Floral decorating is a sure fire way to improve the appearance and fragrance of your residence during any home staging project. Florals and botanicals will enhance any room in your home and are a cheap and easy way to add interest, color and charm to a space.
As a long time floral decorator, I love to recommend flowers and plants to my clients as simple solutions for many interior aesthetic issues. Additionally, florals and botanicals are a truly budget-friendly way to decorate any space in your home, providing more value for the dollar than almost any other material.
This dialog provides helpful tips on using floral materials as part of an overall interior property staging project.
What is Floral Decorating?
In terms of real estate staging, floral use is defined as adding fresh flowers and plants to your home to increase its aesthetic appeal to potential buyers. The use of silk, plastic or artificial flowers is not floral design, despite what anyone says. I don’t care how high quality the artificial flowers and plants are, since any artificial floral materials will detract from the liveliness and natural energy in your home and make buyers look elsewhere, especially when used in mass numbers throughout the property.
If I had to pick one pet peeve of mine in interior design, it is certainly artificial botanicals. Ironically, this is also one of the common décor issues I see in so many homes, since people like the look of flowers and plants, but do not want to be bothered with maintaining the real deal.
Well, here is your wake up call: Silk (plastic) flowers are horrific. They do little except gather dust and make your home look like grandma’s house. This statement particularly includes those terrible artificial vines you might have hanging over your kitchen cabinets. Get rid of them ASAP.
Floral Decorating Ideas
Adding fresh flowers to a room is simple. You do not need to be a trained flower designer or plant aficionado. Just buy a simple vase and add one type of colorful flowers to enhance any room. Alternately, add a real plant which is proportionate to the space to any room for a touch of nature inside your home.
If you do not have luck with plants, consider adding some simple dried or natural materials bundled in a vase or tied with raffia. Do not get too fancy with this idea, but instead use a basic design like a grouping of bamboo or some nice curly willow in a clear container.
Floral Decorating and Home Staging
I spent much of my decorating career designing high-end wedding and party flowers for exclusive clients on Long Island and Manhattan. I still maintain my portfolio of designs, and trust me, this collection is volumes in size.
I love to design with florals and find myself coming back to the same simple and elegant styles time after time. Even for a seasoned pro, there is nothing as pleasing as the basic elements of good design when it comes to flowers. Less is more.
Forget complicated mixed arrangements. These will actually distract buyers from seeing your home correctly. Keep the design minimalistic and genuine, making the star of the viewing your actual home; not the $500 floral masterpiece which is actually preventing solid offers from coming in.
Useful Tip: check out discount stores like Home Depot, Walmart or Lowes for great deals on plants. These are often 50% to 80% lower in cost than comparable plants at a local garden center.