Posted on: September 9, 2009
Oh, What a Feeling
Take a tip from fresh flowers everywhere - know your environment and perk up
By Taniesha Robinson
CTW Features
Image courtesy "Budget Celebrations" (Filipacchi Publishing, 2009) by Shelley Wolson
Wake up and smell the flowers! But you have to arrange them first.
People want to see flowers first thing in the morning, according to a recent floral study conducted by Harvard University that introduced small bouquets of flowers into people's daily routines. The study found that people tend to be more compassionate, worry less, and feel happier when they have flowers in their home. With a little guidance on floral arranging, you too can be on your way to love and happiness.
"Whenever you arrange the flowers you have to cut the stems first," says Barbara Bellamy, owner of Ixia Flowers in Evanston, Ill. Bellamy shares that by cutting stems, removing small leaves and changing an arrangement's water supply daily, flowers will last twice as long.
After cutting the stems, lay them at an angle around the container - with the head to the right and the tail to the left - so they cross in the middle. That helps them build out, says Ardith Beveridge, the director of the Institute of Floristry in Minneapolis. She suggests flowers be at least one and a half times as tall as their vases, and a vase be less than twice as tall as the length of the table. Bellamy says that you can put short flowers in a tall vase, depending on how you arrange them.
"I always say there is no fully right or wrong way to arrange flowers," Beveridge says. Flowers can work as a decorative accent or as a subtle, integral component of a room.
When choosing colors, the color wheel can help one visualize possible supplements or complements to the colors already in the room.
"I like putting contrasting colors together," Bellamy says. She adds that monochromatic arrangements can be eye-catching in a room also. She suggests using flowers of the same color in rooms that are already colorful, and contrasting arrangements in drabber areas to make the flora pop.
"If you have flowers ... it makes you feel better," Bellamy says. At least, they'll change the mood of your room.