life in a tiny apartment.

July 16, 2014

Tip #104: Fill Your Apartment with Tiny Flowers.

Tap, tap. Is this thing on?

Life since Faye has been a bit too lively for me to pay much attention to this series, but James’s family came to visit this weekend and James was home for an extra few hours on Friday, and well, I got to flex my creative muscles ever so slightly in preparation for their arrival, which brought me to this tip:

Fill your apartment with tiny flowers.

tiny flowers

I had to double-check that I hadn’t written about this already. For a girl who makes a habit of collecting tiny glass bottles for this express purpose, I’m not sure what stopped me from extolling their virtues before. But here’s the thing: in a tiny apartment, a large floral arrangement overwhelms.

This was especially true in our old apartment, where even a modestly sized arrangement took up far too much of our 240 square feet to be advisable. But even in our new larger space, many small floral arrangements instead of a single large arrangement do better work to cheer up the space.

In fact, I’ve been known to dismantle a large bouquet from the get-go—using small bottles to place a stem here, a few others there—rather than allowing one bohemoth to swallow the joint.

tiny flowers

But even better than small arrangements of few flowers, are small arrangements of tiny flowers.

In these bouquets, I used a bunch of a something that looks like chamomile and a bunch of smaller pink star-shaped flower that I’m not sure the name of. I snagged them from the grocery store flower stall down the street and they did superior work of making me feel as though they’d just come in from the meadow. You can take a girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl…

tiny flowers

Tiny apartment survival tips # 1-103, right here.

 

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24 Comments

  • Reply olga July 16, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    So pretty! Question: the linen coaster under the glass jar, do you know who makes them? I'm trying to find the very thing! Thanks so much!

    2
  • Reply Anna | Gone Banannas July 16, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    I do the same thing! Flowers aren't cheap and I find that not only do my flowers actually extend their lifespan a bit when they are in smaller bunches BUT I am able to spread them around the house which makes everything feel a bit more lively and perked up and not to mention pretty! I use Ball blue mason jars as vases for a little extra something 🙂

    3
    • Reply Erin July 17, 2014 at 2:14 pm

      Yes! I've found they seem to last longer, too!

      3
  • Reply Loribeth Tanner July 16, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    I love these arrangements. My mom used to make little wildflower arrangements in bottles and leave them in our bedroom when my sisters or I were having a bad day or a hard week at school.

    3
    • Reply Erin July 17, 2014 at 2:14 pm

      So sweet. My mom does the same thing when we go home for the weekend!

      2
  • Reply Christine July 16, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    Such a good idea! I love to separate bouquets into a bunch of different jars so that I can have flowers on all of our tables and in as many rooms as possible–aka the living room, my nightstand and the bathroom!

    3
    • Reply Erin July 17, 2014 at 2:15 pm

      Exactly! "Rooms" is a relative term, eh?

      3
  • Reply Alexa July 16, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    i hear you – it's my one weekly treat, to fill my treehouse with fresh flowers. it really makes such a difference and it's become one of those little things i hope my (future) children remember about growing up – how our house was always filled with music and books and art and flowers.

    3
  • Reply The Collector July 17, 2014 at 4:11 am

    Pretty!

    2
  • Reply Sarah July 17, 2014 at 5:17 am

    I love having flowers in my little apartment as well. They truly make a room feel more cheerful when you walk into it. 🙂 Yours look beautiful and I am adoring the colorful arrangement. xo

    3
    • Reply Erin July 17, 2014 at 2:15 pm

      Thanks! I needed something cheery!

      3
  • Reply Katie Bedlow July 17, 2014 at 7:38 am

    Perfect little posy! Just gives a little lift 🙂

    2
  • Reply Charlotte July 17, 2014 at 7:55 am

    Great tip, these look adorable. I don't live in a tiny apartment, but I may have to start scattering tiny flowers everywhere anyway… x

    Charlotte's Web | The London Project

    2
  • Reply Second Floor Flat July 17, 2014 at 1:01 pm

    Yes, I do this too! I usually buy whatever (pretty) el cheapo bouquet I can find at the grocery store, then divvy them up into pretty little collections and put them in little containers throughout the house. Makes such a difference, especially when you're in a tiny apartment (or flat!) like you and me.

    2
    • Reply Erin July 17, 2014 at 2:16 pm

      Totally! Sometimes an arrangement that's so-so put together becomes so much prettier divvied up!

      2
  • Reply jodi July 17, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    Those little chamomile-like flowers look like feverfew to me. I planted some in my garden years ago and they have now self-seeded and are growing down the cliffside and all the way down to the beach! They are very sweet for bouquets…

    2
  • Reply Molly Meador July 17, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    Perfect! I love the daisies. I've even been known to put one large flower, like a gerbera daisy in an extra tiny bottle. It's the little things.

    m.see
    mollyseee.blogspot.com

    2
  • Reply Neurotic Workaholic July 18, 2014 at 5:37 am

    Those flowers are so pretty! And I have a question – the flowers don't attract bugs, do they? I want to keep cut flowers in my apartment, but I'm scared of bugs and am always paranoid that they'll show up.

    3
  • Reply cynthia cidade July 18, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    lovely!

    3
  • Reply Rachel Anne Manning July 18, 2014 at 8:24 pm

    Hi Erin,
    I live in Austin, and my space is not as teeny as your space is, but it's an odd layout. Needless to say, I completely agree with you. Large arrangements can be overwhelming, unnecessary and harder to manage. I've found they make our place look smaller and more cluttered. Thus I've been placing any flowers I get in small jars and vases around the house, so I always have a sweet floral surprise awaiting me. Thanks for mentioning this, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who collects little bottles. 😀

    Be well!

    RAM

    3
  • Reply Julie Crawford July 19, 2014 at 1:13 pm

    what a fabulous idea, and smaller flowers sort of invite you to look at them a bit longer, to appreciate them. I'm going to give this a try, I never thought much of the scale of the flowers before.

    3
  • Reply Clemsy May July 27, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    This is a lovely post, your tiny flowers are so pretty. I collect so many jam jars, especially ones with pretty labels… I can't bring myself to throw them away even though we have no room for them (we also live in a tiny apartment!) This will be the perfect use for them!

    3
  • Reply Intarya July 29, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Flowers are a wonderful addition to a home, we use them in all of our interiors, they really bring a space to life!

    Home:Life:Luxe by Intarya

    2
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