apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Top: This arrangement from Bill and Colleen's home is minimal and dramatic. Just a couple of large, long-stemmed blooms artfully deployed in a vase or pitcher can look like they were professionally arranged.

A leftover bloom from the arrangement shown in the top photo was used here in a bud vase. If you cut a single bloom very short on its stem and place it in a small vase, it looks like it was meant to be there.

In this photo from Stems, a bouquet is tied together at the stems and laid in a shallow tray, an unexpected alternative to a vase.

A set of jars and bottles arranged in clusters on a tray looks relaxed and makes your bouquet go a little farther. Photo: Body + Soul Magazine April 2008.

Flowering branches in a clear glass vase are great for larger centerpieces. For tips on how to arrange branches, see this post. Photo: Christy and John's Logan Square Bungalow.

A bouquet of the same flowers in a super-simple vase is classic and unpretentious. Photo: the Arkansas Traveler's Light-Filled Home.

If you want to add depth to an arrangement without getting too complicated, use flowers and greens in the same color family. For a tailored look, match the vase to your flowers. Photo: Raikenn's spring cure flowers.

One of the most basic solutions: use whatever you have on hand for a vase. This little jar at the Green Grocer stands in for a bud vase, but a drinking glass or tea tin works, too.

One way to always make an arrangement look good is to invest in a beautiful vase and fill it with simple flowers. This is Janel's Jonathan Adler vase filled with daffodils from Trader Joe's.

From AT Europe: a Parisian trend is to arrange a group of sculptural flowers tilted to one side in their vase.

Related Links:
• For tips on how to cut flowers and make them last, see this post.
• Deconstructing a Bouquet
• PlantTherapy: Cut Flower Confidence
• PlantTherapy: Saturday Morning Flowers
• Flickr Finds: Simple Vases