera series by House of Thol - store your fresh food better and avoid food waste

34 kilo / €120,-

In the Netherlands we throw out approximately 34 kilo's of food per person every year. (source: Voedingscentrum)
34 kilograms! What a waste!
Not only because this is costing us about €120,- a person every year, but also because we're wasting valuable resources and energy.

A lot of this waste can be prevented. For example by making sure to weigh portions on a scale while cooking, and by finding a way to use leftovers before they go to waste.
What also helps is to store your food in a way to help it stay fresh for as long as possible.

Applegas & bitter bell pepper

Also, did you know you shouldn't keep tomatoes in the fridge?
The same goes for bell peppers. But don't keep these next to the tomatoes, as the ethylene gas tomatoes release can cause the peppers to taste bitter.

Poma/Olera research: Apples - by House of Thol

Poma/Olera research: Tomatoes - by House of Thol

Poma/Olera research: Banana - by House of Thol

Poma/Olera research: Carrots - by House of Thol

Game Changers @ DDW2019

Poma/Olera (Fruit/Green) is a series of products (vessels) that help store fruits and vegetables in a better way and avoid food waste.

The development of the series started with an assignment by ABN AMRO to design a solution for a sustainable daily life and the first prototypes will be presented at the Game Changers Pavilion at the Ketelhuisplein during Dutch Design Week 2019 (Eindhoven, 19-27 October).

Check out the full Poma/Olera series here

Patera Magnus

Patera Maturus

Patera Dauci

Patera Herba

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Here comes the sun: Create a windowsill growing station with Helios

10/6/2019

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This Helios Constellation might be the latest addition to the Flower Constellation family, its idea is actually what started it all.

Years ago we designed a pit-frame that would fit a variaty of jars and glassware, and would make it easy to sprout pits and bulbs.
Out of our hands, the idea got shelved by the large Dutch Gardencentre company that took to it at first.

A few years passed and we focussed on Flowers first.
But the design was never out of our heads and when we ran our Flower Constellation crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, we added a stretch goal: If we were to raise €8000,- or more, we would start developing the 'Propagation Constellation'.

And here it is, a promise kept, and a full circle:
Helios Constellation.
Now let's grow some plants!

Here comes the sun: Helios

Helios lets you stylishly grow your cuttings and pits into a water-rooted leafy plant and gives you the opportunity to enjoy the plant in full: both the sprouting leaves leaning towards the sun as well as roots branching out to soak up water and nutrients.

Read all about Helios here.

Don't forget: order one for that special dad this week and get a free Growing Card with our Fathers' Day special - read all about it here.

Buy Helios now

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It's here! Welcome Flower Constellation XL: Ophiuchus

14/5/2019

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Flower Constellation XL: Ophiuchus / Design by House of Thol / Image by Masha Bakker Photography

Stylish arrangements in larger vases

Stylishly arranging flowers in a large vase can be challenging. You need a lot of flowers to fill up the neck, and it requires a skilled and artful hand to set the stems just right.
The Flower Constellations we developed so far, are too small for those vases, which is why we got a lot of requests for a larger version. We hear you!

Spanning a maximum diameter of 16 cm (6.3") the Ophiuchus Constellation is a perfect fit for larger vases, for example those for field fresh flowers or those vases that Dutch Designer made for that Swedish furniture company.

The Ophiuchus Constellation is not only larger when it comes to diameter, it also has wider holes, suitable for thicker stemmed flowers and small branches.

The thirteenth star sign

Ophiuchus or 'Snakebearer' is called the thirteenth star sign, because, just as the 12 signs of the Zodiac, it crosses the sun's path (Ecliptica).
The official period of Ophiuchus would be between November 30th and December 18th.

Because we cut the Zodiac year in 12 equal parts, Ophiuchus didn't make it as one of the signs on the Zodiac.
We did not forget about this star sign and by making it a Flower Constellation, we're giving it a place on our flowery ecliptica.

Just as its smaller Flower Constellation relatives, the Ophiuchus Constellation is made of durable brass,.
Its size is a step up from the larger Zodiac Constellations and fits vases with diameters ranging from 12,5 to 16 cm (4.9"-6.3").

Order Ophiuchus now!

We're nearly there!
Will you help us get Ophiuchus out there?

Crowdfunding 2.0

We went ahead and ordered a small stock of brass Ophiuchus Constellations. This means that when you order an Ophiuchus, there's no waiting involved: We'll ship immediately and you can start arranging flowers right away.

The only difference to the final product is the package it comes in.

