Tahnee Carroll has never seen a room that can’t be made more appealing with a plant or two.
Here she explains all about it in this extract from a new book on indoor plants, ‘Leaf Supply’.
Images by Luisa Brimble
Meet Tahnee Carroll, Stylist and plant-lover.
Tell us a bit about yourself: your background, what you do, the space we're shooting you in.
I’m an interior stylist. I studied interior design straight out of school and gradually made my way across to the media industry. I now style large campaigns
for furniture and homewares brands, as well as major publications, and am the co-creator of Citizens of Style, a photographic and styling agency that
creates imagery and motion for brand, artist and magazines. I live in a two-bedroom semi in Sydney’s inner-wet with my dog Rue, a Catahoula cross Border
Collie and my housemate Cloud Tuckwell, a ceramicist who works at Mud Australia. Our house has a very eclectic mix of old and new. I am quite the queen
of finding amazing stuff on the side of the road, but I also have a taste for expensive mid-century antiques and ceramics. The colour palette is earthy
with black and brass accents and loads of plants in every corner.
Indoor plants were incredibly popular in the ‘70s and it seems that trend is well and truly back. Why do you think they’ve had such a resurgence?
I guess everyone just got sick of the minimalist trend - I know I did. I think indoor plants have become poplayur again because people are realising the
benefits they bring, especially living in the city with so much pollution outside, it’s nice to come home to clean fresh air.
Indoor plants were incredibly popular in the ‘70s and that trend is well and truly back.
As a stylist, you’re constantly creating beautiful images. How do plants play a role in setting these scenes?
I feel as though a room isn’t complete without a natural element and, for me, it’s as simple as adding an indoor plant, whether it be a huge sculptural
plant to add height and depth to a room, or a trailing vine draping from a fireplace or shelf. A touch of greenery instantly removes any clinical vibes
a room might give off.
What are some of your tops for styling your indoor plants?
I love to cluster smaller plants in groups and in gorgeous ceramic planters. I like to leave larger plants to stand alone as a sculptural piece.
Beautiful ceramic planters, just as dear to Tahnee as her plants.
How do you keep your plants happy and healthy?
I’m always keeping an eye on them; the light in my house changes quite dramatically from summer to winter, so I need to keep track of how each of them
is faring in the spaces I’ve placed them. If they’re looking a little sad I move them to a new spot near a window and they perk right up.
What's your favourite indoor plant and why?
Ooh, it’s got to be my monstera. I have two types and they're both so beautiful and wild. I am very drawn to an earthy colour palette which is quite ‘70s
in itself, so maybe that why I love Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa): it was such a popular plant back then.
Always keeping an eye on her indoor plants.
Leaf Supply
Leaf Supply, by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan, is published by Smith Street Books. Leaf Supply is also the name of Lauren and Sophia’s online indoor plant gift shop. They put indoor plants together with great pots and deliver the combo to your door - or to someone else's door on your behalf. The friends and plant-lovers are involved with plants in other ways too. Lauren is a magazine art director and owner of plant and design store, Domus Botanica; Sophia is a flower and plant stylist. Their book is an introduction to choosing, nurturing and styling indoor plants, and includes interviews with other creative types who just can't live without plants.