Brighten Your Home with Flowers

Posted by Jamie McIntosh Mar 5, 2008

While I browsed a store that features home interior products last night, I noticed a strange trend that seems to affect all shops this time of year: all kinds of glassware, furniture, linens, and knickknacks have adopted Easter egg hues. I’m as full of spring fever as anyone after this dreariest of Midwestern winters, but I’m stymied in my efforts to spruce up my house when I’m confronted with every shade of soft teal, baby blue, and lavender on the color wheel. Do designers expect me to reupholster my couches temporarily with a flowery brocade to usher in the season? I still face the same taupe couches and burgundy accents at home, which are at odds with pale yellow vases and wreaths, no matter how buttery and delicious they appear.

The solution to this dilemma is the fresh flower arrangement. Organic gardeners have a wealth of home décor material readily available, usually starting around Easter and continuing through late autumn. If you live in a northern climate, you can float a handful of pansies in a large crystal bowl full of water. If you live in the south, you can arrange a few stems of magnolia or dogwood in a vase. I’m not the most artful florist, so my arrangements are spare: I like to place a few hyacinths in the corner of the room, so I can enjoy their perfume all day. For me, fresh flowers are more indicative of springtime than a wreath made of plastic eggs ever could be.