This time we're not actually crowdfunding for the product itself, but for its casing. In order to be able to sell the Ophiuchus Constellation in stores, we need proper and beautiful packaging, and that's what we're saving up for with this 'pre-sale'.

With your support we're confident we can get Ophiuchus ready for stores around the world this fall.

What you can do

Order Ophiuchus now!

You'll be the very first receiving our XL Flower Constellation, and with that our eternal gratitute for your help getting the Ophiuchus ready for a successful international launch.

And that's not all! To celebrate the launch of this new Flower Constellation XL, we have a very special deal: instead of the regular €29,95, we're launching the Ophiuchus on our webshop for €25,-!

Plus, because we love wildflowers and happy bees, we'll also add a package of Bee Happy Wildflowerseeds to your order free of charge (EU only).

Other things that would make us very happy

Not ready to order but excited to help? Great!
It would be of enormous value for us if you could help us get our new Ophiuchus Constellation known to the world: Spread the word!

Tell your friends and family: finally a solution to use large vases (for example those from that fresh flower service) to set up luxurious arrangements without spending a small fortune at the florists'.

Together with Masha Bakker Photography we took gorgeous photographs of the Ophiuchus, and with the correct credits (@mashabakkerphotography @houseofthol) and a hashtag (#ophiuchus #flowerconstellations) we'd love it if you share them on social media.

Got other great ideas about how you can help? Looking to collaborate?
Get in touch! We'd love to chat.

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Don't forget to keep your plants happy

23/4/2018

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Don't forget about the Waterworks discount code!

We might be all about the flowers these days, the love for our houseplants did not diminish one bit.
With the weather looking up and the days stretching, our domestic greenery can use a little extra love.
And water.
They also usually like water.

To celebrate the new growing season (and make up for lack of attention), we've installed a 10% Waterworks discount for as long as the Crowdfunding campaign lasts.
Simply use discountcode 'crowdfunding' at check-out, and save an instant 10%!

Order Waterworks with a 10% discount

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The stretch goal shimmering on the horizon

9/4/2018

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Now that we've reached our Kickstarter goal in only 11 days (yeeaah!), we are not slowing down with our compaign.
No sir! No way!

Of course we took the time to sip on a glass of bubbles (or three), but now that we've made it this far, we're upping our ante:
Let's go for stretch goals!

And the first stretch goal shimmering on the horizon is...

The propagation Constellation

If we get to €8.000,- in funding, we'll be getting serious about the Propagation constellation:

a brass tool similar to the Flower Constellations that is perfect for sprouting larger seeds and pits and for the propagation of cuttings.

This tool is actually what the story started with a few years ago, so its development would mean we're going full circle.
Talking about circles: the Propagation Constellation will be based on the arrangement of the planets in our solar system. Making it a functional tool as well as a helpful reminder of our place in the universe.

Help us get there

Good to know, as soon as we've developed it, we'll prepare a Propagation Constellation prototype and add it as a Reward possibility for you to pre-order.

So if you haven't pledged already, do so now and unlock a new universe of possibilities.

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Flower Constellations fully funded in 11 days! Thank you all!

7/4/2018

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A quiet Saturday night turned Weeeeehaaa!

Saturday evening we were enjoying a little peace and quiet, when all of a sudden, there it was:
The pledge.
That one more pledge we needed to reach our crowdfunding target.

Screams were heard, cups of tea were abandoned in favour of something bubbly, and we pretty much spent the entire rest of the evening texting friends.
One day later, it's time for a proper response to successfully reaching our goal this early on in the campaign.

Thank you all!

First of all: we want to thank each and everyone of you for helping us along, either by pledging or sharing our story.

Thank you!
We would've been nowhere without your help.

The next level

This is only the beginning: The crowdfunding campaign runs until Saturday May 5th, 21:00 CET, so still a while to go.

We're determined to take this success to the next level and create a worldwide audience for the Flower Constellations.
Are you on board?

Stretch goals & surprises

We have a few stretch goals lined up that we'd love to meet, and have a new professional reward tier in preparation especially for shops who want to be first to sell the Flower Constellations.
Also, we have a little thank you surprise in store for you that we'll tell you all about soon.

Now, since its a sunny Sunday, we'll get back to entertaining the kids and watering the wildflowers.
We'll be back behind our desks tomorrow, getting into details about our big plans and next steps.

Again: Thank you so much for your help so far.
Let's make this big together!

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The Kickstarter thing - how to work it (ook in het Nederlands!)

1/4/2018

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What is Kickstarter?

Kickstarter is an online platform offering the opportunity to finance creative projects by collecting small contributions from a large group of people: Crowdfunding.

