 | | Nancy Lindemeyer was a groundbreaking editor for over twenty years with home magazines Better Homes & Gardens and Victoria. Today she is a consultant for leading home products companies, and is gifted with unique insight into the home-related aspirations of women of all ages. |
Forsythia spires are reaching skyward, and friendly flowers are cropping up at the doorstep, welcoming us home. It's time to freshen up inside the house too--with inspirations cut right from the garden. Today's trend for florals is big, bold, and profuse--in bouquets to adorn tables and buffets, and fabrics for bed linens or upholstery. By selecting the right furniture, you can enhance this fresh, bold look in your home.
New Decorating for Spring
 | | Metal bed |
Why not start with a bed inspired by a garden gate? This metal bed is a piece of contemporary furniture which traces its roots to the classic English article, and its antique white finish has been gracefully chipped away to reveal a rust-colored base, as if it has stood for many seasons in the lovely Lake District of England, renowned for crowds of daffodils.
Blossoms on Bed Linens
 | | Floral accent chest |
Bed linens, like English gardens, are now a marvelous mix of flowers. The typical country garden is no exclusive club: it's so neighborly that daisies and roses, lavender and lilies, are all invited. For a fresh look, pair solid color sheets in spring hues like pale green, carnation pink, or sky blue with a comforter strewn with fanciful flowers in a big print. Mix in small pattern florals for pillowcases--unmatched, if you like. No rules, just your own eye for "picking" your flowers. For decorative pillows, perhaps your own needlepoint: one big blossom is a trend blooming on many a bed now.
The Pleasure of Small Bouquets
Perched on a small chest like our hand-painted one from the Seven Seas collection, an arrangement using only one kind of flower strikes a charming spring note. The parchment finish of the chest is a lovely background. If using more than one variety in your bouquet, you might choose all from the same hue.  | | Gigi arm chair |
Cut the flowers just below the blossom: it's the bloom that counts, not the stems. And if you don't want to worry about murky water, choose a crockery container. Or why not set a clear container in a clay flowerpot to give a fresh-from-the-garden flavor?
Floral Upholstery Fabrics - New Concepts
Sit in a field of flowers by choosing a cheerful armchair like Gigi. Call on your own gardening instincts by selecting one large flower for the chair back - and a small floral or other pattern for the seat. Your favorite artist can give you examples of how to mix flowers. Décor magazines are having a field day with chairs and outdoor furniture now, so camp out at the library on a rainy day to get ideas.
 | | Farmhouse sink chest |
Placing Flowering Plants
The perfect place for a plant? Why, the bathroom vanity, of course. Yes, flowers are so captivating - but don't forget that plants have blossoms too, and the moist environment of the bath allows them to thrive. Keep the spring garden theme with this Farmhouse sink cabinet with its buttermilk paint finish stroked like Tom Sawyer's fence. The slat shelf across the bottom is the ideal spot for a miniature alpine or rock garden.
The Personal Bouquet
Your home desk is one piece of furniture which begs for the flower of your heart--perhaps a little cup brimming with lily-of-the-valley to scent your letter-writing moments.  | | Seven Seas secretary |
This secretary from Seven Seas is as rich in delightful features as the blooms you'll put there. Many lovely floral scents now feature in home fragrances and candles, giving the aroma of spring to any place and season.
Making a Major Statement
 | | Summerglen buffet |
To stage an impressive display of floral art, look to the buffet - like this one from the Summerglen casual country dining group. Your wall art can keep the surroundings garden-like all year long, but when you're in the midst of blooming season, here's the place to breathe free. This buffet lets you be creative in the French manner, with tall plants and vases of flowers. Often branches are a dramatic feature of bouquets which almost always consists of one type of flower. You can also use leaves creatively - wrap a vase with large ones and tie them on with raffia. A bundle of anemones with spires of forsythia: wonderful!
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