Add a dash of colour to your home with flowers

Flowers come in a variety of types and colours and whether natural or artificial, there are many  ways to use them. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Take three or four shallow, galvanized bread tins and fill them with some coloured carnations to decorate your dining table.

  • For your living room coffee table, visit a regular bridal shop and buy some fabric flowers and fill a set of glass domes or cookie jars with the flowers.

  • Place the domes or jars amidst a collection of hardcover books on the coffee table for a simple but vibrant coffee table display.

The weather is grey but there is a way to brighten up your day – no rhyme intended. Use creative floral arrangements to add some colour to your home and spring in your step.

The great thing about flowers is that there are inexhaustible ways to use them around your home.

Get crafty

Some of the new buzzwords in decorating are DIY and recycling. You can combine both trends to get some unique and inexpensive flower-inspired items.

For instance, you can use some r old newspapers to create paper roses, which you can then arrange on  metal hangers on your entry way to decorate the wall.

If you have a console table beneath the hangers, you can use some simple, white ceramic vases to display some of the paper roses. In your little girl’s room you could also create some giant paper flowers and place them on a wall to create some lovely and affordable 3D flower art.

Open door policy

Give guests another reason to come in by planting some colourful geraniums in a stack of wooden vegetable crates.

Another way to make your outdoor area even more welcoming is to paint some old wooden bar stools in a pastel blue, paint some regular flower pots  black and white stripes and place some colourful flowers like roses in the pot, for a romantic and shabby chic take on flowers.

Flowers on the table

Take three or four shallow, galvanized bread tins and fill them with some coloured carnations to decorate your dining table.

For your living room coffee table, visit a regular bridal shop and buy some fabric flowers and fill a set of glass domes or cookie jars with the flowers. Place the domes or jars amidst a collection of hardcover books on the coffee table for a simple but vibrant coffee table display.

Force of nature

In your bathroom, fill some organic-shaped vases with  pebbles and plant some orchids for a simple and clean take on florals. In your toilet, you could use a large, wooden planter and fill it with  block candles and loads of coloured potpourri and decorative balls such as old Christmas ornaments.

Freshly done

Your kitchen is another space where flowers can be incorporated; take some colourful flowers like peonies and place them in a large glass vase filled with lemon or orange slices and some water for a fragrant and colourful floral display. You could also incorporate a floral theme in your kitchen by displaying a set of plates with a flower print, or framing a piece of floral-themed fabric as wall art.

You could also fill some old mason jars  with  lilies and place them randomly on your open shelving units. Yet another way to display flowers in your kitchen is to use an old ceramic milk jug to display some daisies.

All wined up

In the spirit of recycling, you can place some old wine bottle corks in a large glass jar and place some flowers in the jar for an arrangement you can use in your bedroom, home office or even your guest room.

Another way to get flowers inside your home is to buy some floral  scatter cushions for your bedrooms or sofas. In your laundry, area you can create some simple burlap wreaths and hang them from the ceiling or decorate some white linen laundry bags with some floral embroidery for a bit of Kenyan 1980s’ chic.

Last but not least, a floral wall decal can be an easy and creative way to get flowers into your home;  a large roof-to-floor print with  some flowers would look especially dramatic behind a simple bed headboard.