How to Style & Arrange Dried Flowers
Dried flowers seem to be everywhere at the moment. They were popular in the 1980s, and have seen a real resurgence in recent years. We love dried flowers not only for their beauty, but also for how long they last. Unlike fresh flowers, which wilt in a week or two, dried flowers can last for a year or even longer!
Because they last such a long time, a dried floral arrangement can be a really lovely gift for Mother’s Day, a baby shower, a birthday or any other special occasion. Your loved one will be able to enjoy the beauty of their dried blooms long after the occasion has passed.
We have a range of beautiful, long-lasting dried flower bouquets here at Floraly. You can explore the range via the button below.
As well as being great for gifting, dried flowers are also popular in interior design. If you're looking for a new statement piece for your space, you might consider adding dried flowers to your home decor.
There's also the art of drying flowers at home yourself and creating your own dried flower arrangement. This can be a fun a relaxing experience, allowing you to get really creative and dabble in floristry from the comfort of home.
Whether you’ve been gifted a dried floral arrangement, bought some dried blooms for yourself or have dried your own dried flowers, you’ll want to make sure they have maximum impact in your home. Read on for some expert tips on how to style dried flowers at home, and how to arrange your own dried flower bouquet.
How to style dried flowers in a vase
1) Choose an opaque vase
An opaque vase is the perfect choice for a dried flower bouquet. While we always recommend using a clear glass vase with a fresh floral arrangement (so that you can keep an eye on the water level and quality), dried flowers don’t require water—so it’s not an issue!
Your beautiful dried blooms will really be able to stand out in an opaque vase, which will hide their distracting stems from view. We include a white ceramic vase with all of our dried bouquets, so they’re ready to go the moment you unbox them.
There are loads of opaque ceramic vases out there in a huge array of interesting silhouettes. You’ll find them everywhere from homewares boutiques and department stores to weekend markets and antiques shops, as well as online.
Dried flowers also have a naturally rustic quality about them. You can play into this by displaying them in a ceramic pitcher, a tin canister or an old piece of pottery. Wicker baskets and bowls are other great options. Get creative and find what works for you!
2) Put your best face forward
At Floraly, we arrange our dried flower bouquets so that they’re clearly facing one direction. The focal flowers will be at the front of the vase, and the supporting blooms and dried foliage will be at the back of the arrangement.
We arrange our dried bouquets in this way because it makes it easier for you to know how to position your vase. If you’re displaying your dried flowers atop a table or surface that backs onto a wall, you definitely want your focal flowers facing out, and the backs of your supporting blooms facing the wall.
In our Talula Dried Flower Bouquet (pictured above), you can see the caramel hydrangeas are the hero piece, and should definitely face the front. The palm spears are at the back of the bouquet, and should be closest to the wall.
If your dried flower arrangement doesn’t seem to have a clear front and back, then it’s up to you to decide its most flattering angle!
3) Choose your position carefully
When it comes to where you should display your dried flowers, the options are just about endless.
They’re great for living rooms, bedrooms, home offices, dining rooms and hallways. You could place them atop a sideboard or console table, on your dinner table, on your bedside table, or on a mantelpiece. A reception bench, office desk or counter would make a perfect display surface if you're buying dried flowers for a business.
Consider size, scale and surface space
When deciding which surface to place your dried bouquet upon, it’s important to consider size and scale. If the arrangement is large and extravagant, it’s going to take up a lot of space and might overwhelm a small accent table. Similarly, a petite dried flower posy may get lost displayed atop a really large sideboard.
Keep your focal blooms at the front
As mentioned above, if your dried flower bouquet is arranged with a very clear focal point, you’ll want to make sure this faces the front.
If this is not possible, because you’ve got your dried flowers on a coffee table or other surface that can be viewed from all directions, try to at least make sure the flowers face the direction that receives the most traffic.
Don't move or touch dried flowers too often
Dried flowers are rather delicate, so it’s also a good idea to keep them in the same location. If you try to move them too much, dried petals and grasses may shed and fall off, creating mess and lessening the beauty of your dried blooms over time.
