Flowers in Your Home: How to Arrange Them & Where
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If you’ve browsed through just about any of our portfolio photos, you may have observed that the majority of the time there are flowers on display. Sometimes, they are lovingly arranged by our clients. Other times, we bring them ourselves as a finishing touch. Either way, it’s no accident that flowers appear time and time again in our portfolio as we truly feel they are often the key to making a room feel complete. Whether it’s a few stems to add colour and fragrance in a powder room or a brimming vase of flowers to elevate an al-fresco gathering, we encourage the use of floral arrangements in all areas of the home. All that said, it’s one thing being able to appreciate a floral arrangement and quite another to put it together yourself. So seeing as this is not our first rodeo, we thought we would share some tips on where to place your flowers and how to arrange them…
Entryways
We recently discussed ways to make the most of your entryway, one of which was to use floral arrangements. Though we are repeating ourselves, we feel it’s worth revisiting. The entryway is a visitor’s first impression of your home so why not greet them with a lovely fragrance and splash of colour. If your entryway is a spacious hallway, you can opt for something grand and sculptural, similar to what you might find in the lobby of a luxurious hotel. Opt for an architectural vase and think long, leafy branches for some drama and height, a mix of two colours of a seasonal bloom like green and purple hydrangeas, and then add in some small wild flowers for texture. If you’re working with a smaller entryway, like our clients’ featured above, a contemporary, low vase brimming with a single species of flower in a vibrant hue will be just as effective. In this instance, we arranged fuchsia anemones in a low, metallic-finish blue vase.
Dining Rooms
The idea of decorating a dining table is certainly not a novel concept but perhaps one that was starting to be overlooked… that is until the idea of creating “Instagram-able experiences” started to gain momentum. Now, whether you’re the type who shares a photo of your friend’s lavish dinner party or not, that way of thinking has crept into the back of our minds and has made “tablescaping” all the more popular. We, of course, love having an influx of clients who inquire about which flowers to display on their dining tables, regardless of their motive.
A round or oval dining table looks stunning when it’s styled with a single arrangement of a moderate size and height. For a long, rectangular dining table, like the one above, we prefer an odd number of vases of different heights and circumferences positioned along the center. In this instance, we arranged bunches of small roses in an ombré of colour ranging from cream to raspberry. We trimmed the stems and placed them in low, gold-tone vases for a look that feels contemporary but also warm. The height is practical for dinner-table conversation and the flowers themselves add colour to the table and tie-in the artwork above the fireplace.
Bedside Tables
Whether it’s to enjoy a simple luxury in your own bedroom or to add a sweet, personal touch for your house guests, bedside tables are a lovely place for a floral arrangement. After all, the bedside table is the first place you look in the morning and the last thing you see when going to sleep so why not make it a pleasant and memorable experience. In this instance, we urge our clients to steer clear of large arrangements. The idea is not to have the flowers be the main attraction but just a lovely little addition that completes the styling of your bedside table. Opt for a vase that has a small circumference and is low in height. In this case, the simpler the vase, the better. Then, choose blooms in colours that complement your decor, without stealing the show. We love a few sprigs of a seasonal wild flower with petite blooms or you can arrange a bunch of tea roses in a delicious sorbet colour. In our clients’ bedroom above, we gathered a collection of various flowers in purple and yellow hues, drawn from the Missoni pillows, and arranged them in a simple glass vase. The result was effective without overpowering this extraordinary bedroom.
Coffee Tables
When it comes to a coffee table in your family or living room, the goal is to add texture and colour. Like the bedside table arrangement, the idea is not to steal the show but rather to enhance what’s already there. That said, you can afford to go a bit bigger and can allow for more pageantry. Think of this arrangement as a conversation starter during cocktail hour. We find that spherical vases work best here. What you choose to arrange within the vase depends entirely on which colours you wish to draw upon from your space and what kind of texture you wish to add. In this instance, we used peachy-pink ranunculus with a spray of small, lilac-coloured wildflowers to tie in the Missoni throw and the throw pillow, which in turn made the blue velvet sofa look all the more vibrant, luxe and inviting.
Powder Rooms
If you have the counter space in your powder room, flowers are a must! The fragrance and the ambience they bring make a simple trip to powder one’s nose a worthwhile experience. In this client’s powder room, we had the luxury of being able to take advantage of the large, natural stone vanity and great ceiling height. Forsythia was in bloom at the time of this photo so we cut long, dramatic branches and arranged them in a tall, simple vase to create an unexpected visual interest and touch of colour in a space with an otherwise neutral palette. If you don’t have this kind of space to play with, an arrangement similar to what we discussed for small entryways can work just as well. Much like wallpaper in a powder room, we encourage our clients to have fun with colour and texture with their florals. Be bold…because pourquoi pas?!
