Everybody loves to have plants around. They bring you tremendous energy, clean up the air and help us relax and feel good. But how about moss? And how about moss as art? Recently, in the world of natural décor, reindeer moss has stepped up as an alternative to plants and flowers.
Reindeer moss is actually a type of lichen that comes in a preserved form, which means it doesn’t require any maintenance at all! Creative people, heed this: the design possibilities are endless! Just to inspire you, I’d like to share some projects we did over the last years.
Mossart Tiles : The secret is the same with the ceilings as with the walls: you glue handfuls of the moss with hot glue onto sheets of sturdy corrugated plastic.
On a ceiling: Hatch Design, a firm in Kelowna, BC, has installed panels of spring green reindeer moss on their ceiling. They wanted the fresh look of the moss, plus the sound absorption capacity. The result is mind-blowing!
On a wall: by using the same principle, it’s not hard to install the tiles on a vertical surface. You can cover biiiiigggg surfaces or smaller ones. Tip : always think of framing the project somehow to hide the side of the tiles.
Mossart signs and logos: each fiber of lichen is just like a pixel on a computer screen: you can only create shapes that are detailed to a certain point. Overall, the result depends on the size of your project and the care with which you glue the moss.
Mossart frames: everybody’s got an old empty frame they don’t know what to do with. This could be perfect for a rustic or modern Mossart frame.
Mixing colors
The reindeer moss comes in 13 different colors, and I know that the artist in you is already wondering which shades will look best when mixed together. In the end it’s only a matter of taste, and hopefully the pictures you see here will inspire you!
Choosing which Color
You see that there’s a lot of green in what we’ve done, but for their kitchen this family chose Silver Grey, for a very eye-pleasing result.
The reindeer moss, harvested sustainably in Norway, is preserved using only natural products. First, the water in it is replaced with glycerine, and then the moss is dyed with food dye. Preserved means it is not live, and the versatile material can be played with in many, many ways – have you seen the glass-top coffee table with moss underneath? Who doesn’t dream of having coffee on top of a bed of green reindeer moss in the comfort of their living room?
You can get bags of moss for your own creations on Etsy. Tip: it takes about 9lbs of moss to make 5 square feet of Mossart tiles!
About the Author
Fred Collay is one of the creators of the cool green-art design company By Nature. Fred and his partner, Nicolas Rousseau, offer innovative, creative, alternative indoor plant products and ideas. You can see a tour of the By Nature studio in Vancouver here and here.
You might also like this Rainbow Moss Art DIY project
Or this Moss heart frame project:
Hello: Even though these are great ideas, ground moss should be left alone.
It adds protection around the base of trees, it holds several times it weight in water, and keeps the ground and the roots of the trees moist.
Hi Charlie, the “moss” that By Nature uses is actually a lichen. Here is what the company owner has to say about it: “Cladonia stellaris is harvested in Norway. It is harvested following ecological practices in order to sustain its growth because it is slow growing. I went to Norway in Sept to learn more about these practices and I loved what I saw.
Basically, only 10% of a grown area is harvested to make sure the moss can grow back quickly and each lot is harvested only every 10 years.”
Reindeer moss is really hard to find especially in San Diego I would like to make a vertical garden can you recommend any other plant that’s plentiful could die and tech onto a wall
In San Diego, you can find reindeer moss at Michael’s craft store and also at Shinoda Design Center, they sell bags of it! Good luck with your project!
Hi,
Love all your ideas. Would you please tell me where I can find moss, reindeer and other types in Italy?
Thank you,
Susan
looks great when fresh but supposedly a great dust collector too. how to clean moss and have it intact?