Flower arrangement ideas

Create a floral arrangement to accent any room in your home inexpensively and unique to your taste and personality. Use non traditional containers and blooms to match your color schemes.

Photo Credit: Jim Parkin
By Kathleen Milazzo

Floral arrangements always dress up a room. You can choose fresh flowers or silks, in a wide variety of colors and blooms. Any arrangement you make will likely be beautiful. There is almost nothing you can do to ruin them so don’t be afraid to get creative. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Flowers on the wall? Go to your local craft store and look for fans. There are many different styles and materials you can choose from. Use glue or florist wire to attach the flowers to the fan. The best shape is to follow the shape of the fan, using longer stems in the center and shorter stems to each side. At the very edges you can have the flowers trailing downwards. This arrangement works very well for dried flowers and looks very romantic. Use some baby’s breath, gypsum, or strips of lace that you’ve gathered with a florist pick. Florist picks can be purchased at any craft store, and consist of a green wooden stick with wire wrapped around one end.

For the Christmas season you can pick up some antique looking instruments such as horns and use the florist wire to attach some poinsettias and holly to them. They can then be hung on the wall or placed on a table or mantelpiece.

Let’s talk containers. Traditional vases are always a safe bet. From the small bud vase to the very large, there is an infinite number of colors, shapes and sizes. Again, you can use fresh flowers or silks. Make sure to get some blooms in the same color as the vase to use as accents, and the rest of the colors should match the colors in the room. One professional tip when using a variety of blooms in one arrangement is to use the same color for each different type of flower. For instance, if you have an arrangement with roses, lillies, and orchids, you would want your roses all pink, the lillies all purple, and the orchids all white.

When arranging the flowers, place the tallest stems in the middle and surround them with shorter stems. If you have buds that trail, use those for the edges so they won’t interfere with the upright stems. Don’t forget to add small fillers throughout the arrangement. Green leaves, and baby’s breath are two examples of these. You can even get small beads like pearls that are made similar to the baby’s breath. Feathers go surprisingly well with dried arrangements, and there are many different kinds of leaves that you can use also.

You can also experiment with different types of containers, such as small tin watering cans, large conch shells, and wine bottles. What will look best depends on the theme of the room. A breakfast nook would be a great place for a small to medium size arrangement placed in a creamer jar, or an old fashioned milk container. Fill it with light and bright colored flowers, to go with the sun rising in the morning.

The best thing about arranging flowers is that you can keep rearranging till you’re satisfied with the results. So don’t be afraid to be yourself and make it your own.