9th April, 2021
Botanical Styling: History – Interiors – Gardens
“A room full of warm colours with richly textured fabrics, flashes of natural wood paneling and muted glamorous metals and patterned ceramics”.
“Flowers collated from the garden and hedgerows loosely arranged with billowing foliage in fabulous water tight vessels of all shapes and sizes”.
“Light streaming through a large open window onto a tapestry of green, textured foliage created by a vast array of plants clustered together around a comfortable chair waiting for you to grab a book, read and loose yourself for a while in fantasy!”
I love my romantic ideals for a bygone era, of ladies arranging flowers bought to them by the gardener who has tenderly nurtured them from seed or bulbs, of orangeries filled plants of every different type and size, of glamorous drawing rooms serving afternoon tea in front of the fire.
Impressive homes used for grand social occasions all dressed up to impress, chic and glamorous parties with gentleman in tails and ladies in swishing silk fabrics and sparkling jewels.
I know I’m being idealistic and concentrating on alluring social history but it’s walking around a national trust home, reading a period novel or watching a period drama that fuels my imagination and inspires my floral creations.
I always watch a period drama with one eye on the interior style, the fabrics, colours and textures. I love looking at the gardens, buildings, the extra attention to detail, the fashion of the day. Often I’ll say to my husband, ‘look at that lamp, it’s stunning’, his response is ‘what lamp’! Who else can relate to this?
Our interiors and lifestyles are my inspiration, not just how everything looked and felt but also the ethos of living seasonally; letting nature be your inspiration. Before commercialism and the culture of have it all now over took our lives.
Historically styling your home with flowers followed the seasons; you used what you or your gardener grew, thus inviting the season’s colour into your home, something I love and try to do.
Spring is fresh and clean, new beginnings, hope and the gardening year awakening.
Summer is a pastel palette of cottage garden flowers, mixed with textural blousy foliage
Autumn is earthy and muted, not a bright orange pumpkin in sight!
Winter is deep, rich and textured, warm colours with sophisticated Christmas sparkle.
My background in garden and planting design also influences my floral choices through the seasons, also the connection of your home and garden style. Low, pretty cottages with riotous cottage gardens, sprawling estates with walled kitchen gardens, upright town houses with stylish courtyards and contemporary homes with clean lines and minimal planting. They are all inspiring and help create mood and feelings within floral design, connecting your flower choices to your surroundings.
Style and colour is so personal, being true to myself, I prefer natural colours, earthy tones that are rich but gentle; I love working with toning colours that harmonise rather than contrast. Floristry training is taught with the colour wheel, my inspirations come from a Farrow and Ball colour chart! All those colours to match flowers too!! My home is full of antiques, period lighting and strong carefully chosen colours to match its Edwardian history. And I truly believe we are all custodians of our homes and surrounding area with a responsibility to keep it true to its period; mixing modern lifestyles sympathetically with history ready for the next lucky custodian to add their stamp to history.
Homes, styles and fashion are all linked within each and every period; your own style and colour preferences are personal; my own inspirations and creativity definitely lie in historic homes and interiors through period drama and a love for visiting historical homes and for all things that belong in yesterday.