Plants and Florals

Bamboo and river rocks in glass vase

(Pier One Imports)

Cherry Blossoms w/a modern twist

(Pier One Imports)

Potted Grass

(Pier One Imports)

Japanese Maple Tree

(Pier One Imports)

Potpourri basket

- twig balls and basket purchased at Pier One

- potpourri purchased at Kirklands Home Store

One of the easiest accent elements to any space are florals or plants. Of course real flowers and plants can be very high maintenance, so I always stick to fake ones. The first thing to keep in mind when picking out a potted plant/flower or making an arrangement yourself is to make sure that your choices are in tune with the design scheme and theme. You don't want to make the mistake of putting tropical Hawaiian flowers in a room full of rustic and Western decor. So, don't pick for the sake of simply picking.

Another key aspect is to make sure that you aren't cluttering a space with too many plants and florals. In my living room I choose plants that represented a Zen/Asian theme. I bought a full size Japanese Maple for one corner of my living room and for table top accents I made a bamboo and rock arrangement (shown above). I purchased bags of rocks and single branches of bamboo, chose a unique looking vase, cut the bamboo down to size so that it was scaled with the size of the vase, and put it all together in about 15 minutes! You can even buy a simple, terracotta flower pot and decorate and paint it if you want to get creative. Because my dining area is open to the living room, I decided to play it safe and put a modern style potted Cherry Blossom arrangement, so both rooms would be cohesive with the Zen/Asian theme.

Finally, I executed another creative accent botanical arrangement. I found a very interesting triangular shaped basket on clearance at Pier One. It is shown above and is made of a rich colored wood woven and twisted into shape. I purchased wood twig balls and a bag of scented potpourri and mixed it all together in the basket to make an easy and inexpensive accent piece.


I love floral arrangements and potted plants because they are natural and in my opinion a form of art.... flower and plant art! They are very easy finishing touches to any space no matter what the theme.