To Do 10.15.20

INCUBATE: ideas for home improvement.

Is it just us, or has there been just an abundance of home improvement inspiration floating around? Take a moment to pay homage to the Queen of Folding and “sparking joy” herself by watching a few episodes of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, but then gather ideas from other shows and media. May we suggest Tiny Home Nation (it may be the future, after all), Queer Eye or Interior Design Masters? It’s all available on Netflix. If books are more your style, try the aesthetically pleasing and newly published work of Lisa Przystup, Upstate, or Nathaniel Williams’ The Kinfolk Home. Or stay updated with new ideas by following some Instagram accounts related to home and garden improvements, with @kellywearstler, @justinablakeney or even @houseplantclub, to name a few.

LEAVE: traces of yourself everywhere.

Making a house into a home is not just about completing your Ikea furniture project and placing it where it belongs. Your home should leave an impression that it is unquestionably yours. That might mean fresh flowers from any local farmers market. Or rearranging the seating in a room so sitters can enjoy more sunlight. Or it can mean placing all your knickknacks somewhere front and center. Another easy way to do this is to add unique pieces to your home. Monterey Bay Food Tours has an online marketplace that not only sells specialty food items, but also locally crafted kitchen goods like cutting boards and mugs. Lilify in Monterey sells unique ceramic pieces and candles that are scented with familiar smells like lilies and lavender. Then there are the hundreds of galleries dotted throughout the county that sell locally made art. The material things give way to an atmosphere and unequivocal feeling that the space you took so long to arrange and decorate is yours.

ADOPT: a house plant.

If a yard or green space is hard to come by in your current living situation (and if you’re not allowed to have a pet), try a houseplant. They’re both decorative and require some (but not too much) maintenance and care. Like a cat, with all the scratched furniture. Succulents are easy and require little attention, if you’re not one to be tied down for a regular watering schedule. Vine plants or plants with tendrils such as philodendrons or strings of pearls are an easy pop of green and break the monotony of a room with their irregular growing pattern. Various ferns and small trees like fiddle leaf figs add height to an otherwise flat-looking room or bookshelf. Start your search and look for expertise at any number of local nurseries in the area like Grigg’s Nursery, Navarro’s Mixed Nursery, Del Rey Oaks Gardens or Seaside Garden Center.