Real vs Faux- How to Decorate with Beautiful Flowers

Have you ever wondered how artificial flowers compared to real – side by side?

I got a message from a reader recently after showing some faux floral decor on the table. It was about using faux flowers in decor and if that was something that is ok to do if you love and favor fresh. A perfect topic to delve into more.

The quick answers? For one, there are no rules! If you love fresh flowers and find a faux arrangement that knocks your socks off? It is OK to love and enjoy them both! For two: not all faux flowers are created equally- you can find highly realistic flowers that might surprise you.

Real Vs Faux Flowers

Why choose fresh? Well, fresh flowers are a big one for me. I do believe a room needs flowers in it to be fully finished and I love clipping blooms from the garden or bringing home a lovely fresh bouquet to arrange year round. We are fortunate here that we have an abundance of beautiful fresh favorites available at the SF Flower Mart all year long and I definitely take advantage of that. But even though I adore fresh blooms and indulge that love- I often decorate with realistic faux and love them.

I know that fresh are not readily available or at decent prices all over the place. At the market, fresh garden roses for example run in the $35-45 per dozen price range- higher for many David Austins. So for many- a no fuss, no water, no care faux arrangement that will last might be a perfect choice for getting the look. Faux arrangements are more of an investment upfront- but they will give you years of enjoyment. It really comes down to your personal feelings on them. I know people who prefer faux over fresh for the reasons above- and others who are the opposite.

But Do artificial flowers REALLY look real?  Of course it depends on the quality and price point. You can expect to pay more for highly realistic faux flowers that might fool your most discerning guests- but are they worth it? Are they Really realistic?

I am going to let you decide. I am showing you a comparison showing the comparison of Real florals vs artificial florals and how to decorate your home with faux flowers. And I also put together this video showing more.

Faux Flowers

Let’s talk about faux flowers. They have gotten a pretty bad reputation over the years- and I will admit that I am pretty particular when it comes to incorporating faux. They have to look real or I am not playing. I have been pleasantly surprised by quite a few that DO look real at first glance-so I was interested to see side by side how they held up to my real favorites.

Side By Side Flowers

I took several Balsam Hill arrangements and recreated them with fresh flowers. The first one is the Pastel Spring Floral arrangement full of some of my favorites- ranunculus, peonies, hellebore and tulips.

One of these is not like the other… one is faux and one is real flowers.

Same with these. 

One is freshly created-  and one will last all year long.

But why ‘go faux’ if I love fresh so much? Well I definitely do love fresh flowers and am a big believer in having fresh flowers in the house all.the.time. Flowers help create a mood, add a pop of color with vibrant blooms or touch of quiet with subtle blooms- and they just make the room feel so wonderful.

But I have heard from many of you over the years that it is frustrating when you can’t find the same availability of flowers easily everywhere. So faux in some of your favorite hard to find flowers might be perfect for you. Even if real flowers are your favorite thing these can help make your home feel like it is full of spring sunshine.

How to Decorate With Faux Flowers

A few ideas for incorporating:

Customize: Use a faux arrangement – and mix in fresh clippings from your yard for a unique and personalized arrangement. A bonus is that the fresh can add a lovely scent as well.

Simple & Sweet: Use single flowers on a mantel to warm up the room. It doesn’t have to be go big or go home- sometimes simple is perfect.

Think outside the box: Grab a wreath and use it in a different way.

You can see the full posts here: Using a wreath on a chandelier

and Using a wreath around the base of a statue

Fresh & Faux

And back to those comparison flowers- did you decide which is real and which is faux?

The large round glass bowl arrangement is faux-the mason jar arrangement is real.

This tall one on the chair is faux and the one on the floor is real flowers.

This was such a fun comparison because I was able to source all the flowers that Balsam Hill had used for their arrangements and was able to recreate them quite closely. And if you have greens available in your yard- you can add them right to any arrangement or wreath for a fresh touch and scent.

I also recreated and compared 3 other floral arrangements as well and shared some tips and detailed photos in my post at the Balsam Hill Blog

Right now everything is up to 40% off for Memorial Day at Balsam Hill– you can shop the realistic florals (including the collections I designed for them- French Market, Marseille Meadow) and Stay tuned for a few ideas for unique ways to decorate with faux flowers that you can do in just a few minutes along with some of my favorites this season.

If you have any other topics you would like to see covered on the blog- just drop me a note or leave a comment here and I will see what I can do.

Happy Wednesday all!