Styling Flowers for your Home

Something non wedding related on the blog today but a subject I hope you may find useful. Now I know I am bias but my living room doesn’t feel complete until I have a pretty jug of flowers nestled on my dinning room table, they really do just add so much to your home & decor plus if you have scented blooms they also smell gorgeous! When you flick through the pages of those gorgeous glossy interior magazines (were currently decorating our bedroom and so I have a slight obsession with them lately much to Steve’s delight!) You will notice that the majority of the pages feature floral arrangements and this is because they do add that special finishing touch. They can tie a colour scheme together, add personality and quite simply make a room look ‘lived in’. So I thought I would share with you a few simple hints and tips on styling flowers for your home.

We recently held our first one on one teaching workshop with the lovely Pauline (I’m sure she won’t mind me mentioning her name) and one of the things she mentioned is how much she loves  adores flowers and buys them on a weekly basis but finds that when it comes to arranging them she really struggles with trying to get them to look nice so my first bit of advice would be…

Keep it simple

When selecting your blooms if your a complete novice to flower arranging stick to just one type of bloom be that tulips, peonies or whichever blooms are in season at the time. Purchase a collection of glass bottles or small vessels that you love & create single stem groupings of flowers maybe for on your coffee table, mantle piece or on your beside table would be another good place.

Forage

If your lucky enough to have a beautiful garden full of plants, shrubs and blooms, why not experiment and take some cuttings from your garden to display in one of your favorite vases? Blossom and magnolia when in season can look so pretty displayed on it’s own, simple yet effective. Maybe you have a console table in the hall way that is crying out for an arrangement to be displayed on it or maybe you have a corner in your kitchen or on your desk in your home office (if you have one). Taller arrangements incorporating twigs and branches look best on their own with a wall behind them as a backdrop so they can really be on ‘display’ on a coffee table they probably wouldn’t have quite the same impact, also you may not be able to see over them to watch the TV or talk to your family and friends! Have a play around displaying arrangements with fruit, either placed next to the vessels or even inside the vase is quite fun too. This would be particularly nice on the dinning room table or in the kitchen maybe. Take cuttings of herbs such as rosemary and lavender and tie into small bunches to display in the bathroom or next to your bed the scent from the lavender in particular is really good for relaxing. Sometimes you don’t need any flowers at all, particularly if your big on foliage a glass bell jar full of greenery can give that bringing the outside in feel.

 

Dinner Parties

Having friends over for dinner? Candlelight can really add the ambiance of a table setting, why not invest in some pretty candle sticks and tea lights to decorate your table with? Interspersed with single stem flower bottles would look lovely or maybe opt to have one main vase arrangement on the middle of the table made up of the same variety of flowers. My advice when arranging the flowers for this would be to get the height of the stems right & in proportion with the vase and make sure you cut all the stems the same length. Remember to remove all the leaves from each stem (these can cause bacteria when placed in the water) cut the stems at an angle to allow them to absorb more water. For longevity re cut the stems again every few days and change the water. You could also add sprigs of rosemary, olive or even a single stem flower to each napkin on the place settings, little touches like that will make your dinner party that bit more special. You could even have a selection a potted herbs in different containers ceramic or rustic style buckets for that relaxed rustic Italian inspired feel.

 

Inspiration

A book I really recommend if your looking for simple but pretty ideas is Inspire The Art of Living with Nature by Willow Crossley. If you decide to expand your floral knowledge by doing a few classes of course you can experiment with doing some more elaborate arrangements, gather items that inspire you I’m often very lead by the seasons; pine cones, twigs, feathers, cow parlsey (this stuff is growing abundantly at the moment everywhere and looks lovely placed in a vase on it’s own) autumn leaves. Build up an eclectic mix of vases and containers, these are lovely to just have on display on their own. Pretty ribbon is a nice addition particularly if your creating a gift bouquet for a loved one.

Welcome Doors

Decorating your front door is always a lovely way to welcome guests to your home & your wrong if you think this only means at Christmas time. Door wreaths & decorations can be at any time of the year you like; Easter, Autumn or even for a special occasion such as a Birthday party. We created this door swag made up of a mixture of seasonal foliages, quince & tulips….

 

These are just some really simple ideas for styling flowers in your home for those of you who are not familiar with flower arranging but just adore flowers. If you would like to try your hand at flower arranging stay tuned or sign up to our newsletter, we will be releasing details of our first workshop, very soon!

 signature - joanne this one

Image Credits: Rebecca Douglas Photography

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