At Kickstarter it's possible to pre-order the Flower Constellations. When enough people do that and we reach our goal amount by the end of our campaign, we can start up production. You'll receive your pre-ordered Flower Constellation in August.

Since we've had a few questions from people about how to pledge, here's a blogpost about it.
And since many of those questions were directed at us from our Dutch network, for this one time, we'll make a bilingual blogpost.

Short summary

1. Find Flower Constellations on Kickstarter.
2. Choose how many Flower Constellations you want to pre-order and where they need to be shipped. (on the right side below 'pledge')
3. Fill out creditcard information.
4. Pre-order
5. You'll get to choose your type of Constellations once the campaign has successfully ended.
6. If we don't reach our goal, no charge will be made to your creditcard.

Wat is Kickstarter?

Kickstarter is een online platform dat het mogelijk maakt creatieve projecten te financieren door het verzamelen van kleine bijdrages van een grote groep mensen: Crowdfunding.

Op Kickstarter is het mogelijk de Flower Constellations vooruit bestellen. Als genoeg mensen dat doen en we ons doelbedrag halen, kunnen we de productie in gang zetten. We leveren de Flower Constellations dan in augustus.

Aangezien we nogal wat vragen kregen over hoe je kunt meedoen aan onze crowdfunding actie, bij deze een blogpost.
En vanwege de vele vragen uit ons Nederlandse netwerk, doen we m voor 1 keer in twee talen.

Kleine samenvatting

1. Vind Flower Constellations op Kickstarter.
2. Kies de hoeveelheid Flower Constellations die je vooruit wilt bestellen en waar ze heen moeten. (rechts onder het kopje pledge)
3. Vul je creditcard informatie in.
4. Bestel vooruit
5. Je krijgt de kans je sterrenbeeld te kiezen na afloop van de (succesvolle) campagne.
6. Als we ons doel niet halen, wordt er niets van je creditcard afgeschreven.

Getting to the right project

Simply browsing through Kickstarter, you probably won't come across the Flower Constellations like that. Not even with our 'Project we Love' batch, sadly.

Your fastest way to get there is to use the link that we pasted all over our website.

Like here:

Bij het goede project terecht komen

Gewoon maar door Kickstarter 'bladerend', zul je niet zo snel op de Flower Constellations stuiten, niet eens met onze 'Project we Love' batch, helaas.

De snelste manier om op de goede plek te komen is door de link te gebruiken die we op de website delen.

Zoals hier:

Pre-order the Flower Constellations now on Kickstarter / Effortless Flower Arrangements, inspired by the stars - by House of Thol

Once you're there

If you see the screen below, you're at the right place: congratulations, you've made it!

Take your time scrolling through our project page and watching our video, before turning your attention to the right side of the page and have a look at our rewards.

Als je er bent

Als je het scherm hieronder ziet dan zit je goed: Gefeliciteerd, je bent er!

Neem de tijd om door de projectpagina te scrollen en onze video te bekijken voor je je aandacht verlegt naar de rechterkant van de pagina om de reward-mogelijkheden te bekijken.

the ordering process

Choose your reward

On the right side of the page you can find the different possible options you can order the Flower Constellations: 'Rewards'.

Browse through the reward possibilities and choose your tier by clicking on it.

Kies je aanbieding

Aan de rechterkant van de pagina, staan de verschillende mogelijkheden waarop je de Flower Constellations kunt bestellen: 'rewards'.

Scroll door de mogelijkheden en kies door erop te klikken.

! Creditcard only !

There is no way around it.
Kickstarter only accepts payments by creditcard (for now). Such a shame for the Dutch market.

!Alleen met creditcard!

Helaas. Het kan echt niet anders.
Kickstarter accepteert, (nu nog) alleen betalingen met creditcard. Jammer hoor.

Select your country

As soon as you've chosen your reward tier, you'll be asked to choose your shipping country.
This will automatically add the required shipping costs to your pledge.

Click 'Continue'.

Kies je land

Zodra je je reward hebt gekozen, wordt je gevraagd het land waarnaartoe verzonden moet worden in te vullen. De verzendkosten worden nu automatisch toegevoegd aan het donatiebedrag.

Klik 'Continue'.

Log in / E-mail

On the next page you're asked to either log in or continue as a guest.
In the latter case you'll only have to fill in your e-mail address to start with.

Log in / E-mail

Op de volgende pagina wordt je gevraagd in te loggen of als gast door te gaan.
In het laatste geval hoef je op dit moment alleen je e-mail adres in te vullen.

creditcard information

Subsequently, you'll be asked to fill out your creditcard information.
(yes, creditcard is the only payment option)

creditcard gegevens

Vervolgens wordt je gevraagd je creditcard gegevens in te vullen.
(ja, het kan dus echt alleen met creditcard)

and... Pledge

Click 'pledge' and you'll be taken to the next step to finish.
Since we're not allowed to back our own project, this is as far as we can accompany you.
After your pledge, you'll receive an automated confirmation e-mail.

