Where to Put Flowers in Your House
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One of my favorite spots for fresh flowers, the main level bathroom. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
“Charlotte I love all of your flower arrangement ideas but I’m not sure where to add them in my house. How do you decide where they should go??” — Tania
Where to Put Flowers in Your House
Hi Tania, glad you enjoy the flower arranging ideas, it’s one of the ways to keep enjoying a garden by bringing flowers inside.
Actually your question is a very good one. If you’ve never brought flowers regularly inside, there are several things to consider:
Do you have pets? You may want to keep the flowers away since some flowers can be toxic.
Do you have small children? Same thing here, you want to keep your breakable flower vases, and the flowers, away from little curious hands.
Now where do you spend most of your time in the house? Usually we all spend daily time in kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. And for those of us who work from home, we also have an “office space” or somewhere in the house we use as a work space.
Most discussions about flower arranging center on those huge flower collections that sit in the center of a table. Lovely, to be sure, but not practical if you want to have them close to where you are spending time. As a matter of fact, I prefer lower sitting flowers on my dining room table for dinners so I can see the person on the other side.
So scope out where you would like to have flowers and then find a vase that will fit that space. You can find some lovely flower bases at thrift and consignment stores. I probably - well, not probably, I do have a lot of small vases. I change them out when I put in a new flower arrangement. I also like to have options on the flower vase shapes - long skinny ones for that one single rose or flower, short round vases when I make little bouquets.
If I have only one flower vase to add, I put it where I am working and can easily see it. Nothing quite cheers me up as a small bouquet of flowers.
These peonies have opened from buds in my main floor bathroom. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
And here I go showing you the exact opposite, a tall flower vase. Which only goes to show you that the vase needs to match the space.
My second favorite spot may be a surprise but it’s my main floor bathroom. Especially if the flowers are scented, a bouquet will turn that small room into a lovely haven. But as you can see, to even see the flowers the vase needs to be tall and skinny so that it fits in the corner.
Next is my kitchen, where I keep a little space next to my center island for flowers. Since I sometimes use the island as a desk, I consider that an annex office.
Finally if I have extra flowers I will take a bouquet up to my bedroom, especially if I’m going to spend time reading or doing laundry. Since I have inquisitive cats, I have to be careful where I place them but it is a special treat when I do.
Now a few dont’s. Don’t place the flowers on top of a TV or a warm spot, that will dry them out. Don’t tear your flowers when picking them, cut them so you don’t damage the stems. And don’t bring in visitors, gently shake your flowers to dislodge any bugs that may be in them.
Once you scope out the spaces and have appropriate sized vases, the rest is the fun of cutting garden flowers and bringing them inside.
Remember to change the water every other day, that will help keep the flowers lasting longer in the vases and compost the dead flowers. The compost will keep giving you more flowers!
