Spring has sprung!

OK so I know technically Spring is still a few days away but with the sunny, warm weather we're having I decided to declare it's arrival now!

Spring is definitely my favourite time of year and you can't help but notice the beautiful flowers popping up everywhere. I try to keep fresh flowers in our home all year round but this time of year definitely provides the most colourful choices. 

You would need to go a long way before you'd find an interior designer that doesn't use fresh flowers in their own home and for client projects and the reason is simple - they provide a beautiful, natural, lovely addition to any home. Psychologists have also conducted testing that proves the human brain actually get pleasure from looking at flowers.

There is a common misconception that having fresh flowers in your home will basically send you broke within weeks. There are tricks to buying your fresh flowers - firstly never buy them at the beginning of the week, this is when the retailer purchases them and they are at their most expensive. Buying them from Thursday onward significantly reduces their price as many of the buds will have started to open. Take the lilies I have posted above, if you were to buy them from my local green grocer on a Monday you would pay $19.95 for this bunch. Purchasing them on a Thursday or Friday reduces their cost to $9.95! As long as you cut the stems and replace the water every few days (don't forget to add a drop of bleach & some sugar) then they will last you almost a fortnight. Remember to keep your water level as low as possible, removing any additional leaves that will sit and rot in the water - no one likes that rotting vegetation smell in their home!

Another tip is to buy a bunch of the same flower. This of course isn't to everyone's taste, some people like the mismatch feel of a variety of flowers in their bouquet, but for a classic look it's best to keep the bunch simple with just one variety of flower.

So there are some positive reasons to add fresh flowers to your home this week!