International travel is always a time of fresh inspiration for me. Dave and I took a trip to England this month and I have some fun new ideas to share. We experienced high tea, a croquet club, an English garden and so much more. My challenge is to figure out what will transfer from English culture and climate to Florida’s beach culture and heat.
First of all, I loved experiencing high tea and the historic feel of the homes we visited. Of course, I know that everything I loved won’t work in our vacation rentals, but don’t be surprised to see some charming tea sets in future rentals with vintage cups, saucers and teapots. Who knows, maybe we will start a new trend of afternoon tea on the beach!
We also had the opportunity to visit a Croquet Club with a friend while we were in the Marlowe, Henley area of England. It brought back some very special memories of playing croquet in my grandparent’s backyard with all the different generations who were visiting. My grandparents were from Germany and England and a croquet set was always available, encouraging family together time. We will definitely be adding croquet sets to the outdoor equipment we supply for our guests.
And the third thing I hope to be incorporating is the feeling of an English garden. In Europe, when a yard is included with the property of a house, it is actually called a garden. A garden is not to be confused with a ‘vegetable garden’ but is essentially the grass and flowers in the yard. The garden at our friend’s home was full of peonies (my grandmother’s favorite), hydrangeas and lilac bushes and I enjoyed it so much. The heat in Florida will keep us from being able to incorporate a true English garden, but I WILL be able to expand the floral features in our window boxes to include peonies for sure!
Look up the series called The Marlowe Murder Club, which is a cozy murder mystery show that takes place in the village of Marlowe. You will see all the things I just talked about, including the lovely feeling of an English garden in an English village, without the cost of an airline ticket.
Finding inspiration everywhere,
Karen Conrad Metcalfe