Thank you!

en... Pledge

Klik 'pledge' en je wordt naar de afrondende stap geleid. Aangezien wij ons eigen project niet mogen ondersteunen, is dit hoe ver we je kunnen begeleiden.
Na je pledge ontvang je een geautomatiseerde bevestigings e-mail.

Dank je wel!

Getting the starsign right

Wait?! But I didn't get to choose my starsign yet!
We know.
Once our Kickstarter campaign has successfully ended, we'll send you a survey to collect your preference.

By the way, here's an overview (click).

Het goede sterrenbeeld

Wacht!? Maar ik heb mijn sterrenbeeld nog niet gekozen! Dat weten we.
Zodra onze Kickstarter campagne geslaagd is, sturen we je een vragenlijst waarin je kunt aangeven wat je voorkeur heeft.

Hier is trouwens een overzicht (klik).

When you'll receive your Flower Constellation

If all goes well, we'll start producing the Flower Constellations once we've received the pledged money from Kickstarter, which will be around May 15th or so.

Leaving a little room for delays and set-backs, we expect to ship the Flower Constellations this August.

We'll keep you in the loop of our production process with regular updates.

Wanneer je je Flower Constellation krijgt

Als alles goed gaat, beginnen we met de productie van de Flower Constellations zodra we het ingelegde geld van Kickstarter hebben ontvangen, waarschijnlijk rond half mei.

Rekening houdend met mogelijke tegenvallers en vertraging, verwachten we de Flower Constellations in Augustus te kunnen versturen.
We houden je op de hoogte van ons productieproces met regelmatige updates.

Any questions left?

If anything is not clear, we didn't explain things properly, or you simply have something to ask, don't hesitate: get in touch and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Heb je nog vragen?

Als iets onduidelijk is, we iets niet goed hebben uitgelegd, of als je simpelweg iets te vragen hebt, aarzel niet, maar neem contact op, en we reageren zo snel mogelijk.

Thank you a zillion! // Super bedankt!

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Flower Constellations - the story so far

30/3/2018

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Flower Constellations / Effortless arrangements, inspired by the stars - pre-order now on Kickstarter

a personal note - the journey so far

Three days into our campaign and i'm finally finding the time to tell you a bit more about our Flower Constellations and their back story.

I'll be posting other updates about aspects of our design and production-process in the future, but for now, let me tell you a bit about the journey preceding our Flower Constellations crowdfunding campaign.

Flower Constellations -timeline- / Effortless arrangements, inspired by the stars - pre-order now on Kickstarter

the waterworks experience

After designing and successfully crowdfunding Waterworks, bringing our natural watering system to market turned out to be less straightforward than we had hoped.

We learned a great deal about running a business that first year and started to craft a strategy about the way we would develop House of Thol further.

Working best while coming up with solutions in our own living environment, we focus on keeping our designs close to ourselves.
We aim to create durable products that add value to our daily lives and help us maintain a green lifestyle.

Four years on, we have established a worldwide network of supporters and shops, and have sold almost 5000 Waterworks-sets.

We are ready for a new green product to add to our House of Thol collection.

Waterworks / Natural watering system for houseplants / order now on www.shophouseofthol.nl - design by House of Thol / photograph by Masha Bakker photography

House of Thol - Durable products for a green everyday / Thomas & Jana in the workshop - photograph by Masha Bakker photography

Crafting the constellations

Two years ago, we designed a little metal frame that would easily hold your avocado-pits in a glass of water: the pit-frame.
We designed it to be flat-pack and fit a variety of jars and glasses.

Flower Constellations / Effortless arrangements, inspired by the stars <the road to...> - pre-order now on Kickstarter

A large Dutch Garden center opted to produce it, but ran into management-issues and production stalled.
Last year we took matters back into our own hands and developed the Flower Constellations: based on the same flat-pack multi-fit principle, but for flowers and with an improved design.

We aimed to create a durable tool that would not only be functional, but would be lovely to gift as well.

While researching random patterns, we ran into the constellations.

A perfect fit, not because we're into astrology that much, but because we love that millenia ago, people tried to make sense of the skies and created the constellations as some kind of memory aid.
Telling each other stories so their order of things would not be forgotten.

the next step

After a year of designing, testing, tweaking, modeling and prototyping, our Flower Constellations are all set for production.