Where not to place your dried flowers
There are definitely a few key areas of the home in which you’ll want to avoid placing your dried flowers, if you want them to last as long as possible. These include:
- Bathrooms and kitchens — these are humid and moisture-prone areas of the home, and both are damaging to dried flowers
- Places that receive direct sunlight — UV rays will cause the colours of your dried flowers to fade faster
- Places in the direct path of heaters, air-conditioners or draughts — dried flowers may even catch fire if left in front of certain types of heaters or fireplaces
- Places in easy reach of pets — we don’t want any naughty cats knocking them down off the table
- Places they can be easily knocked over — similarly, we don’t want anyone to accidentally bump them and knock the flowers over.
For more care tips to keep your dried flowers sitting pretty for as long as possible, check out our blog post.
How to style dried flowers without a vase
Dried flowers don’t always need to be displayed inside a vase. There’s so much more you can do with them!
You can create a dried flower wreath or wall hanging, or stick your dried flowers to a wall to create a pretty backdrop. To learn how, read our blog post on how to nail dried flower wall decor.
Flowers you’ve dried at home yourself can be used to make potpourri and used in several craft projects, which you can read more about here.
A small posy of dried lavender or bunny tails can also make a sweet tabletop decoration, particularly for Easter. These little posies can also be tucked under a ribbon when wrapping a gift for a cute little finishing touch.
How to arrange your own dried flower bouquet
It’s so easy to create your own beautiful dried flower arrangement at home!
Step one: Choose your blooms
You can buy all the bits and pieces you need at a local florist, online or from the flower markets. Alternatively, you can try drying your own flowers.
Try to select dried blooms in colours that work well together. White and natural tones are a really safe choice, perfect for boho or coastal styling. Reds, oranges, golden yellows and browns work best for an autumnal arrangement, while pale pinks, pale purples and pastel tones work better for a spring design. You can also be brave and experiment with colour to create a one-of-a-kind arrangement. Do what feels right!
If you’re not sure what dried flower design you might like to create, you can always take a look at dried arrangements that others have made for a little inspiration.
Step two: Choose your vessel
An opaque vase works best for dried flowers, but you can really use any vase or vessel you like. For a larger bouquet, it's best if the mouth of the vase is wide; this way, you can accommodate more stems. If you're just making a little posy, a narrow neck is fine.
As a general rule, your vase should make up about a third of the overall arrangement. This means your dried flowers should be about one-and-a-half to two times the height of the vase itself.
Remember to also consider where you’ll be placing your blooms. Make sure the size of your arrangement is right for that particular surface or room.
Step three: Create a sticky tape grid
Once you’ve got the right vase, create a grid using clear tape at the opening. The tape will help you position your stems and hold them upright, but will be hidden once the arrangement is complete.
Step four: Arrange your bouquet
Start by placing your tallest stems and filler foliage at the back of the vase. These might be palm spears, palm fans, pampas grass or eucalyptus, to name just a few options.
Then, add your focal flowers at the front. These are the hero pieces of the bouquet and should immediately draw the eye. You may have just one focal flower or several, depending on the size of your arrangement. Dried hydrangeas and banksias are some of the most commonly used focal flowers.
Finally, build out the dried flower bouquet with smaller, complementary filler flowers and foliage, such as baby’s breath, lavender, billy buttons, bunny tails, rice flowers, cotton and fern leaves.
Create a staggered, layered look by trimming stems to different lengths. You can measure these out by holding them out to the side of the vase first, to see how they’ll sit. If you prefer, you can assemble your dried flower bouquet outside the vase, and place them inside once ready. You can also secure your stems with a tie of some sort before placing them in the vase, to ensure they stay together.
You may also wish to use a dried flower sealing spray or plain old hair spray to give your dried blooms an extra layer of protection, and to reduce shedding.
Because dried flowers last for so long, there’s also nothing to stop you from replacing or removing certain blooms from your bouquet to freshen it up from time to time. Just remember—dried flowers are delicate, so be sure to handle them with care.
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That's pretty much all you need to know about how to style dried flowers! By now, you should be ready to put your dried flowers on display in pride of place somewhere in your home (just not the bathroom).
If you find yourself currently without any dried flowers, or wanting to send some to a loved one, check out our dried flower collection.