Photography: Martina Gemmola
Florals are having a moment, but if you’ve tried introducing them into your home, you’ll realise it’s not as easy as Instagram makes it look.
Part of the reason is practicality. If you’ve tried shopping for a floral sofa, bedhead or armchair, you’ll know there aren’t many options. Most of the truly beautiful floral furniture pieces are vintage finds or custom upholstered, meaning they’re often hard to source and pricey to create.
The good news is you don’t need to commit to a floral sofa to make florals work in your home.
Decorating with florals: where people go wrong
The biggest mistake people make is thinking they need to go all in. A floral sofa, floral curtains, floral cushions and floral art can quickly start feeling less ‘collected English country house’ and more ‘floral overload’.
Instead, I think florals work best when they’re treated as an accent rather than the entire story.
Some common mistakes:
- Buying matching floral everything
- Using florals at only one scale
- Forgetting to balance florals with plain textures
- Thinking florals only belong in traditional homes
Florals can work in almost any interior style. I’ve seen them in everything from country cottages to contemporary homes. It’s usually less about the floral itself and more about how it’s being used.
The simplest ways to introduce florals into your home
1. Start with textiles
This is often the easiest entry point. A floral cushion or occasional chair can introduce pattern and softness without overwhelming a room.
If you’re feeling a little braver, I also love using a large-scale botanical or floral rug. It’s a more unexpected way to introduce the trend because most people focus on walls or furniture first. A statement rug brings visual interest down to ground level, allowing simpler furniture and natural materials to shine around it.
I particularly love painterly florals and faded botanical motifs that feel collected rather than coordinated.
The key is contrast! A floral cushion on a clean-lined sofa feels fresh and achievable. A floral cushion on a floral sofa can start to feel a little too busy.
2. The handcrafted details
Some of the most beautiful interpretations of the floral trend are happening through the use of handcrafted pieces.
Handpainted furniture, decorative ceramics and artisanal tiles all offer a way to introduce botanical motifs without covering an entire room in pattern.
A floral tile detail in a splashback niche, a handpainted side table or a collection of ceramics can bring personality into a space in a much more subtle way.
One beautiful floral moment will usually have far more impact than 10 competing for attention.
3. Start in smaller spaces
If you’re nervous about bringing in florals, start somewhere small. Bathrooms, guest bedrooms, reading corners and entryways are fantastic places to experiment with pattern.
A floral wallpaper. A flower-patterned towel. A botanical-themed ceramic sconce. These smaller additions will allow you to test the waters without feeling like you’ve committed to a floral explosion!
4. Designer trick: mix your scales
One reason floral interiors can sometimes feel old-fashioned is when everything sits at the same scale… A tiny floral on the curtains. A tiny floral on the cushions. A tiny floral on the lampshade. Suddenly the room starts to feel bitsy rather than considered.
Good interiors need variation. I love mixing a larger-scale floral with something much smaller and more subtle. A statement botanical fabric on an armchair paired with a delicate floral detail on a cushion. Or a bold floral artwork balanced with a simpler piece nearby.
When you vary the scale, the eye has somewhere to rest. The room feels layered rather than matchy-matchy, which is often the difference between a home that feels collected and one that feels decorated.
Another great way to make florals work is by pairing them with natural materials. The colours and textures of timber, linen, stone and rattan help ground floral elements and stop them feeling overly decorative.
Floral shopping checklist
Before you buy, ask yourself:
- Is this the only floral in the room?
- Am I balancing it with plain textures and materials?
- Am I mixing pattern scales?
- Does it add personality without dominating the space?
- Will I still love it in five years?
Ask Jono a design question
Wanting to get advice on a specific nook or cranny in your own home? If your couch doesn’t match the carpet, or you can’t workout the right layout for your home office, you can fill out a form and ask Jono Fleming yourself! You may even end up in the next issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
Flower power: an enduring ‘trend’
The reason florals are resonating again is because people are craving homes with a bit more personality.
After years of beige interiors and bouclé everything, florals bring back individuality. They add softness, character and a sense somebody actually lives there. Ultimately, that’s what great interiors are about — not following trends, but creating a home that feels like you.
And if florals become part of that story, don’t be afraid to let them bloom.
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