We have a reliable production partner lined up, and are now ready for the next step.

Having our friends and family fall in love with the product just like we did, gave us the right amount of confidence to set up our Kickstarter Campaign.

Will you help us get the Flower Constellations out there?

Flower Constellations / Effortless arrangements, inspired by the stars - pre-order now on Kickstarter / design by House of Thol - photograph by Masha Bakker Photography

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an angled cut - A rookie's GUIDE TO flower care

13/2/2018

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A Rookie's guide to flower care by House of Thol - 9 steps to keep your flowers fresh for longer

Flowers are without a doubt nature's living gems and we should all be surrounded by them all the time. Definitely outdoors (you know, for the bees), but indoors as well.

Flowers embody the freshness, color and sunshine to brighten up any home, and have served as a perfect gift for everyone for hundreds of years.

That said, everytime someone hands me a bouquet i'm at a loss...
How do i do these beauties justice and keep them fresh and bright for as long as possible?

Judging by the amount of bouquets that i see being just 'tossed' into vases, i'm pretty sure i'm not the only one dealing with the issue.

That's why i dug into it and made you and me this Rookie's guide to Flowercare.
#fistbumb

Let's get to it!

Before we start,
<< here's a pinnable image for you to store and make it easy to visit back whenever you need to. (also: yeeaah, Repins!!)

Now.. on to the real deal:

1. You're handed a bouquet...

As we just agreed on, getting a bunch of flowers is lovely anytime, anywhere.

Yet you don't always have the possibility to immediately find a suitable vase and give the flowers the care they crave and deserve.

How terrible is it to leave the flowers wrapped for a while?

Well, i just visited my own florist, and her advice is not to bother about unwrapping and cutting immediately.
She did however stress the importance of keeping the flowers in water, so find a bucket or container to put the bouquet in water as soon as you can!

With the flowers quenching their thirst, you can leave the proper flower care for a moment when you have the time, up until even te next morning.

2. About the vase

Finding the right vase has everything to do with shape, size, material and design.

The vase should be tall enough, for starters, with that Goldylocks neck that keeps the stems nicely together in their arrangement while giving each flower enough space to breathe.

When push comes to shove, it's almost always that one vase from the most remote corner of the kitchen cabinet above the refrigerator.

But whether you use a €2,- thrifted treasure or a contemporary design icon, your flowers are not happy unless the vase is squeaky clean.

Apparently it's not enough to just get rid of the layer of dust: flowers are susceptible to infection from bacteria and the vase should be properly sterilized.
To keep your flowers fresh for longer, thoroughly clean the vase with soap and water, and add a little bit of bleach, to be on the safe side.

3. The water

First off: Freshly cut flowers in general like their water lukewarm, it makes it easier for them to absorb the moisture.

That said: bulb flowers, like tulips and daffodils, prefer fresh cold water.

Secondly: Since flowers only take in water through the ends of their stem, it makes sense not to fill up the vase too much to reduce the possibility of bacterial growth from submerged rotting leaves.

There's a debate going on about using filtered water, but that might depend on the quality of your tap water to start with.
Here in the Netherlands, the water supply system is pretty good, so i can't be bothered.

Pro tip:
Tiny air bubbles can clogg flowers' stems and create air-embolism, so when filling the vase, wait for the bubbles in the water to dissipate before the next step.

4. The flower food debate

This is where the internet is going crazy.

There are so many different tales about what you should and shouldn't add to the water to keep your flowers fresh and healthy.

But i've done my research and what it boils down to is this:

Yes, you should definitely use a flower preservative, as it not only provides food for your flowers, but also keeps the water free from bacteria and fungi.

Of course you can use the commercial preservatives that usually come with the flowers you buy.
Or... you can make your own.

There are loads of home-made alternatives on the interwebs that may or may not work for you.
Getting into that is worthy of a whole new blogpost, and another day.

5. pruning

Now we're finally seeing to the flowers.
First, we need to prevent the water in the vase from being contaminated by rotting leaves.
To avoid bacterial growth in the water, cut off any leaves below the waterline or even touching the water.

Some flowers have guard petals. The two or three outermost petals that for example roses have and which keep the flower from opening completely.
Carefully prune them to make the flower open up even wider.

6. The angled cut

If you have ever bought a bouquet of flowers, the florist probably told you to "Cut the stems at a 45 degree angle as soon as you get home!".

That's because when flowers are taken out of the water, the cut ends of the stems seal themselves, keeping the water in like a defence-mechanism.

While that's great for transportation, the seal will prevent the flowers taking in fresh water, and needs to be cut off to avoid wilting.

