How to Style Interiors with Flowers: A Florist’s Guide to Floral Styling for Interior Designers
- capelily
- Jul 29
- 8 min read
If you're in interior design, you already know that details make or break a space. But beyond furniture, lighting, and art, one often-overlooked design element that can breathe life and sophistication into any living space is flowers. In this guide we share our top tips for styling interiors with flowers.
Fresh flowers, dried flowers, or even lush green indoor plants like Fiddle Leaf Fig trees or Snake Plants can completely transform a living room or bedroom by adding vibrant colour and natural elements that soften hard lines and man-made materials.
Far from being mere decorative fluff, smart flower arrangements can elevate a design concept, bridge man-made materials with natural elements and layer a sense of vitality into even the most minimalist interiors. Whether you lean towards a more Scandinavian interior style, modern lines, or vintage influences, floral styling is a powerful tool to add visual and emotional interest to your portfolio.
When planning to decorate with flowers it's important to keep your end goals in mind for the way you're styling - will you be photographing it for your website or a particular publication you're trying to be featured in? Or are you simply styling on install day for your clients to enjoy? Different objectives will lean you toward different styling setups, with some more practical and demure and some more editorial or outlandish.
Regardless of your goals, keep in mind that flowers are not trying to compete with the room, rather they are there to compliment its design, and therefore your talent. Flowers are the final step in conceptualizing a thoughtfully layered room and should not be forgotten.
Size Matters - Floral Scale should fit the Room
What might seem big in real life will tend to shrink away to some degree when photographed so when in doubt go larger than you would if you were setting the table for a real dinner or a practical kitchen island arrangement. You are most likely creating something editorial and theatrical. Creating a room that normal people aspire to live in, full of grandeur and mystery. A bunch of mums from Trader Joes thrown in a glass cylinder vase at the last minute will not be an immediate let down. Big could mean literally large blooms, tall branches or even a large vase
Conversely, if there is already a lot going on in the room you may need to dial it back with the flowers.
A floral installation can act as a focal point or a connector within a living space. In open-plan interiors with visual fragmentation, a large, sculptural arrangement, tall branches in a dark ceramic urn, for example, can tie different zones together beautifully.
Popular statement plants like a mature ZZ plant or a sculptural Fiddle Leaf Fig can also act as a living focal point, bridging floral designs with larger green plants for a cohesive look.
In smaller rooms, a single stem of a structural flower like Reveillon Tulips or anthurium can serve as a punctuation mark, balancing the balance and proportion of the space.
Color Needs to Pop
Think about what you would wear if you were on TV. More make up, more color and no clashing patterns. That's how flowers work when photographed. They need to stand out.
Or if the room is very dark then dark colors e.g reds, burgundy's may get lost in the background. Whites/yellows/creams could be the way to go if you want them to be noticed on a lot of brown or dark wood for instance.
Don't make the flowers matchy matchy with the interiors. This isn't a good idea in more creative endeavours and the same applies here. Red flowers will not usually make a red room sing.
Flowers can subtly support or dramatically contrast a room’s colour palette and design story. In a room with sage green and soft neutrals, blush roses, hydrangeas, or delicate daisies keep the atmosphere serene.
For a bold, modern living room, introducing tulips or Gerbera daisies in vibrant colours or moody tones can become an immediate focal point. Play with unusual botanical prints or pair arrangements with vintage floral wallpapers for extra layers of interest.
Combining fresh flowers with floral patterns in fabrics, floral sofa accents, or even floral artwork can echo your colour palette throughout the living space, balancing bold flowers with softer design elements.
The IT factor- How Exotic/ Unusual /Special are your Flowers?
The only time you can get away with breaking the rules above is when you are using such rare and interesting floral specimens that all the rules go out the window. Think Vanda Orchids, King Proteas.
Usually these "unicorns" look good flying solo and don't need to be diluted with flower varieties. They can, of course, look exceptional when mixed with the right flowers but this might require a professional eye to tell if it's really working or not.
Your Flowers are only as Good as The Vase They're In
Your flowers are only as good as the container they’re in, choosing the right vases or containers for plants is just as crucial as selecting blooms. Experiment with geometric pattern vessels, ceramic planters, or vintage urns to add another layer of home décor personality.
Complement the Design Style
Use flowers to underscore a room’s design language. For example, in a more contemporary Scandinavian design, think pale woods, natural materials, and clean lines, and ikebana style arrangement would make a good fit. A simple yet interesting choice of flowers like structural branches can help emphasizes minimalism without feeling sterile.
In contrast, a room inspired by a farmhouse or bohemian style welcomes layered, seasonal flowers that appear to be plucked from the garden: garden roses, foxgloves, delphinium, grasses and wild foliage in warm, earthy tones provide naturally complementary elements.
Duration - do you need your flowers to last for a single photo shoot or for the week?
