About Stacy Ling

Hi there!

Thanks for dropping by!

If you are new to my blog, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

Who Is Stacy Ling

I write the blog, Bricks ’n Blooms, from my 1850 farmhouse located in zone 6a northern New Jersey.

I’m a master gardener who’s been gardening for over 25 years and enjoys sharing my passion to help beginners find their inner green thumb, as well as discover a love for all things plants and flowers.

Bringing the outdoor inside the home is my jam as I love to decorate with a a comfy, casual, and cottagecore style.

So come grow stuff and create beautiful spaces with me!

Home and Garden Blogger Stacy Ling with some of her houseplants

About My Home

My goal is to make my home feel warm, cozy and inviting for my family, friends, and myself.

It is important to me that our space is approachable, easy-going, and user-friendly so I’m not worrying about wear and tear from my kids and dogs.

We recently moved from the house where we raised our kids and lived for 23 years. It was a huge move but we are glad we did it.

In the 23 years we lived there, we did a ton of work, including changing it from a small 3 bedroom ranch to a 4 bedroom center hall colonial. You can see what it looked like in the early days HERE.

After all the time we spent there, it was totally built out. From the interior to the gardens, there wasn’t much left to do.

And my husband Chris and I love a good project to work on. So we started casually looking around to see what we were looking for, because we weren’t really sure.

We knew we wanted to stay in the area so our youngest could finish up at her high school and continue to run our businesses here in New Jersey.

So we kept the radius pretty local to where we were and found THIS hidden gem.

And let me tell you – it is amazing and we feel very blessed to be here.

1850 farmhouse with front porch and spring flowers including ajuga, ranunculas, with hostas and buckeye tree.

The former homeowners took impeccable care of this home and property. It sits on 10 acres, but roughly half or a little more is wooded.

There are lots of unique tree sculptures and garden statues, a pool, ponds, and formal garden.

The interior needs some updating so we’ve been slowly working on that since moving in.

Here are some of the projects we tackled so far. Wait until you see what these rooms looked like before we updated them!

Bee skep and Houseplants in my sunroom After the renovation - how to paint over faux finish in the sunroom renovation. Houseplants in the sunroom — Sunroom Before and After

Easter brunch table decor ideas — Sunroom Before and After

My Passion for Gardening and All Things Flowers

Gardening has been my passion for over twenty years.

When we moved to our former New Jersey home, I started creating flower gardens all around the property.

If I couldn’t grow grass or the area was an eyesore, I started a garden.

And much of what I did was learned through trial and error.

last bouquet of flowers from the cutting garden in 2022

snapdragons in small cottage garden by stone wall — Snapdragons by Stone Wall

My approach to gardening is we learn by doing and not being afraid to try new things.

To that end, I subscribe to the motel theory of gardening – some plants check-in, do well and stay…and the others check-in, don’t do well, and are not invited back.

Shortly after having my children, I became a master gardener and began a very small garden design business helping others with their own gardens.

After a few seasons, my gardens started to suffer.

So I took a step back from the business. I chose to refocus on maintaining my own gardens while creating cozy outdoor living spaces for my family and friends to enjoy.

Since moving to our new home, I’ve been working on the beds here and they are coming along! There was so much here already so it’s been really fun discovering plants popping up this spring.

The gardens here are completely amazing.

You can see how they look in early spring HERE.

Our new old home is an 1850 farmhouse that has great bones with lots of charm and character.

The finishes are a little dark so we’ll be spending some time lightening everything up.

It’s going to be a fun adventure working on our new home and garden!

Vintage Farmhouse Dining room travertine floor tile — The dining room when we first moved in.

Potager garden with self-watering raised garden beds from gardeners supply in front of green fence by pond with bridge and waterfall — The new potager garden on the former basketball court by the pond.

My Decorating Style

If I were to describe my style it would be a garden-style, rustic farmhouse.

Now that we’ve moved, I’m going with the vibe of the home and gravitating to french country or rustic glam.

But I’ll always have my garden style.

What is garden style?

“Garden-style” infuses natural, rustic elements with decor that creates cozy, comfortable, and approachable living spaces by bringing the outdoors in and the indoors out with plants, flowers, textured, natural, and garden-inspired accessories.

A big component to my decorating style is to incorporate both real and faux greens and florals.

Birdhouse Centerpiece Idea for the Dining Table

Greens and florals help breathe life into a living space. by giving it more personality, texture, and dimension.

I started changing former home to a lighter, brighter, and more neutral decor style from the traditional cranberry, sage, and gold tones of 15 years ago.

And I’ll be doing more of the same here at the new house but a bit differently to go more with the character of the house.

While I am moving towards a more lighter and neutral style, with 3 teenage girls and two black dogs that shed, I have to be mindful of our lifestyle so moving to an all-white palette would be a struggle.

My Family

I’ve been married for 26 years to Chris who I met while I was attending Seton Hall Law School.

Yes, I am also an attorney.

But I retired from being a lawyer when I was 30.

How fun to be able to say that?

I’m retired.

We got married while I was still in law school and moved to our current home while I was clerking for the Tax Court of New Jersey.

Shortly after moving in, we started our family.

Home and Garden Blogger Stacy Ling and Husband Chris at Mount Snow

Currently, my two oldest daughters are starting to leave the nest as they are both in college.

My youngest daughter is still in high school, so Chris and I are preparing for the next phase of life.

Our new home and gardens are the next goal for us.

We’ve always wanted an older home to love and now have one!

A few years ago, we bought a home in Southern Vermont cabin and appeared on an episode of House Hunters.

Isn’t that so fun?

We had the best time filming this show.

With both homes and a transition to empty nesting, we are doing a slew of DIY renovation projects at both locations.

Househunters — Which House Should We Choose?

Watch Me On HGTV

I’m often asked about the episode we appeared on.

It’s called Ski Condo or Lake House in Vermont.

The most recent link to view the episode is HERE and you can get the behind the scenes story here.

I Want to Inspire

I hope my enthusiasm for gardening, home decor, and lifestyle motivates and inspires you to move out of your comfort zone and try new things.

My philosophy is that more than half the battle of DIYing anything is having the confidence to try.

We can do anything we set our minds to.

Thank you so much for following along.

Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

Let’s Connect!

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