The rule of thumb is to cut 2,5 cm (1") off the stem. Make sure the remaining stem is looking fresh and moist. If you're not sure, cut off a bit more to be on the safe side.

When cutting, choose garden shears or a sharp knife with a straight edge.
Avoid using your trusty blunt kitchen scissors, you might accidentally squash the stem.

There are a two reasons to cut at a 45 degree angle: You'll decrease the chance of crushing the stems plus you'll increase the surface area for water-absorbtion.

Once cut, don't dilly-dally: get those flowers in the water immediately or the stems will have re-sealed and you can start all over again.

Some flowers, like roses, are susceptible to airbubbles getting trapped in the stem (an air-embolism), to prevent this, cut roses under water.
(i'm sure you'll make it work)

7. arrangement

A Rookie's guide to flower care by House of Thol - 9 steps to keep your flowers fresh for longer / Flower Constellations by House of Thol - photograph by Masha Bakker Photography

Properly arranging flowers is a bonafide art-form that takes years of training and practice.

Luckily. i'm a fan of a haphazard wildflower bouquet, so no perfectionism holding me back to just (tenderly) throw the flowers in a vase, and rearrange a bit to make it look natural.

If you prefer a tightly styled bouquet like your florist makes, the best tip i can give you is to take your vase to the shop and have them set it up for you. A good florist will happily oblige.

Want to keep that florist style but have to fend for yourself? Whatever you do, don't leave on the wrapping and elastic band.
If you want to do justice to the arrangement, you have to start out with getting a vase with the right neck and overall shape.

Once you've found your Goldilocks vessel, and cleaned it, carefully unwrap the bouquet, prune and cut the flowers and place them one by one.
It might take a bit of practice and a lot of rearranging, but you'll get the hang of it. Eventually.

Want an easy hack? Get our Flower Constellations: durable brass disks with a cut-out pattern based on the star signs, to randomly space your flowers.

Before i forget: If you're arranging your own wildflower bouquet, keep in mind daffodils and hyacinths don't play nice with others: the slimy substance they secrete from their stems will make the other flowers wilt.

8. Where to keep it

In a still life painting flowers are often next to a bowl of fruit or placed in bright sunlight.

Eventhough that might be pretty composition-wise, if you want to keep your flowers fresh for longer, bright sunlight and ripening fruits should be avoided.

In fact, you want to keep your flowers away from any source of heat. The warmth will speed up the flowers' ageing process (which we don't want).

That said: flowers are also annoyed by drafts, as it accelerates water loss and reduces lifespan.

Then the thing with fruit: ripening fruits release ethylene gas, which makes the flowers ripen and wilt quicker.

Bottom line: pretty much all florists advice to keep your arrangement in a level cool environment with no fruit around.

Still life by Eelke Jelle Eelkesma | 1815-1830 | via Rijksstudio

A pro tip is to store flowers in a fridge overnight. However this does come with a warning: if the fridge is or ever was used for fruit-storage, the (left-over) ethylene gasses will still make your flowers wilt.

9. Maintenance

In the past i have been adviced to change the water daily, every other day, or to just leave it be.

Judging by all the pro-tips i came across while researching for this post, changing the water every once-in-a-while seems wise, best before it starts to look murky.
Also, when you do, clean the vase, trim the stems and add a little flower food.

If you don't have a lot of time on your hands, at least keep checking the water level daily and top up when neccessary. (Flowers can drain a vase more rapidly than you might think.)

Less invasive, yet as important, is to keep an eye on your bouquet and remove all wilting flowers, brown leaves and drooping petals.

Once a flower starts wilting, it gives off ethylene gass, which we know by now is not great for the life-span of the rest of the bouquet.

Also, when you get rid off the wilting bits, don't leave them near your arrangement. Because, you know, ethylene gas. Throw them out in a proper container and/or in another room.

The end...

So, there it is, the complete rookie guide to flower care.
Feel free to add your own flowery wisdom if you like and let's all enjoy our flowers for as long as possible.

Below you'll find an extensive list of sources with links to all original articles.

If you're not exhausted from reading this post, go check them out, they're all highly informative.

sources: Reader's digest, this Wikihow article, this other Wikihow article, this cool mythbusting article by FTD by Design, this thorough article by mental floss, of course these tips from proflowers, rodales organic life, These clever tips from the Telegraph, pro tips from Simplemost, brightside, Woman's Day, Flying Flowers and the Washington Post

PS.

It's not just flowers, we weren't that great with plants either, that's why we created this post about plantcare for the botanically challenged a while ago.
Worth checking out if you can use a little help in that department.

