Decorating With Artifical Flowers

By Karen S Mueller
InexpensiveDecoratingIdeas.com

My kitchen is U-shaped with a pass-through counter to a "nook". We use the nook as a dining room, but the room is used for everything. Every birthday party and family meal, morning coffee and late night TV viewing is done in our nook (the builder's term).

The nook's big double doors lead outside to our deck and BBQ and the area our little doggie uses all year long. It gets lots of light and we keep live plants in the bright windows - more during winter when we bring in the deck plants.

There is a short hallway on the other end of the nook leading to our laundry room, garage and basement, so there is traffic continually.

We usually push our dining table more to one side and we don't have room to use stools by the counter-bar. We need to keep obstacles and throw rugs off the floor in the main path to the back door so as not to trip up my elderly father as he hobbles outside with his little dog.

Of course in the kitchen I am forever at the counter-bar preparing meals, talking with family at the table (hubby's laptop is usually there), and watching TV.

You can see the view I faced constantly in this photo. It had no color! I finally realized that staring at the old wall unit was depressing me. I needed help fast!

So I Did Some "Decorating with Flowers"!

The ceiling is another story. It runs into the kitchen and would be even more work to paint, but it should be done first. Probably white - again. It hasn't looked white in many years. That ceiling and wall behind the shelving unit has the only original paint left in my house.

As you can see, I needed to add some color quickly and cheaply. I needed to fix the view from the kitchen counter. I had one measly fake bouquet on the top shelf of the wall unit. Our cats were now too old - and fat, to jump up there anymore. The lightbulb went off - I needed MORE FLOWERS! Next day I purchased masses of bright fake flowers and brought them home to work with.

I decided not to worry about mixing colors. I wanted to use every color and pretty fake flower I could find.

I think it turned out quite stunning. Everyone who has visited since has commented on them and agreed they make the room happier and certainly MUCH more colorful.

Total cost - under $50. Yep!

I bought pretty fake flowers in every color on sale. I went to the Dollar Store and Wal-Mart and I don't remember where else. I had the baskets and pitchers and vases already. I didn't buy one new container.

Ok, maybe every so often I'll decide to buy more flowers and replace or add to what is there. I will need to dust them or wash them now and then. But it will be inexpensive to rearrange, change colors and add more. In fact, I already added more since this photo.

I really love this look - decorating with "fake" flowers. I know it isn't "Feng Shui" at all, and you won't want them in every room. But there may be just the perfect dull spot in your home - or office, where a wall of flowers would be just the thing!

Try this inexpensive decorating idea yourself. It sure does brighten up the room when you "decorate with flowers"!

See more inexpensive decorating ideas at Decorating Ideas and Tips.

About the author

Karen S Mueller is part owner of http://www.InexpensiveDecoratingIdeas.com and self-proclaimed "decorator". Please visit InexpensiveDecoratingIdeas.com for more Inexpensive Decorating Ideas and Tips