Decorating with Faux Floral

When it comes to being a plant lady, well, I’m not one. No, seriously. Last summer I was determined to be one as I scrolled through Pinterest each night. I bought gardening gloves, gardening tools, pots, and potting soil – and thought I was on the right track when I found an HGTV article titled something along the lines of, “X No-Kill Flowers for Beginners.” Well, friends, I must say that I at least started off well. But, I gave that article a run for its money. I killed almost every thing that I planted last spring in the summer heat.

With that being said, you typically will only find fresh florals in my house when my husband brings them home from the grocery store. I love decorating with faux floral stems throughout my home. With a brown thumb like mine, I just don’t have the budget to do otherwise – HA! Decorating with faux floral is a lot easier than it looks, and it doesn’t have to look ‘cheap’ or ‘fake’. Today on the blog, I’m going to share my go-to tips for decorating with faux floral that you can use as you go into any season to add freshness into your home.

How-To Decorate with Fake Flowers

Incorporating plants into your home’s decor (whether they be real or fake) is a great way add freshness, texture, and color into any space. It’s like the jewelry that tops off a cute outfit – it wouldn’t be complete without it. Decor styles are constantly changing faster than we can keep up, but greenery and florals are truly a neutral that can be incorporated into any home decor style. You have an empty vase or container in your vignette? Stick some stems in it.

Tips for Decorating with Faux Floral

When it comes to decorating with faux plants and faux floral stems, I’ve got some tips on how to make them look natural and come together while staying on a budget. Make your friends and family take a second glance by following these tips below!

Shop Early & Shop the Sales

I personally buy all of my faux floral from Hobby Lobby as they put it out for every season.  Not only do I like to shop early as they put it on the shelves so that way I have first choice before it’s picked over for the season. But, it also makes sure that I get enough of each stem that I want at one store so I don’t have to make more trips than I want to. As a blogger, I typically plan out the season’s decor ahead of time, so I prefer to buy it all at once. If I didn’t try to buy it all at once, I’d be spending a lot more time and money roaming around Hobby Lobby each week. (You know you would too!)

Meanwhile, I’m not ashamed to say that I’m also a sale shopper. I am always looking for a great deal on quality decor for my home. From my experience, Hobby Lobby has a huge selection of great quality stems at a pretty affordable price point. But when it comes to buying faux floral for your entire home for a season, it’s still not always cheap. Before I head out to the store, I go online and check the sales and plan out my trips. If you aren’t already aware, Hobby Lobby rotates their sales. So if it’s 50% off this week, it will be regular price next week and then 50% off the next. It’s a constant cycle. Checking their ad online before you go into the store will save you a lot of time (and money!) when it comes to shopping for home decor.

Stay Away From the Shiny and ‘Waxy’ Looking Stems

When it comes to decorating with faux floral and greenery stems, it’s about making it look as natural as possible. You’re going to want to stay away from the super shiny and waxy looking stems. You may be paying slightly more for the more realistic looking stems, but if you’re shopping the 50% off sales you’ll be spending the same amount (or less!) as you would be on the less expensive option at regular price.

Match Stem Colors

One of the questions that I get the most often when decorating with faux stems is how I make it all come together cohesively and look natural. My biggest tip for this would be to walk around and actually match stem colors as you are shopping! For example, as you can see in the photos below, I was wanting to embrace a more organic and wildflower look this year with my spring and summer floral. So I literally walked up and down the floral bins at Hobby Lobby with those white daisies in my hand to see which stems had the same pale green look to match. If they matched, I pulled them out and put them aside. Which brings me to my next point…

Make a Bouquet in the Store

To make sure everything pieces together how I want it to before I drive all the way home, I literally walk up and down the floral aisles of Hobby Lobby and put everything together. I make mini bouquets from the stems I pulled to see how they would look together and to see exactly how many of each stem I would need. As a designer, I’m a very hands on and visual person. While I sometimes have a base plan going in, I like to play with it in person to see what gets me excited and how I could make it even better.

Embrace the Season

Just like everything else, flowers have a seasonality attached to them. When it comes to decorating with faux greenery and florals, don’t be afraid to embrace the season. Do a little bit of research to see what florals are in season this time of year, and build your designs around that inspiration. It will just make it look more natural inside your home.

Bend Stems, Don’t Cut!

Like I mentioned above, I am a sale shopper. I’m also not afraid to admit how frugal I am. When it comes to decorating with faux greenery and floral, I actually save all of my stems to reuse. When I’m not using it, I typically pack it up nicely in a large container and stick it into the attic until I need it again. (One of these days, I hope to have a she-shed to be able to store everything better!)

Meanwhile, to make sure that I’m able to reuse the stems from season to season, I like to bend the stems to make them shorter rather than cut them if they’re not going to be displayed in a clear container. This way, I can just straighten out the stems to add height if I ever want to change them into a larger vase. Obviously, I can’t always do this if I’m displaying them in a clear container like these little mason jars on the dining room table. However, I was able to do it with the stems in the galvanized wall-hangers. It’s just a little tip I like to use be able to get the most use of the stem as possible for the investment.

 

Well, there you have it, friends! I hope these tips help you as you go about adding some freshness, texture, and color into your home’s decor this year. Are you excited about decorating with faux greenery and floral stems? Let us know your plans for this season with a comment below!