I am very excited to bring you first hand coverage of the world renowned Chelsea Flower Show this year in London. The show, which opened today, is as good as ever and one of my favorite new things for 2012 is the Artisan Retreats. The Royal Horticultural Society asked five of the UK's most creative and stylish people to decorate a garden retreat, and each of the results are full of inspiration.

Orla Kiely put her signature mark on a shed that provides a place to sit and watch TV or read and relax. It's a vintage inspired scheme that uses her patterns everywhere, but in a way that I find completely appealing and not overwhelming.

I am in love with the shade of green that she choose for the exterior and am wondering if garden buildings painted in interesting shades of green might be an emerging trend after so many years of outbuildings swathed in bright blues and other eye popping colors. I saw the more muted earthy tones for backdrops throughout Chelsea, and I for one welcome this move towards more subtly interesting garden paint.

There were five of these sheds in a grassy area set aside for relaxing and getting away from the push of the crowds. The others were designed by Vicki Conran of Conran, Kaffe Fassett, Annabel Lewis (of VV Rouleaux) and Nikki Tibbles, the founder of Wild at Heart (a popular florist in London). I'll post all of them, if you care to see a few more?

Originally posted on May 23, 2012

(Images: Rochelle Greayer)

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