Floral Notes with Adonia: How to arrange fresh flowers in every room
Sweet carnations, ranunculus, and spray roses in bud vases sweeten a dinner setting in Westchester. Design & photo: Adonia Floral Design
In celebration of Spring and Mother’s Day, Time & Place Interiors is giving over the Good Patina space to guest blogger Andrea Perrone, founder of Adonia Floral Design, a concierge floral service based in Westchester County, New York. Andrea will guide us through how to select and arrange flowers for different parts of the home: from welcoming guests with a fresh scent in your entryway, to enjoying a bud vase in your most intimate spaces.
I love Adonia’s floral arrangements for their spontaneous quality. Their lightness creates a look of having stems just picked from a garden. I also admire Andrea’s commitment to sustainability through her focus on healthy materials and her diligence in reusing supplies. If you’re planning a small scale event in the Rivertowns, Westchester, or the Hudson Valley, check out Adonia’s classy, understated florals.
For more inspiration on incorporating nature into interior design, check out my post, Fresh ways to bring the outdoors into your home.
Happy Spring, at last!
Ksenya, founder of Time & Place Interiors
In Andrea’s words:
“I believe flowers should tell a story that honors what is beautiful and important to each of us.”
— Andrea Perrone, founder of Adonia Floral Designs
Rivertowns of Westchester County
Photo: Stefy Hilmer
AP: My childhood home had a giant forsythia bush that bloomed with the most exquisite clusters of fluffy yellow flowers. It represented the promise of Spring, longer days ahead, and the freedom to be outdoors. I snipped little branches, made small bouquets, and gifted them to my mother or my favorite teacher.
I’m captivated by the power and the beauty of flowers. They transport me back to the joys of childhood. I named my floral studio after the Adonia, a festival from Greek mythology where women celebrated the death of Adonis, god of beauty, by throwing sprouting plants into the sea.
Flowers are not only beautiful decorative elements, but have the power to transform a house into a home. Bringing nature indoors creates a mood. It doesn’t have to be complicated or fussy. Just a few floral stems or clippings from your own garden can be the detail that your room needs.
Whenever possible, opt for flowers that are in season. Just like fresh, local ingredients make cooking tastier, seasonal flowers will create a more enjoyable arrangement.
To keep your flowers lasting longer, change the water at least every two days, keep them away from direct sunlight, and never place them directly next to fruit.
A welcome greeting in the foyer
An arrangement of fern and ivy clipped from the garden, and flowering perennials, are mixed with roses, tulips, chrysanthemum, and delphinium for a shapely bouquet in a foyer. Design & photo: Adonia Floral Design
AP: Nothing welcomes guests to your home like a lovely floral arrangement in the entryway. I prefer to use a cylindrical vase to emphasize a vertical design, with hydrangea, roses, or other long-stemmed flowers.
The size and scale of the room should be taken into consideration, but I avoid using blooming branches or a voluminous arrangement that can interfere with activity in the foyer, or even topple over as a result of the flow of a busy entryway.
Dress up your dinner party table
A central arrangement of forsythia ranunculus, foraged ivy, spray roses decorates the table setting design for a tasteful dinner party in Tarrytown. Design & photo: Adonia Floral Design
AP: Flowers should enhance the dining occasion, and not overwhelm it. One medium-sized, low and lush centerpiece is suitable for a dinner table arrangement. One of my pet peeves is sitting at a table where the floral arrangements obstruct my view and make it impossible to converse with the guests in front of me. Alternatively, choose a series of small bud vases to dot along the length of the table, and include tea lights or tapered candle holders for a romantic effect.
Steer away from flowers that have strong scents, like lilies. Otherwise, their beautiful aroma will compete with the food you are about to enjoy.
A fresh touch in the bath
Hyacinth, wax flower, rose make for a delightful mini bouquet on bath vanity. Design & photo: Adonia Floral Design
AP: Put a touch of life into every space, and don’t overlook the bath or powder room! I prefer to have a bud vase with small clippings of greens, delicate flowers, and closed buds to grace the bathroom vanity.
Keep the container small, just enough to add a touch of green or diminutive florals. Look to handmade artisan ceramics or an antique medicine bottle for a authentic touch in the powder room.
Wake up to sweetness
A ceramic frog vase is filled with tulips on a nightstand in Tarrytown. Design & photo: Adonia Floral Design
AP: A small and compact vase arrangement is so lovely for a bedside table. I almost always have some flowers on mine, and it is also a special gesture to have flowers in a guest room for visitors to enjoy. Waking up a small bouquet will help set the day off on the right foot.
Time to freshen up your home?
Time & Place Interiors creates original spaces for homeowners in the New York metro area. Founder Ksenya Malina specializes in refreshing homes through one-of-a-kind vintage, antique, and natural artisan decor. Use the link below to schedule a free 20-minute information call to discuss your design goals with Ksenya:
