Meet the Designer House Plant
Houseplants had a bad reputation for a while there, thanks to memories from the ‘70s of ivy in macrame hangers. But no more. The houseplant-if such a mundane term still applies-is now a design accessory, a cool complement to spare, contemporary rooms where one plant, not a windowful, is plenty.
Allen Chivens, who creates container pieces for design showrooms and private homes, tailors his work to the setting-its style, furnishings and colors-choosing plants for visibility instead of tucking them in corners. Among his favorites are dramatically colored euphorbias, lacy cycads, unusual kalanchoes and sansevierias. If they have an odd pattern or kinked stem, so much the better. He matches their scale and character to planters-palm-trunked Indonesian storage drums, Indian stone cook pots, wooden Chinese boxes. The result is “all of a piece,” he says, “much more a picture than the plant alone.”
Chivens, who has studied horticulture, taught school and done home renovations, started his West Hollywood business in 1984. He has seen plant trends come and go: “A once-elegant Ficus benjamina is now a mall plant; fishtail palms, quite something in the ‘80s, have gotten common,” he observes. What his clients now want, he notes, is “something less predictable, a sculptural element with a sense of permanence.” Not surprisingly, his pieces, which can range from $25 to several thousand dollars, have appeared on TV, in one instance on NBC’s “Will & Grace,” where they starred in Will’s mother’s living room.
Aloe bainesii, which Chivens grows and propagates himself, fills the bill for many of his clients, as does Pachira aquatica, the often twined-trunk provision tree. For those who crave blooms, he uses orchids, occasionally with quirky succulents. He will maintain what he sells, or leave clients with care instructions.
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Allen Chivens, Il Palazzo City Gardens, West Hollywood; (310) 652-3641. Chivens’ plant pieces are available through the Thomas Lavin showroom, 8935 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 278-2456. Photograph by Pornchai Mittongtare