Fresh flowers are beautiful, but in rooms where long-term upkeep isn’t practical, like guest bathrooms, model homes, or rental staging, consider using plants, dried flowers or even paper flowers as an alternative. We are not a big fan of faux flowers, no matter the quality.
For low light areas make sure you pick a plant that can cope e.g an interesting begonia
While delicate blooms like poppies or lilac wilt quickly, hardier stems like tulips and ranunculus can last surprisingly long as they continue to open in situ and, tropical plants or branches can hold their form for weeks, an important consideration if you are unable to refresh the designs every few days..
Avoid for a short time only: poppies, lilac, hydrangea, dahlias (depending on the variety), Queen Anne's lace
Good for a full week: Tulips, roses, ranunculus, branches, orchids, peonies, tropicals
Styling with Intention
Styling with flowers is more than tossing blooms into a vase, it’s about understanding the room’s design tone, architectural detail, and lighting. The right flower home décor styles can transform a bland corner into a statement.
Whether it’s a colossal ornament of lush focal flowers in a monochrome living space, a cluster of potted plants for Biophilic design, or a subtle touch of dried flowers in dark corners, the goal is the same: to elevate the space with natural beauty.
For more practical tips see our do's and don'ts below:
Example Do’s and Don’ts of Styling Flowers for Interiors
Use branches sparingly or to expert effect:
Often the tendency is to use lots of over-sized green branches but we can all get a little tired of seeing this. Here Philippa Braithwaite, NYC interior and tabletop stylist shows beautiful restraint using a single branch with an unusual and almost jarring shape in an imperfect weathered jug, making the composition far more intriguing.
When styling with plants and flowers people sometimes think they have to be elaborate - but that's not the case. One bloom in a bud vase, one branch in a vessel can have an impact. Enjoy, have fun, experiment! - Philippa Braithwaite
Good Use of Color and Texture
Here TRP interiors contrasts a monochromatic dark limewash wall with light whites, creams and yellows in a light colored vase to create much more varied visual interest. The flowers are wild in comparison to a stricter background.
Flowers too Uniform or Common
In this example the composition could have benefited from layering and varying the height of the flowers in the vase, with some flowers anchoring the arrangement closer to the lip of the vase. When using a single variety of flower in a vase (in this case Inca Lilies commonly found at grocery stores) I would prefer them to be real show stoppers (see examples below).
Single Variety Flower Used as a Showstopper
In these examples a single variety (or two) have been used to very simple yet striking effect because of the star quality of the blooms chosen:
From Left to Right: Toffee colored Antirrhinums (Kelly Wearstler) , White King Proteas (Shawn Henderson) and Tulips and Poppy pods (Chango and Co).
Where to Source Flowers as an Interior Designer
Floral Wholesalers and Flower Markets:
As an Interior designer you should be able to source wholesale flowers from the same places that Florists do. If you plan ahead and are intentional about what you want it will show in the flowers you're able to source. Many Wholesalers also enable online ordering and shipping direct to your location making it really easy if you're in another city or unable to get to the Flower market.
Going to the market in person is always great but be sure to keep a specific budget in mind and ask what everything costs or you're likely to walk out of there with a big whole in your pocket.
Our Favorite Flower Markets to Visit in Person
New York Flower Market (28th st between 6th and 7th Ave). Pro tip: On street parking available before 8am on 27th St
Our Favorite Floral Wholesalers for Ordering Online.
The best way to open an account is to walk in or phone them in person. Responding to e mails is not top priority in a bustling flower market situation.
Local Flower Farms, Flower Cooperatives and Farmers Markets in Spring/Summer
Check out the Slow Flowers Directory for a comprehensive list of growers in your region
Floret's Farmer-Florist Collective Directory
Rooted Farmers - country wide tool to find and purchase from local farms
Hudson Valley Flower Collective - sells through Rooted Farmers platform
New Jersey Cut Flower Market - pre order through Rooted Farmers platform or visit in person
Grocery Stores
Trader Joe's
Whole Foods
Specialty stores like Citarella, DeCicco & Sons etc depending on location
Plant Nurseries
Using flowers and foliage from plants in a floral arrangement as well as fresh fruits, vegetables and vines is one of our top tips for making your flowers stand out from the crowd. Using potted plants in beautiful pots is also a great way to create original images.
Where to Find Affordable Vases as an Interior Designer
Vases Made by Local Ceramicists
In the Hudson Valley/New York are we love:
In conclusion, we know that styling with flowers may not be the first thing on your mind when putting together a room but if minimal knowledge and forethought is applied it can make a huge difference to the overall finished look of your design.
Of course, styling with flowers and styling interiors is an art form in its own right, and as such it is subjective. What we like you may not and vice versa. So take our advice with a grain of salt and apply your own flair. We would love to hear more ideas, tips, tricks and your favorite suppliers in the comments.
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