DIY: Floral Arrangements for Your Home
Posted by Jenni Barnett on Tuesday, April 12th, 2016 at 3:00am.
DIY: Floral Arrangements for Your Home
Whether you’ve just moved house or simply want to add some flair to your current home, floral arrangements are a visually interesting way to add color to almost any room.
Purchasing pre-designed arrangements will cost you a pretty penny. A great way to save money while still enjoying the beauty of flowers is to create your own floral arrangements!
Working with fresh cut flowers versus faux (silk) flowers
- Artificial flowers will last virtually forever.
- Fresh flowers have a pleasant aroma.
- Silk or faux arrangements don’t require watering or care.Real flower arrangements can be created in a pot with soil, bringing new blooms each year.
- Artificial flowers will not irritate anyone’s allergies.
- Fresh flower arrangements (if cut) will wilt rather quickly.
- Since faux flowers don’t have a shelf-life, you can create your arrangements at your leisure.
In recent years, the quality and variety of faux silk flowers and plants has improved significantly. Should you choose to create your floral arrangements with artificial flowers, you will find that it is nearly impossible to tell them apart from fresh flowers – even at close range.
DIY floral arrangement essentials
Next, choose several smaller flower varieties in different textures and coordinating colors from the focal point pieces. Adding contrasting colors makes a striking visual impact. Another option that produces surprisingly dramatic results is to use a number of different floral varieties in the same color or color family. Add some greenery around the edges of your arrangement if that appeals to you. Fronds, ferns and hosta leaves are all good options to fill in any gaps in your design.
Once you’ve selected all of your floral elements you’ll need to start putting your arrangement together. The basic steps include:
- Create a base. Some DIY base ideas: a vase, planter box or flower pot. Inside the base you’ll need to use something solid like floral design foam (if using artificial flowers) or soil (if using real flowers).
- Prepare your pieces for the base. Silk flowers will need to be trimmed so that they are all at the perfect length. Remember that they won’t all be the exact same length, as some will need to stand higher than others in order to become focal pieces.
- Build your arrangement. By adding your greenery first, your arrangement will look more life-like. Once the ferns, fronds or branches are inserted, arrange your focal flowers next because they are the most important element. Remember that your arrangement doesn’t have to be perfect; in fact, asymmetrical floral designs are more visually appealing than those that are exactly symmetrical. Add your contrasting flowers and plants around your focal flowers, rearranging and trimming stems as necessary. Be sure to take a look at your creation from all sides to ensure that it looks great from every angle.
