Steal This Look: It’s Complicated’s Kitchen Garden

Last week, we saw a screening of Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated (thanks to Universal Pictures, an RM advertiser) and fell in love with the idyllic Santa Barbara Spanish colonial house, complete with kitchen garden and potting shed (shown in the photos below), owned by Meryl Streep’s character. Recreate the look with a few ideas from seasoned set decorator Beth Rubino, an accomplished gardener herself (she has a 52-acre farm in Connecticut), who worked with Andrea Fenton and Nancy Haigh on the project. Rubino travels back and forth between LA and the East Coast, so she has a wide and deep list of sources, some familiar, some obscure: White Flower Farm, Rolling Greens, Peddler’s, Berkshire Home & Antiques, Jollys Garden Clogs, and Jamali Garden.

Above L: Peddler’s Wire Basket; $98 at Uptown Country Home. Above R: Peddler’s Folding Canvas Bucket; $45.95 at Green Depot.

Above: Rubino swears by the Japanese-made 12-inch Bear Claw Hoe (perfect for aerating soil); made of steel with an oak handle; $21 at The Gardener in Berkeley.

Above: Ben Wolff, the son of master potter Guy Wolff, makes pots in shades of white, gray, and black; his work can be found at Grdn in Brooklyn and Walt Nicke’s Garden Talk.

Above: Rustic hooks fashioned in Vermont from tree branches; hand sanded and finished with predrilled mounting holes (screws included). $40 each at Live Wire Farm.

Above: Every gardener needs a bandana; we love the Large Selvedge Chambray Handkerchief; made of Japanese indigo in New York City; $44 at Hickoree’s Hard Goods.

Above: Thrown by hand, fired for hours in wood-burning kilns, the clay Crete Labyrinth Pot is approximately three feet tall; at $999 it’s a major lifetime investment at White Flower Farm.

Below: Vintage wood crates from Antique Mystique ($15 each).

Above: Pair of Vintage Iron Hay Feeders; $175 at Stone Cottage Antiques, located in western Connecticut. Mounted on a wall, the hay feeders make a perfect stashing place for gardening tools and accoutrements.