Use flower power to brighten your home

During this cold and grey season, a home could do with a bit of brightening up and one sure fire way of bringing a space to life is by adding flowers.

Many homeowners tend to use flowers only occasionally, such as when they have guests, and only in the living room, but flowers can be used to decorate a home any time of the year.

Here are a few ways to use flowers to bring some “sunshine” into your home.

POTPOURRI PLUS ONE

While potpourri spray is an easy and appropriate way of adding fragrance in your toilet. You can jazz up things a little by buying a decorative bowl and basket and replacing the spray with good old-fashioned potpourri petals.

The next step in making your toilet beautiful is having a simple, inexpensive metal milking bucket topped with a ball of flowers such as inexpensive carnations.

LIVING LA VIDA FLORA

The living room is obviously, and quite naturally, the first place that flowers are placed but quite often because of the need to change the flowers, it can be expensive to buy a bunch every week.

To take care of this problem, use flowers in a different way — by framing a large abstract oil painting of flowers on your living room’s focal wall.

Preferably, pick a painting with warm orange and brown colours as these are versatile and will look good against dark-coloured furniture.

BREATHE IN

After a long day, nothing beats walking into a tranquil and welcoming bedroom. Placing a bunch of flowers in a bold-coloured vase on your bedside table with some jasmine will make your bedroom a heavenly delight as jasmine flowers open up at night and release the sweetest fragrance.

Another way to use flowers in your bedroom is by placing two artificial orchids in white ceramic vases on your vanity table alongside some large, round white candles.

A hue that would especially complement the orchids is a pastel blue, preferably on your walls. Your furniture should be stark white, and your bedding should also be light-coloured.

BOTTLED MAGIC

Another place to use flowers is the bathroom. Use a couple of coloured apothecary bottles — some good colour choices would be blue, red, or green. Fill the bottles with long-stemmed artificial flowers of contrasting hues.

If you have a bathtub, then you could place a large glass mason jar with your favourite colour of lilies and tie a bow in a strip of decorative ribbon around the vessel.

BEAUTIFUL WORK

If you are like many 21st century homeowners who have a working space in their homes, then you will be happy to know that you can bring life to your home office space. Go minimalist and use a square vase filled with white roses on your work desk.

LOOK AHEAD

For your guest room, if you can afford it, replace your current headboard with a coloured fabric one.

A good idea here is to paint the walls neon yellow or green and juxtapose the room with a headboard with the traditional English rose print.

GROWING TEENS

If you have a teenage girl who needs an inexpensive room makeover, you can use a vinyl decal of a flower just above her bed to add some floral “drama” to the room.

BABY'S GARDEN

Granted, babies and flowers do not go hand in hand as little ones are sensitive to allergens, but you can still add some floral style to your baby’s space/nursery.

Use some tough fabric like coloured khaki and buttons to make some oversized fabric flowers, the largest of which you can place just above the crib. You can sew the rest on a cushion to place on your nursing chair.

COOKING IN STYLE

Believe it or not, flowers can also be used in the kitchen. Use a large crystal vase filled with classic red roses and some “vintage” glass cookie to make your kitchen look even more inviting.

Now, go ahead and bring flowers into your home.