LIKEN can turn your balcony into a mini sanctuary. By Alisara Chirapongse

People can’t afford to drive, they’re moving into condos closer to the city center and living spaces are getting smaller and smaller. Having a backyard is now about as extravagant as having five maids. If you’d like to have a little bit of nature within your 49m², head to LIKEN to kick start your urban gardening ambitions.

A small white house in a hidden soi off Ladprao has been turned into a makeshift English country garden, thanks to managing director Gullayanee Jiamsinkul, who is brimming with creativity and is a gifted gardener. “I was already selling ceramics. But with my interest in gardening and home décor, I decided to develop products specifically for this,” she says.

LIKEN provides you with all-around gardening services from tools to garden design. For enthusiasts, venturing inside LIKEN’s showroom is like being a kid in a candy store. The walls of the second floor of this home office are lined with shelves full of cute and practical gardening kits, from simple aprons and gloves to decorative pots and wooden garden lamps. With their own factory, LIKEN can produce high quality gardening tools and knick-knacks at very affordable prices.

And the good news is, even if you don’t already have a well-trimmed garden to put their products to good use, LIKEN also offers a landscaping design service for any size home. “Whether you live in a big house with generous yard space, or a condo with a two-square-meter balcony, we can design a garden for you,” says Gullayanee. The service fees depend on the size of your garden and the types of plants used, of course. Make an appointment with Gullayanee and a team of landscapers will then drop by at your place to give you a 3D rendering. The LIKEN team will then take you to their nursery where you can choose your favorite plants.

Since all of their products are designed by Gullayanee and her team, you can customize any piece to fit in your personal eden. “If you want to change the color of a watering pot and put your logo on it, we can do that,” she says.

Don’t feel like going all the way to Ladprao to get LIKEN goodies? Check out their little corner at Loft (3/F Siam Discovery, Rama I Rd., 02-658-0328. BTS Siam).

LIKEN. 866/15, Ladprao Soi 101, 02-729-2568/9.