Decorating Using Flowers and Things You Have Around the House

When you receive fresh flowers from a friend for whatever reason (or when you cut your own flowers from your garden), you want to show them off. Sometimes, this means making them the centerpiece of your table by themselves. However, sometimes you may want to put a few things with your bouquet of flowers to make a larger display.

Accenting your flowers’ colors is one of the most dramatic things you can do. While you obviously can’t change the blooms colors, what you can do is change the colors of everything around them. Place your vase on a colorful table runner or on several swatches of colored fabric. For a Christmas arrangement, for example, you could use overlay a red and green cloth napkin on the table and then place your bright poinsettia arrangement on it.

During the fall months, think about accenting your flowers with different squash and other produce. Red, gold, and yellow flowers can be complimented by golden squash, pumpkins, or even a smattering of fall leaves from your yard. Just place your produce in a nice arrangement around the vase.

For something really different, wait until your flowers are on their last two or three days (or remove them from the vase if you don’t want to keep them for as long as you can). Cut the stems short. Next, take a glass-covered cake stand and flip the lid upside down. Fill it with your flowers, then place the bottom on it and flip the whole thing right-side up. You now have a glass-covered arrangement that will make a very different kind of centerpiece.

You can also remove your flowers from the vase and put them in something different. A wooden bowl, an antique bowl or glass, or a pitcher can make an interesting vase when filled with water. Just be sure it’s deep enough if you want to keep your flowers looking fresh for as long as you can.

If you have a lot of candles around the home, place some of them around your vase to add a bit of color to it. While you may not want to light these candles, they do look very nice. You can spread small votive candles across the table to expand your centerpiece.

If you have a large arrangement that just seems to big for your table, think about breaking it up. You can use other vases you happen to have around the house or use glass bottles or jars as vases. By making three or four arrangements out of one, you can effectively create a decorating scheme throughout your home. Place one of these arrangements on the dining room table, one on your coffee table, and one or two around the rest of your home to make a cohesive theme. Accent it with coordinating placemats and napkins.

Have a tall, plain vase that you don’t really like? Tie some colored ribbon around it. You can also wrap a colored scarf or bandana around the vase to brighten it up.

These are just a few ideas for making your fresh flowers the centerpiece of a larger display. You don’t have to buy anything—make use of the fabric, candles, produce, and other things you have around your home. You’ll find you can come up with some really neat centerpieces if you take a look around your home and mix and match things you have with your beautiful bouquet of flowers.