Transforming a space with the timeless beauty of flowers does not always require fresh blooms. Artificial flowers, with their enduring charm and versatility, offer a perfect solution for those seeking lasting elegance but lacking green fingers. Whether you are decorating a bedside table, refreshing a living room or simply want to inject some colour into a forgotten corner of your home or office, there is no doubt that solo stems, a well put together bouquet of colourful blooms, or a strategically placed faux plant display, will completely transform any room.
But how do you ensure your faux arrangements exude the same naturalness, vibrancy, and sophistication as real ones?
In this article, we will unlock our professional secrets, sharing expert tips and creative techniques to help you craft stunning artificial flower displays that breathe life into any room. Whether you are a seasoned decorator or a novice, these insights will elevate your floral game to new heights, ensuring your displays are nothing short of spectacular.
Essential Considerations For Stunning Artificial Flower Arrangements
Creating natural and aesthetically pleasing artificial flower arrangements isn’t just about creative flair. There are many other factors to consider, some of which may not be immediately obvious to an untrained eye. Here are some of the key attentions a professional will research and contemplate:
Placement And Environment – Where Will Your Display Live?
People often underestimate the importance of understanding the space they want to decorate and where the arrangement will be displayed. For a floral designer, details like height, size, lighting, and surrounding decor significantly influence the choice of flowers and the arrangement style. Whether it is a homeowner looking to beautify their living room or an interior designer working on a client’s apartment, knowing these specifics is crucial.
Consider what you want to achieve with your arrangement. Are you aiming for a striking focal point that sparks conversation, or a subtle accent piece admired from a distance? The style of the arrangement should harmonise with its environment. A contemporary masterpiece would look out of place in a cosy, traditional cottage, right?
Understanding the intended setting helps with selecting the appropriate flowers and design. For instance, a mini bouquet by the bedside requires a different approach than a grand floral piece for an event display or hotel reception.
Here is a clear example: the artificial arrangements below use the same products yet one is designed for a contemporary brief, while the other caters to a traditional aesthetic. This highlights how placement and environment dictate the style and impact of floral arrangements. The traditional arrangement includes more flower types to achieve mixed colours, tones, shapes and textures in abundance. It is arranged in a mass for impact. Comparatively, the contemporary display relies on less being more – tonal flowers arranged zonally. The colours used shout late summer, autumn. Simplicity is key here and is suited to a more modern interior styling:
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Colour Co-ordination
Select a colour scheme that complements what you are aiming to achieve, as well as the room's decor and style to create an all-encompassing look. For instance, you can see in this artificial dahlia arrangement below, despite only using three floral products, it creates a mix of vibrant and muted tones to add depth and interest. This combination is ideal for the traditional, autumnal composition requested for an old-style, rustic home.
Balance And Proportion
Arrange flowers with an eye for balance. In traditional floristry, larger blooms are evenly distributed and complemented by smaller flowers and greenery to create a harmonious and cohesive look. This emphasis on balance and symmetry, incorporating several types of flowers and foliage, remains prevalent in traditional style bouquets today. However, contemporary arrangements will often take a different approach. Rob Copsey, Founder of Atlas Flowers, London adds “while balance and proportion are still important, modern designs embrace breaking the rules and experimenting with innovative ideas. Showcasing one or two standout elements can have a massive impact, creating arrangements that defy conventional expectations yet achieve a striking and innovative aesthetic.”
Shape And Structure
Decide on the shape of your arrangement—whether it is a loose, natural look or a more structured design. Using quality products will go a long way in helping you maintain the desired shape (we will come back to the role quality plays later in the article).
Copsey adds “Personally, I believe the simplicity of a faux arrangement works exceptionally well and feels more contemporary. While traditional, large, mixed arrangements with numerous flower types have their place, the current market trend favours creating a significant impact by focusing on just one or two products. Quality products make shaping and structuring artificial flower arrangements much easier, helping to create a more natural-looking display.
