Country Woman Close-up

Style Comes
Second Nature

Our cover gal decorates outside in.

When it comes to feathering our nests, Patti Bosket of Leavenworth, Washington believes Mother Nature definitely knows best.

“Nature has so much beauty to offer us…why keep it all outdoors?” Patti asks with a smile. Inviting the outside in is the mission of Au Naturel, her interior and floral design business, starting right at her rural doorstep.

“I mounted my favorite quote by Vincent Van Gogh at our front door—‘if you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere,’ ” she says. “When I need inspiration for a decorating project, I grab a basket and my pruners and head for the hills and meadows around our log cabin.

“The seasons dictate the raw materials I find. In winter, it’s red dogwood branches, pinecones and evergreen cuttings—and spring brings fresh, sap-filled twigs, green moss and lichens. Nature is in her glory in late summer and fall. I come home loaded with colorful leaves, native grasses, stones from riverbeds and other treasures.”

Taking Nature to Hearth

The design ideas Patti gleans from her harvest are impressive. “Often I build a table runner on a base of twigs, layering on foliage, berries, crab apples, veggies, gourds, sunflowers and such,” she explains. “Or I may fill vases with birdseed and insert tall bundles of ornamental grains and corn tassels.

“My clients range from private home owners and retail businesses to offices and bed-and-breakfasts. No matter if your taste is country or ultramodern, decor that incorporates tones and textures from nature makes everyone feel grounded.”

Patti’s earthy palette includes shades like golden wheat, spring green, tree-bark brown, sky blue and maple-leaf red. Her accents seldom come from trendy stores. More likely, they’re from her husband’s garden.

The floral and interior designer invites nature to the table by using garden flowers, vegetables and fruit. “Getting outside to find material for arrangements lifts the spirits and offers fitness benefits, too,” Patti adds.

“Vince’s green thumb supplies me with gorgeous veggies I use in all sorts of ways,” Patti says. “He also grows tons of wildflowers I use as fillers in bridal bouquets.”

Fun Family Gathering

As mom to Spencer, 23, Logan, 21, and Riley, 15, Patti has discovered that kids also blossom outdoors. “Our boys and I frequently go out jogging, cross-country skiing, biking and hiking,” she says. “Their muscles come in handy when I need help carrying back natural materials I gather along the way!

“The guys were also good about giving up our garage so I could have it as a design studio. I keep bags, buckets and a big cooler full of materials there.” Occasionally, Patti goes on the road teaching garden clubs how easily home decor can go au naturel. “My wreath-making classes using native plants are always popular,” she notes.

“In today’s busy world, people spend so much time cooped up at work or rushing from building to building that they don’t make time to stop and smell the flowers,” Patti observes. “So I do my best to bring Mother Nature in to them. There’s always room for her beauty.”

 

Leaves, berries, grasses and carrots season her harvest bouquets.	She placed 1,000 pumpkins in the motif of an inn she decorated.

 

 

Photography: Jim Wieland; Connie Coleman Photography