INTERIORS
PICK OF THE BUNCH A gorgeous bouquet of blooms in a vase, lovingly placed on the kitchen table or windowsill, has to be the simplest way to instantly bring colour and warmth into a room.
TOP TIP Save pennies by collecting & reusing old glass bottles. Or, for an extra splash of colour.
But, while flowers don’t need much help looking wonderful, getting creative with your floral displays can add a whole new dimension to the natural wonders. Stylists Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring certainly think so. Though not trained floral designers, they “love to play and experiment” with flowers and are blooming with ideas for fun and interesting arrangements, which they’re sharing in their new book, Decorate With Flowers: Creative Ideas For Flowers And Containers Around The Home. It contains a hearty bunch of suggestions for use with flowers which the authors promise are “budgetfriendly and easy to find”, as well as ways to choose, make or jazz-up containers. Here’s a sneaky peak at some of the highlights, along with my 144 suggestions for petal power buys...
BOTTLE CHANDELIER A bottle chandelier can be made out of a wire loop, heavy-gauge florist wire, lighter-gauge florist wire, and vintage or interesting small glass bottles, suggest Becker and Shewring. You will need to hang it securely from the ceiling with a hook. Use light wire to wrap around the necks of the bottles - this only works if there is a rim to hold the wire below it, then attach the other end of the wire to the loop frame. Attach bottles at varying lengths and space them evenly around the wire loop for balance. Use as little water as possible in the bottles and pop a flower or two in each one. A cluster of small bottles could also be tied to the back of a chair, using light-gauge florist wire. Add blooms and ribbons for more pizzazz.