Faux florals have come a long way! They now look so lifelike, it's difficult to tell if they were grown by Mother Nature, or not. High quality long-lasting faux boutique florals bring the allure of "just picked in the garden" flowers to your home. Here are my favorite tips to get the most out of your faux flowers and arrangements at home. 1. ARRANGE FAUXS LIKE YOU DO YOUR FRESH FLOWERS. Just like real flowers, faux flowers look better when they are not "perfect" - bend the stems a little this way and that until you love the arrangement and the bunch looks natural. That is actually my inspiration with the new hand tied bouquets, you can keep them tied together in a vase, or take the bunch apart and arrange to your heart's content, like I did in the larger French vase below in the living room. {sorry for the slightly out-of-focus photograph!} Real fresh flowers don't have perfect leaves and stems, so your faux flowers shouldn't, either. They will look better when they are not perfectly arranged or symmetrical. And...a designer's tip: Loosen a few petals and let them drop to add to the illusion! 2. ADD WATER TO THE VASE. Some of our faux flowers are especially made to be in water, like our hydrangeas. I love to combine them with fresh flowers sometimes, too, to mix it up and fool the eye even more. There are also faux florals that come in a vase with faux water inside to create an illusion of a real bouquet, like this sweet petit rose arrangement. Some spaces call for just a few flowers, like my antique French vanity. I often have a real rose in a little vase here, but once our garden roses have bloomed out, I am just as happy to see one of these small faux arrangements there. 3. USE FLOWERS THAT ARE IN SEASON. If you use flowers that are in season, in seasonal colors, your florals will always look more natural. This doesn't mean everything has to be orange or brown....a deep red orchid, for instance goes from now through the holidays and early winter months. The deeper autumn colors and dahlia's combine with raspberry stems for this little arrangement. It could have been snipped by you from your garden, and arranged in the clear ribbed vase. And that's exactly what you want your faux flowers to look like! For fall, these little darker purple sedum topiaries are enchanting. I'll admit they don't grow like this in the "wild" but aren't they great fun?! While not technically a floral, a faux wreath that features the colors of the season can add great ambience to your home too. Again, the seasonal colors and accents of berries and apples translate to a dazzling autumn focal point over a mantel. 4. USE THEM IN UNEXPECTED PLACES. This is the best part of the faux flowers and plants of today. Because they are faux, they can grow anywhere and everywhere. Because they don't need water, or light to thrive, you can use them in darker spaces, little nooks and crannies, anywhere and everywhere to liven up your home decor. In a darker corner of our kitchen, a faux potted lavender plant is just right to bring some French Country charm to my little side table. Echoed by the hanging bunch of dried lavender, it even smells a little in that corner like the fields of Provence! Here is another little Provence lavender that looks perfectly at home in the guest bathroom on an antique child's chair. No watering needed, ever! 5. ARRANGEMENTS SHOULD HAVE ODD NUMBERS. Odd numbers always look better in a floral bouquet. Three's, five's and so on. A mix of different flowers in complimentary colors looks more natural, my personal favorite is to have a "stand out" flower like the dahlia in the bouquet below, a few secondary flowers, and filler like leaves and smaller buds or branches like the raspberry stems and catkins. 5. TAKE GOOD CARE OF THEM. To ensure that your gorgeous faux florals bring beauty to your home for as long as possible, I recommend that you display them out of direct sunlight. Silk flowers need to be dusted as often as any other decorative accessory in your home - you can use a Swiffer or a hair dryer set on the low, cool setting. Make sure to use the cool setting as hot air will change the shape and form of your flowers by warming up the fabrics used. You can also use a can of compressed air - sold at office supply stores to clean computer keyboards - and direct the blast of air into the blossoms, holding the bouquet upside down so that the dust doesn’t settle back on the flowers. Faux flowers and wreaths will add a seasonal touch of natural beauty to your home, where fresh flowers are impractical. Fluffing, bending and doing a little tweaking will have them looking natural and realistic in no time at home. While they won't last forever {usually a few years} they are a worthwhile investment in your home decor, and how you feel when you see them! ARE YOU A LOVER OF FAUX, OR NO?

à bientôt

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