Spring Decor: Using Garden Decor Indoors for a Spring Family Room
In this post: A wonderful way to bring spring decor into your home is by using garden decor indoors. Here are 5 ways to use garden decor in your spring family room.⇒
Have you ever been to the Macy’s Flower Show?
Each spring, Macy’s Herald Square, the same store that puts on the Thanksgiving Day parade, transforms the first floor of their New York flagship store into a veritable botanical garden. There’s a different theme every year, but always the underlying concept is flowers, flowers and more flowers.
I worked in the fashion industry nearby for many years and have always looked forward to the flower show. It’s on par with, if not well above the level of the Fifth Avenue department store windows at Christmas.
To me, this display of flowers, along with the celebration of all things garden, always felt like the unofficial beginning of spring.
So, the natural first step to decorating my home for spring similarly starts with an ode to flowers in the garden.
Today I’m joining with my favorite group of bloggers to bring you the first of our spring decorating series of blog-hops. The series will run well into March with a different topic each week, which is why we needed to get started early. Since our goal is to inspire you in decorating your own home, we leave plenty of time for shopping and ordering, or for DIY-ing the projects that require it. Please be sure to visit the rest of the posts linked at the bottom of this one. Then return each Tuesday for the next month or so for the other topics we have in store for you.
Spring Decor
Today we’re looking at mantels and vignettes, so I’m sharing spring decor in my family room.
I believe the one thing that makes flowers look even more beautiful is the juxtaposition with vintage pieces from the garden. Bringing the outside in is a wonderful way to enjoy spring early in the season when, let’s face it, it’s way too cold in most of the country to revel in the actual garden outside.
Below are 5 ways I utilized garden decor indoors to welcome spring into our home.
Vintage Garden Urns
This is one of my more recent obsessions but I’m crazy about collecting vintage garden urns. They are deliciously curvy and opulent in shape which contrasts sharply with their rugged patina. I love this dichotomy and how it underscores the beauty of the refined and delicate flowers. Hence, for me, the chippier and more rusted the better!
I would add French jardinieres to this category, as well, and there are many options to be found online. I’ve linked some below but be forewarned, the more authentic the pricier they can be. Still, size matters when it comes to cost, so you can save by going smaller and collecting over time, and then grouping a few together.
Garden Statuary
Working beautifully with the urns I enjoy garden statuary, particularly those depicting putti or cherubs. These are harder to find when searching for true antiques so I happily mix re-pros with vintage. On the mantel below the cherub on the right hand side is an authentic aged cement piece. The pair playing on the left instead are made from resin and are easy to purchase new. Add a little crown on each for a bit more charm and to add cohesion to the mix of old and new.
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Faux Flowers and Branches
At this time of year, the selection of flowers may not be as plentiful as when we get further into the season, so I feel perfectly comfortable using some faux flowers to round out the lush presentation.
The key with faux flowers is to find the most realistic looking ones and to keep them limited to certain varieties. Branches work well, especially with small buds, as there’s not a huge expanse of silk fabric showing. I’ve also been impressed with the ‘real touch’ flowers available now and the best of them can truly fool you.
Fresh Flowers
Of course, ultimately, nothing can replace the real thing and it’s always great to mix in some fresh flowers. The extra bonus with real flowers is the lovely aroma they bring.
Sometimes all it takes is one small hyacinth to add a heavenly scent wafting through your home. (I actually have no hyacinths in this room but I have one upstairs and it still mingles with the other scents in the room.)
Dried Flowers
Another option for enjoying flowers early in the season, or even just to extend their shelf life at any time, is including dried flowers in the complex mix. Again, certain varieties work better than others and for me, hydrangeas are among the best. And before you insist you hate dried flowers, I think most of us can agree that dried lavender is a delight to add to your home, especially as the weather starts to warm.
The array of garden elements and their accompanying blooms has added a genuine sense of awakening to my family room. I walk into the space and immediately feel an uplift in my spirits that takes me back to the way I felt when I would attend the Macy’s Flower Show.
And now I have a little challenge for you, since you were all so great at picking Woody Allen out of the photo in my post last week. For today’s post, let’s see who can guess which flowers in the photos are the fresh ones.
(If you missed the post last week showing my mom’s middle school class pic with Woody Allen in the pic, you can find it HERE.)
Resource Guide
To get the look, click on the items below for direct links to the products. Where actual items were no longer available, I’ve provided similar options. If an item is out of stock but may be restocked, I left it on the list.
(This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.)
Please be sure to visit all of the spring mantel and vignette posts below:
Designthusiasm | On Sutton Place | Shabbyfufu
Maison de Cinq | StoneGable | Southern Hospitality
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I would say the peonies are real….
Nope, they’re faux! Aren’t they lush though?
Lilacs
Did you mix in peonies? Live and faux?
I know there are links but everything looks live
I’m so glad to hear that. BUT they’re all faux!! ?
Oh, Lory! Thank you for putting together a mini Macy’s spring flower show in your home. I adore every type of flower you so skillfully showed us how to use! Now if we could only make those gorgeous fresh flowers last! Thanks for including me in our Spring Styled + Set celebration of spring!
I so agree about loving flowers and wishing they would last forever!!
Lory this is a post after my own heart for sure! You know how much I adore antique urns as well – and garden statues are so fabulous used inside! (and I’m going out on a limb here but I’m thinking maybe none of the flowers are real?!) Can’t wait to hear if that’s true!
Thanks so much for putting this together and for including me 🙂
Sheila
xo
Thanks my friend, and yes, you are correct. ALL faux!
Actually looks like peonies
Nope… 😉 (They’re ALL faux!)
The tulips are real? Thanks for putting this all together! Wonderful posts and I enjoyed them all! Can’t wait for spring and found some good ideas!
I think those tulips are the most real looking faux ones I’ve ever seen! They can so easily pass for real, but no, they’re faux… 😉
It’s all so pretty. I have a question about your fireplace. I love it’s smooth white finish. Did you paint it, and if you did, what did you use?
Thank you, Lizzy!! I had the company we bought it from paint it. They matched it to the Simply White paint I use for all of the trim in my home.
I believe none of them are real except the dried lavender and the dried hydrangeas on the mantel.
100% correct!!
I enjoyed reading about the Macy’s flower extravaganza. How to get up there to visit it one day. I don’t know why I always go to NY when it’s freezing. The tulips are fresh cut!
Haha, yes the spring is a lovely time to visit New York!! And no, those tulips, amazingly, are faux. But they’re really realistic, even in person!!
Lory, your Family Room looks absolutely beautiful with all those arrangements! I bet you just love to sit and relax in there! I just love the double-handled white urn on your fireplace. I have been looking for something similar for quite some time!
Enjoy your beautiful home!
Aww thanks so much my friend!!
The Tulips are real? Thank you for putting it together! Great posts. I really loved them all! I can’t wait until spring! discovered some ideas!
Nope! Trick question. None of them are fresh… 😉 The only ones that are “real” are the dried lavender and dried hydrangeas.
I can’t wait for spring too!!