9 Garden Design Tips from an Interior Designer: Best of Growing Joy Replay

9 Garden Design Tips from an Interior Designer: Best of Growing Joy Replay

Author: Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness June 4, 2026 Duration: 55:11
Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
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If you're looking for your garden to be a little more curated, calm, and cohesive (put together in a way that just feels right) what if you've been looking for advice in the wrong places? What if you shouldn't be looking at a garden designer at all, but instead at an interior designer to give you garden design tips that help pull everything together?

I'm bringing this one back as part of the Best of Growing Joy series a conversation I had a couple of years ago with Kelly Wilkniss, an interior designer, avid gardener, and co-host of the Decorating Tips and Tricks podcast. Kelly uses her interior design principles in the garden, and I still use the concepts we talked about in my own garden and houseplant collection today.

We cover how these beginner-friendly garden design principles can completely change and improve your plants and your outdoor space, and you'll walk away with practical tips to create flow, balance, beauty, and calm in your garden.

In this episode, we learn:

  • [04:50] How has Kelly’s gardening passion intersected with her interior design career?
  • [07:16] What inspired Kelly to do an all-white garden
  • [08:45] What is Kelly’s interior design style?
  • [10:30] Kelly’s opinion on modernizing antiques
  • [12:01] How did she transition from being a lawyer to an interior designer?
  • [14:08] Where can you find stylish lights for upgrading indoor plant environments?
  • [16:04] Where to find a personalized Mother's Day gift that includes handcrafted wind chimes
  • [20:31] Tip #1 Take a photo of interior and exterior spaces (it promotes a cohesive design flow!)
  • [21:56] Tip #2 Limit your color palette
  • [25:18] Tip #3 Create a flow
  • [33:49] A must-have book for outdoor living area design ideas with mix-and-match suggestions and before-and-after pictures
  • [35:10] Tip #4 Plant in odd numbers
  • [37:55] Tip #5 Layering!
  • [40:44] Tip #6 Balance and scale
  • [44:26] Tip #7 Visual noise
  • [48:48] Tip #8 The touch of black
  • [52:08] Tip #9 Not having an ugly storage
  • [01:00:13] Where can you find Kelly on social media?

 

Mentioned in our conversation:

 

Which of the 9 interior design tips are you most excited to try in your garden?

Check out the full show notes and blog for Kelly's beginner-friendly garden design principles!

 

Follow Kelly:

Website

Podcast

Book

Instagram

YouTube

 

 

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants)by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect plants, projects and educational resources for YOUR Lifestyle)

Support Bloom and Grow Radio by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon!

Instagram: @growingjoywithmaria

Tiktok: @growingjoywithmaria

Subscribe to the Growing Joy Youtube channel! /growingjoywithmaria

Website: www.growingjoywithmaria.com

Pinterest: @growingjoywithmaria


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There’s a quiet, accessible kind of wellness waiting for you on a windowsill or in a patch of soil. Growing Joy with Plants explores that very idea, moving beyond basic tips to examine how our relationship with the natural world directly nurtures our mental and emotional health. Hosted by Maria Failla, a self-proclaimed Happy Plant Lady and author of "Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness," this podcast feels like a warm conversation with a knowledgeable friend. Maria guides you through the practicalities of keeping your houseplants alive and thriving, but the discussion always circles back to the deeper connection-how the simple acts of watering, repotting, or simply observing growth can become anchors of calm in a hectic day. Each episode digs into how gardening and engaging with nature, even in small urban spaces, offer tangible tools to manage feelings of anxiety and overwhelm. This isn't about achieving a perfect indoor jungle; it's about finding moments of peace and genuine happiness through the process of care. The underlying message throughout the podcast is a powerful and gentle reminder: tending to your plants is fundamentally an act of tending to yourself. You’ll come away with not just better plant care knowledge, but a refreshed perspective on cultivating joy in your daily routine, learning that the serenity you might seek on vacation can be rooted right in your own home.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
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