Mums the word.

Decor.

So I was in a pinch last weekend. Work ran pretty late on Friday, and I had 2 wonderful house guests that would be arriving in just a couple of hours. Besides the last minute tidying, appetizer preparation, and freshening up, I really wanted to get a couple of flower arrangements for the apartment. I just think it makes all of the difference in the world to make any space - and especially my small Manhattan space - look more fresh and inviting.

The problem was that my neighborhood flower shops were already closed...and our grocery store and bodegas had some pretty lackluster options. Normally I go with a monochromatic look - one color and hopefully only one or two types of flowers. I was not that lucky. Instead, I grabbed the last two bunches of yellow chrysanthemums, one bunch of greenery, and one bunch of berries. I thought I would channel my inner Ariella Chezar and try to do something very natural and organic - believe me, she has nothing to worry about.

But I did learn a nice little trick. My goal was to create one large arrangement, but I had so many short lengths of mums that had to be cut from the main arrangement (because they would have fallen below the water line) that I was also able to make 6 "mini" arrangements. I placed the main arrangement in our entryway so that it was the first thing you would see, then I created small clusters of the "minis" throughout the apartment. The repetition on the theme created a lot more impact and turned out even better than I thought. My guests complemented me on the flowers right away (success!).

So next time you are putting together a flower arrangement, don't toss the scraps. Use these short stems to create mini arrangements...then share the love with the rest of you space. --a