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I'm going to tell you a secret...

Practically

ANYONE

can arrange their own professional looking floral display (or a semi-decent one at the very least!) With just a few tips and an afternoon channelling your inner creative self you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Real or faux, flowers make a wonderful addition to any room in the home. For me, the living room and kitchen deprived of florals is bordering on sinful! Our artificial flowers in particular add colour and texture and can always help bring together the decor of your room.

So, are you ready to give it a try?

Here are my Deluxe Blooms top tips to help you on your way...

1. Good floral design always starts with the right vase. My advice is to buy a narrow neck vase. I cannot stress this enough if you're new to floristry. Particularly if you want something simple and unstructured or have a lower budget. A vase that's thinner at the top will give your flowers, artificial flowers and real, more stability when you place in the stems and you’ll need less of them too.

 

 

2. Be careful with colours. Arrange the stems in your hand first. (This is much easier with silk flowers as they're not as delicate. Go steady with fresh flowers) Gather them one by one and this way you’ll be able to see what they’ll look like before you start arranging in the vase. Similar colours always work well, but if you prefer bold and bright then be sure to incorporate some creams, whites and foliage to help blend your colours more effectively. Silk flowers have plenty of artificial foliage options to create texture. Our artificial eucalyptus is a firm favourite.

 

 

 

3. Always place stems in one at time. First work out how long each stem needs to be. The general rule is that your arrangement should be 1-1.5 times the height of your vase and always a few inches wider on the sides. I don't always stick to this, but it's a good guide for beginners. A sharp knife or scissors will do for fresh flowers, but for the artificial flower stems you'll need some wire cutters for job. These can be found at Amazon.com or even Screwfix have a great selection that's affordable. After you've cut all your stems, place them in your vase one by one, always at alternate angles working around the vase. By the end, your stems should all have '"crisscrossed" at the bottom, again offering support to keep your stems in place. And if you're using artificial you can play around with different deigns each week and titivate as you go more with ease.

 

 

4. Be brave and buy some oasis foam! If you have a fabulous urn or pot that you've always wondered what to do with then now’s your chance to get creative. Fill it from the bottom to the top with some florists oasis foam, cutting to shape as necessary with a sharp knife. (Green foam is for fresh flowers which needs to be soaked in water for 15 minutes. Grey foam is for dry, artificial or silk flowers. Both can be bought from Amazon and Hobbycraft.)

 

 

Next, add your greenery stems first by pushing the ends into the foam working from the edges inwards, until most of the foam cant be seen.Then, when you have a good base, fill in the gaps with your flowers, largest heads first. Foam allows you to create any shape you like as it holds the stems in place perfectly. You can create something small, big, round, a-symmetrical...you name it. It's amazing what you can create and so much fun! 

5. Greenery! It's making a coming back. In fact, its already arrived. I remember when greenery was mainly used as a basic filler for arrangements, but now it's being celebrated on its own. I myself have made many arrangements with just green stems. There are so many types available and they really add colour and texture to an arrangement. I love using artificial ferns and eucalyptus. They really do look fantastic, so get using it for an on trend arrangement.

 

 

 

 

6. ‘Go faux’. Buying artificial flowers will save you money! And plus they will always look their best. Faux flowers have come so far, and what's more they’ll last and require no maintenance! You can buy from our large selection of stems on our SHOP section. My favourite silk flowers for beginners are the artificial hydrangeas as they're a good large size so they help create an instant impact if you're still growing in confidence when it comes to flower design.

And there you go! Sounds easy right? You'll be a pro in no time, and if not, well then you know where I am!

When you've had a practice at home (this is why artificial flowers are great as you can trial-and-error all you like), then why not have a go at designing bouquets as gifts for friends and family.

After all, flowers are nothing if not a symbol of celebration.

Photography by Natasha Cadman www.natashacadman.com

Faux Flowers by Deluxe Blooms