Also, we designed a device to water your plants: Waterworks. Made it a lot easier for us to keep our greenery green and happy.

more about waterworks

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We're in the book: Urban Jungle Bloggers

25/1/2018

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We're in the book: Urban Jungle Bloggers | photograph from House of Thol Instagram

from our Instagram

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a global society of plant lovers, at least that's what's stated on the Urban Jungle Bloggers website.

The website is a mix between a blog and a platform and was founded in 2013 by Igor Josifovic (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith de Graaff (JOELIX.com) with the idea of bringing more green into homes and blogs.

Judith and Igor are now head of an enthusiastic army of green-interior-lovers hashtagging away with #urbanjunglebloggers from all parts of the planet. (Check it our on Instagram)

We're in the book: Urban Jungle Bloggers | photograph via Urban Jungle Bloggers

from Urbanjunglebloggers.com

It was only a matter of time before these two would turn their blog into something less digital, and indeed: in 2016 their first book, aptly named 'Urban Jungle', was published in both English and German.

The book showcases beautiful green interiors from around Europe and offers loads of ideas and information to help you create your own urban jungle.

And two languages wasn't enough: last fall the book came out in French, Czech and Dutch as well.

And we're in it!!!

Well, not 'we' exactly, but Waterworks is!
And not with an actual photograph, but in the text (fast forward to p. 168 <Dutch version>).
And we're pretty damn happy with that.

It's a gorgeous green publication, and to have our Waterworks adviced as a handy tool to water your plants (which it undeniably is), is making our week.

Thanks Urban Jungle Bloggers!

We're in the book: Urban Jungle Bloggers | photograph by House of Thol

More about the book

Get Waterworks now

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6 houseplants that are great for indoor air quality

22/1/2018

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Remember this post that gave you 6 reasons to get houseplants now?
Here´s an illustration that can help you determine which plant is right for you.
These plants work wonders for your indoor air quality:

6 houseplants that are great for indoor air quality - infographic by House of Thol

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we almost missed this....

17/1/2018

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photograph by Urban Jungle Bloggers

...But during the Dutch Design Week the very sweet folks behind Urban Jungle Bloggers dropped by our exhibition at Piet Hein Eek and took some photographs.

We had a lovely little chat and Judith and Igor were kind enough to give us a shout-out on Instagram.

Somehow we only just stumbled across the blogpost they wrote about their Dutch Design Week trip this week.

Better late than never, i suppose.
We're proud to be part of a lovely green round-up and happy to get to share it here.

For the full round-up:
Read "Plant trends from Dutch Design Week 2017" here.

A few of the other green high-lights:

We almost missed this - we're part of the Urban Jungle Bloggers green round up for DDW 2017 | photograph of Carolijn Slottjes Airplants by Urban Jungle Bloggers

Carolijn Slottje by Urban Jungle Bloggers

We almost missed this - we're part of the Urban Jungle Bloggers green round up for DDW 2017 | photograph of the work of Spruitje by Urban Jungle Bloggers

Spruitje by Urban Jungle Bloggers

Stories bar by Urban Jungle Bloggers

ps. in the post it's mentioned that Waterworks is featured in the Urban Jungle Book.

Needless to say, we immediately ordered the publication and expect to update you soon. :-)

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6 Reasons to get houseplants now

15/1/2018

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Urban Jungle Bloggers

Urban jungle rooms fill the pages of magazines while Green concept stores and Urban Gardening shops are popping up everywhere.

But aside from them being all the rage right now, there are more reasons to fill your house with living greenery.

Here are 6 reasons to get houseplants now:

1. Plants create Oxygen

Photosynthesis.
Remember from your first year of biology?

A very (very) basic explanation: the plant uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to grow and releases oxygen while doing that.

Which is obviously great, since we use that oxygen to breathe.

To really get into the technical biological stuff, read this Wikipedia article.

by House of Thol

2. Plants purify the air

Pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene are being emited by furniture, upholstery, cleaning products and other (factory-made) items in our house.
In a place lacking decent ventilation, those pollutants build up and can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and eye, ear and nose irritation.

via collectspace news

Not only do houseplants create fresh oxygen, many plants also filter the air, getting rid of harmful substances.

NASA conducted a very extensive study to the air-filtering qualities of houseplants back in 1989.

A full transcript of the original study can be found here.

Or, for a quick overview of the outcome and a list of plants that are stars at battling indoor pollution, check out this Wikipedia article.

NASA recommends at least 1 plant per 100sq feet (ca 9m2) of home. Feel free to do the math yourself.

3. Plants make you smart

At least that's what this article on Scientific American states.