Take the eremurus (commonly known as foxtail lilies) in the image above, for example. What I love about these is that they have wire right into the flower tips, enabling me to bend and flex the ends of the flowers to mimic a natural flow, with flower heads veering off in different directions and standing at slightly different lengths. If you place faux flowers in a vase standing straight, it looks completely unnatural. The wire tips allow you to give the arrangement that extra touch of natural appeal. The eremurus appear as if they have been freshly cut from the garden and placed in a vase, capturing the natural beauty of the flowers in their prime.
Similarly, a large, stunning hydrangea head arrangement can be equally impressive. To add interest and authenticity, do not buy hydrangea stems all in one size. Instead, mix two similar types of products with varying lengths or different head sizes to create a more natural-looking bouquet.”
When working with a single type of product bought in bulk from the same supplier, each flower will be identical – the same length, the same flowers, and buds at the same points on every stem. This makes achieving a realistic look more challenging. To make your arrangement appear more natural and flowing, ensure that the flowers are positioned at varying levels. You can manipulate the stems to create different heights, as demonstrated in this image of the three palm fronds:
The effect is simple but very impactful. Achieving the desired look with artificial flowers requires extra effort in arranging and positioning them. You could spend hours perfecting the arrangement!
Focal Point
Create a focal point in your arrangement with a standout flower. Alternatively, make your arrangement the focus – you may even want to create a cluster of plants as your room centrepiece. This draws the eye and adds a dynamic element to your design.
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Quality Of Flowers
So, what makes a superior quality artificial flower? Rob Copsey explains, “Coming from a family of horticulturalists, we always look for botanical correctness. Often, it is as much about the imperfections as it is about the perfections. It is the finer details that make a product stand out. When our customers ask us this question, we advise them to look beyond the flower itself. All the focus tends to be on the flower, but if you can look past that to the leaf, the foliage, and the stem, you will notice the secondary details that some manufacturers often overlook.
These secondary details—such as the accurate colour and flexibility of the stem—are crucial. For example, it is no good having a beautiful hydrangea head but a neon green stem with no bend or give. Poorly considered secondary details can make products look cheap and unnatural. When manufacturers put extra effort into these aspects, it allows the end user to create natural imperfections, like the bending and flexing seen in the eremurus example mentioned earlier. This attention to detail is worth its weight in gold when working with faux blooms.
Some suppliers spend time making products that do not resemble flowers at their peak, which is a missed opportunity. These products can look amazing when mixed with other florals at their prime. My favourite example are pussy willow stems with tight buds. Combining flowers in their prime with those just approaching their best or even past their best really captures the essence of nature and can fool the viewer. A great artificial flower, leaf, or foliage should not only catch someone's eye but also be so well replicated that it makes them question whether it is real or not.
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In short, the moral of the story is to choose high-quality artificial flowers that mimic the look and feel of real flowers. The better the quality, the more realistic your arrangement will appear.
At Atlas Flowers, we are huge fans of Silk-ka flowers. This brand offers unrivalled attention to detail in their products. Designed by internationally recognised, Patrick Oude Groeniger whose love for flowers and arrangements began as a child whilst spending time in his father’s flower shop, Silk-ka understands exactly how natural flowers should look. The owner’s botanical background, combined with extensive time spent working with various factories in China to understand their strengths and capabilities, has enabled Silk-ka to offer something special in the artificial flower niche.
The company invests time in researching the finer details and gaining invaluable insights into what works and what does not. For instance, if they find a factory that excels at making moulds for stems or mastering the right grade of wire, so the stem remains sturdy yet malleable, they incorporate these insights into their products. As highlighted earlier, Silk-ka products feature wire extending right up to the flower tip, making moulding, and shaping the flowers much easier.
Silk-ka excels at blending a love of nature and botanical accuracy with technical expertise and material understanding for each product. They pay attention to the finer details, such as the colours of the stamen, seamlessly mixing nature, art, and technology to create standout products in the market.”
In summary, when arranging artificial flowers, consider your space, room colours, surroundings, decor, style, proportions, and desired outcome. The quality of the products is crucial for achieving an authentic look, so consulting a professional artificial plant supplier is advisable. They can provide valuable advice and guidance. Whether you are just seeking advice, keen to know more about our Silk-ka stock, or are looking to buy from our artificial, dried or preserved ranges, the team at Atlas Flowers would be delighted to help – 0330 912 8630 or info@atlasflowers.com.