The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: An Encyclopedia of Outdoor Winter Decor (Part 1: The Train Wrecks)

Amanda Thomsen, contributor

6 users recommend

Classicly bad. Short on enough materials to make it stand up right, the ubiquitous white painted sticks fade into the background....

Accents shouldn't be dolloped on in one spot, like whipped cream...

Either use more accents, or less. This looks like a red eucalyptus fairy blessed it right n the middle... 

And with the cedar just at the base, it sort of looks like it's wearing a skirt. Use cedar throughout if you want some hangy/drippy action!

Nothing wrong with a pot that's just green, ya know. After Christmas, when you still have to love with it until April, you'll be glad you did

I hate to be the taste police, but fake never, ever looks good in the light of day. 

It's like they stopped SO CLOSE to the goal. A teaspoon more material and another 10 minutes and they may have made NEXT week's post. 

What the???

It would have taken 4 more pieces of curly willow to make this a good pot. With 8 more pieces, it could have been sexy...

Classicly bad. Short on enough materials to make it stand up right, the ubiquitous white painted sticks fade into the background....

Accents shouldn't be dolloped on in one spot, like whipped cream...

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I feel really, REALLY strongly about winter greens. Here's why:

1. I'm from Chicago where winter is long. I need stuff to look at.
2. They aren't alive, they don't grow, no care and they all match each other no matter how hard you try... ultimately, should be eeeeeasy. I think it's surprisigly fun.
3. Your friends and fam come over for the h'days, so you want to be lookin' good

For me, it's not even about style. I hope everyone uses their best judgement to give them a look they like. I don't want to criticize style, in Part 2 I'll show you some pots that aren't my style, but are totes well done!

With winter pots the faux pas are not about style. Usually it looks like someone didn't care or ran out of time, materials or fingers (watch those pruners!) or were possibly on bath salts (might be considered style?). The golden rule for pots? Make it look intentional.

"Yeah, I made it look like this on purpose"

Case closed. 

Here are some sad pots, some sadder than others, to illustrate that point. Are these how the makers intended them to look? Did homeowners make them, or landscapers? A tree died for this. Make it count. 

I snapped these photos while walking around downtown on lunch, I don't know any of these people and I sure as poop didn't make thier pots. 

What do you think?

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Winter Containers: The Good, But Possibly Iffy (Part 2)

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Comments (2)

KissMyAster writes: @susan749 I know it's not easy. But I hope to give some super duper helpful hints in the very near future XOXO!
Posted: 7:14 pm on December 4th

susan749 writes: While I agree, it is harder than it seems to create these. I love your columns, by the way. Posted: 11:13 am on December 1st

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