There's still a lot of research going on in this area, and most scientists agree that house-plants can help you stay fresh and focused during a hard day of staring at the screen, thus improving productivity.

6 reasons to get houseplants now - # 03 Plants make you smart | photograph by Bloomberg

Best Deskplants for the office by Bloomberg

4. Plants make you happy and healthy

Living in a green environment can reduce stress, lower blood-pressure and can even help the healing process.

According to cardiologist Dr. Bruno Cortis, patients who have a room with a garden view recover more quickly than patients who are staring out of a window to a brick wall.

Not hard to imagine that.

Some people say the reason we feel better when we're surrounded by plants is because we do well when surrounded by nature.

Something to do with human beings living in nature for millions of years, only to retreat into a world of concrete in the last century.

Again: makes sense.

5. Plants are natural humidifiers

As humans we feel best in a humidity-level ranging from 40%-60%.
Most rooms and offices however, have a humidity level of 25% (especially in winter, when the heater's on) and it's not uncommon to have a humidifier in a room or office to help create the right humidity.
Such a waste of space and electricity.

Houseplants can significantly increase the over-all humidity-level of a room, bringing it right up to the ideal percentage.
Healthy humidity-levels are not only great for your skin, it also prevents itchy eyes and an irritated throat.

6 reasons to get houseplants now - # 05 Houseplants are natural humidifiers | photograph by Domain

How to buy the best indoor plants for your home by Domain

6. Plants are pretty

A pretty obvious reason, and enough for me to start building an indoor garden.

Don't take my word for it, look at these beauties.
And there are so many many more.

Photograph by Edwin Pelser

photograph by Wonderwoud

6 reasons to get houseplants now - # 06 Plants are pretty | photograph via onechitecture

via onechitecture - original source unknown

Photograph by Ida Borg for Swedish Magazine Residence

A little help

Not so confident or your abilities to keep your urban jungle thriving?

We've got you covered: Here's a helpful blogpost for those amongst us who feel like they can use a bit of help in the botanical department (like me)

Need a little help watering your plants? Get your Waterworks-set here.

We'd love to hear what your reasons are for more greenery inside your house, leave your reply in the comment-section.

NB This is an updated version of this blogpost from 2014

6 reasons to get houseplants now - # 06 Plants are pretty | Inokashire Park Zoo / photograph by Meiko Film

Inokashira Park Zoo - by Meiko Film

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What's going on with House of Thol

Tomato: the fruigetable

Now, the fridge thing...

The do's and dont's of storing tomatoes at home

How we use the Patera Magna to store out tomatoes

Patera Magnus - a special fruit bowl

Yearning for color

From Central Asia mountains to Dutch Mania

A national symbol

Tulip taxonomy & a beautiful virus

bulb-planting & the green flower

7 steps to keep your tulips fresh for longer

Edible beauty

Résumé

Save food from the bin

Weighing portions and a smart grocery list

Keep fruits & vegetables fresh for longer

Happy no waste week everyone!

Get your Patera Magnus

A sustainable solution for the everyday

Move the date: Food waste

Poma/Olera: keep your food fresh

The go and the process

See you in Eindhoven!

34 kilo / €120,-

Applegas & bitter bell pepper

Game Changers @ DDW2019

Here comes the sun: Helios

Stylish arrangements in larger vases

The thirteenth star sign ​

We're nearly there!​​Will you help us get Ophiuchus out there?

Crowdfunding 2.0

What you can do

Other things that would make us very happy

Don't forget about the Waterworks discount code!

The propagation Constellation

Help us get there

A quiet Saturday night turned Weeeeehaaa!

Thank you all!

The next level

Stretch goals & surprises

What is Kickstarter?

Short summary

Wat is Kickstarter?

Kleine samenvatting

Getting to the right project

Bij het goede project terecht komen

Once you're there

Als je er bent

the ordering process

Choose your reward

Kies je aanbieding

! Creditcard only !

!Alleen met creditcard!

Select your country

Kies je land

Log in / E-mail

Log in / E-mail

creditcard information

creditcard gegevens

and... Pledge

Thank you!

en... Pledge

Dank je wel!

Getting the starsign right

Het goede sterrenbeeld

When you'll receive your Flower Constellation

Wanneer je je Flower Constellation krijgt

Any questions left?

Heb je nog vragen?

Thank you a zillion! // Super bedankt!

a personal note - the journey so far

the waterworks experience

Crafting the constellations

the next step

Let's get to it!

1. You're handed a bouquet...

2. About the vase

3. The water

4. The flower food debate

The thirteenth star sign

We're nearly there!
Will you help us get Ophiuchus out there?