The Saratoga House: The Skinny on Filling Your House with Flowers

I have many addictions when it comes to decorating my house,
and one high up on the list is the addition of fresh flowers to each and every
room, especially when those lovely elements of flora come from your own back
yard. I feel I come by it honestly though
-my brothers and I spent many a summer day at my grandparents’ house in
Massachusetts running through the “field,” an extra lot next to their
imperfectly perfect old house that contained rows and rows of garden
delights. While most of the time we
could be found skulking around the blueberry and raspberry bushes ruining our
lunch, I also found time to immerse myself in all the sights and sounds to
behold in my grandmother’s flower garden, which, just like any New England grandmother’s garden should be, was filled with all the heritage varieties one
would associate with a timelessly classic Victorian home. Age-old roses, multiple varieties of iris and
lilly, lavender and lady’s mantle, hydrangea and old English lace…all of it
could be found in the “field.”

So fast forward more years than I am willing to admit, and I
now find myself in the perfect setting, climate, and station to have a heritage
garden of my own. Of course, this type
of endeavor takes time to develop and establish (and with work, children,
children, and children already taking up most of one’s free time, this is a
major obstacle to overcome), so I probably have quite a few more years of
effort to put in before I will have the garden I enjoyed as a child. At the same time, it also takes a bit of
thought and effort to take those heritage blooms and make them compliment your
home in a manner that strikes the perfect balance of style and mood that works
for you. Here are a few thoughts to
consider:

What is your floral
style? Take a look around your home
and think of a few adjectives that would describe your style and the way you live. When I play this little game with myself, I
always think of my good friend Tracey and how she once described my home as classically
comfortable. I really take that as a
compliment, because while I want my living space to be stylish and deliberate,
I also want everyone who walks in the door, ages 6 to 60, to be comfortable and
welcomed. After you discover a few
describing words for your style, apply them to the flower arrangements you
create for your space, that way everything plays nicely together. In this manner, I find myself drawn to those
classic flowers that could be found in my grandmother’s garden, but not in a
stuffy way…more so in a “I just walked around the yard and somehow I ended up
with a bouquet” sort of way. Casual,
some might say cottage-y, that’s what works for me, and because of the history
in our house and the way we have it decorated, it works. What works for you?

When in doubt, go
solo. If introducing flowers to your
space in a stylish way makes you nervous, my best advice would be to stick to a
lot of a one good thing and only use one color or type of flower. This approach also really works when it is
offseason and your garden is not necessarily the source of your materials. Using one color or flower gives a big impact
and doesn’t allow you to fall into the trap of your creation looking like the
bouquet of flowers that sits sadly by the register of the local grocery store…you
know, the impulse buy that always includes carnations…please, please don’t go
there. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t buy flowers at the grocery store–on the contrary, I often seek out something at Price Chopper while getting the weekly groceries–but, in my opinion, stay away from the pre-made multi-variety bunches for the best results.

Embrace flaws. We sometimes get in our heads that everything
in life and therefore in decorating needs to be perfect–every color needs to
match just so, everything needs to be in its designated place, and every flower
has to be at the peak of perfection. The
fact of the matter is that you want your home to be a place where people live
and grow, and sometimes, imperfect really
is beautiful. In light of this, especially
when buying locally grown flowers or shopping in your own back yard, don’t feel
the need to pick through your arrangements and selections and only include the
perfect specimens in your bouquet, because even misshapen or half-opened leaves
and flowers can make a pleasing arrangement.
In the same way, some flowers will dry up or go by faster than others,
and before you remove them from your vase, take a good look and see if they
really need to be omitted. Seed pods and
dried lavender can be beautiful additions to the look you are going for. Also, to get even more mileage out of your creation, you
can dry your entire arrangement and have a fragile, beautiful focal point for
many months to come–it won’t look like a fresh, out-of-the-garden grouping, but
will have an ethereal beauty all its own .

Get creative with your
container. Is a clear vase the only
thing that can hold flowers in your house?
I hope not, because if so, you are missing out on some fantastic
additions to your home décor. The sky
is the limit when it comes to containers for your creations, and is not even
limited to what is water-tight because you can always tuck a mason jar inside
of another container and then use it for your flowers. A few examples are pictured here, but I say
when in doubt, open your china cabinet, pantry and closets and have at it–usually the biggest
risk you take in a display is the one you get the most compliments on later!

So try a little flower power in your home this summer. There’s no need to be an expert when it comes
to flower arranging and adding the outdoors to your abode–just use a little
imagination and you will be amazed at how fresh and fun your space can become
when you bring your garden inside.