When asked to think of floral interiors, you’d be forgiven if images of your grandmother’s Liberty drawer liners or rose damask bedspreads spring to mind.
While we love to embrace vintage at BHG, we’re also here to show you that designing your space with floral influences can mean so many different things; from delicate, dainty and understated to a bold, blooming celebration of charm, or even incorporating florals in a more contemporary, neutral space.
Here’s how to style florals in your home without it looking like Nana’s bedspread:
1. Bold blooms
A striking second-hand pedestal sink takes centre stage, playing off flowing botanical wallpaper and warm wood and brass tones. This bathroom isn’t afraid to say flower power. It’s giving Diana Ross “It’s my house, and I live here.”
- Beauty in balance: When working with a bold wallpaper pattern, you can tone down the visual impact with a neutral contrasting paint colour on the bottom half of the wall.
- Find a mood-board hero: Choose your focal piece first. This washbasin was found on Facebook Marketplace – what a score! Build your mood board to support that piece, with complementary tones and shades. We echoed the pink of the basin in the wallpaper and accessories. The creamy tones of the taps also match the VJ board and lampshades.
- Cohesive accents: You can create the perfect frame for your floral moment by keeping tones warm and consistent. Here, brass fittings and a timber mirror contrast with the pink and cream.
2. Understated elegance
Subtle, comfortable and elegant, this room is giving Nancy Meyers, not your grandma’s cottage. By building off a neutral palette, and introducing florals in cool green tones, this charming bedroom is calming and classic.
- Soften with scale: Don’t be afraid to use a patterned wallpaper with a simple, small recurring motif and a neutral base across your whole wall. While it may appear striking in a small swatch or sample, when you step back in a room setting, the pattern softens.
- Same same but different: Timber furniture and rattan pieces in the same natural tones bring warmth and a variation in texture. Colours in the rug and the frames around the art prints also tie into this honey tone, creating a cohesive look.
- Keep it calm and consistent: Introducing more florals in a single, subtle accent colour gives your neutral scheme depth without overwhelming it. A dusty, cool green has been added here with the pillows and bedspread.
3. Modern muse
Who said florals had to be frilly? This contemporary, slightly gestural approach takes its cues from the flowing lines and contrasting shapes of nature.
- Be bold: Adding a chair and rug in a bold pattern is a great way to liven up a plain room. It’s quick, easy and so useful when you’re renting! The floral patterns chosen for this chair and rug, as well as the sculptural light fitting, are deliberately not frilly or fragile.
- Where’s the floral?: Curating an art gallery wall lets you express your personal style. You can share your love of flowers by mixing floral paintings and prints with works depicting other subjects.
- Fresh forms: Fresh flowers bring elegance to: a room, and they don’t need to be pretty pink roses! Go for Aussie natives, vibrant poppies, and don’t forget foliage – eucalyptus has a lovely scent and structural form.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
