Styling Tips for DIY Modern Flower Arrangements for Spring (2024)

I’m sharing my tips, tricks, and ideas for creating easy and beautiful modern flower arrangements for your home. Learn how to arrange tulips, peonies, mini bouquets, monochromatic arrangements, and more!

You know I love me some flowers. That’s why today we’re talking about modern flower arrangements you can DIY for spring and / or Easter!

With a few floral projects in mind, earlier this week I went shopping. I found gorgeous spring flowers in Pittsburgh where I live: tulips, hyacinths, ranunculus, and hydrangeas the size of my head. Into my cart, all of them went.

I haven’t had any formal floral design training (except for a flower arranging class in college), but I have picked up a few tricks and ideas here and there that might interest you.

Where to Buy Flowers

First, you’re going to need some beautiful blooms. Here are my go-to sources:

• Your Own Backyard: My favorite place to get fresh flowers is in my own yard. I plant a variety or annuals and perennials to create a cutting garden that I can enjoy in the spring, summer, and fall.
• Grocery Store:If you just need a dozen or two, I recommend picking them up at the grocery store. I particularly love them from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Most grocery stores stock tulips year-round.
• Local Flower Shop:Your local flower shop is always a great source for beautiful blooms. You may tend to pay a bit more, but it’s always nice to support a local business. You could also ask if they have any leftover flowers or special deals on older blooms that you could take advantage of at a discounted rate.
• PetalDriven:PetalDriven is a go-to for me when I need a lot of flowers. They offer direct (straight from the farm) wholesale flowers shipped directly to your door.You can save 10% on your order by using code “INSPIRED10” at checkout.If you need bulk flowers in beautiful varieties and colors, PetalDriven is a must!

The Best Vases

When I’m doing a flower arrangement I generally think it’s easier to work with a smaller opening. I shared a few of my favorite vases below.

One of my favorite things to use for any arrangement is a pitcher. They always seem to have the perfect size opening.

Favorite Vases

• footed glass vase
• white pitcher
• cylinder vase
• clear round vase(with small opening)
• recycled jar vase

Looking for some really inexpensive options? Visit your local Goodwill or Thrift Store. They always have an entire shelf dedicated to discarded vases. Also, a classic Ball jar is a perfect option for flowers. I love the rustic / country look. This fluted design is especially beautiful!

Ready to arrange? Let’s get to it!

Arranging Tulips

If you follow IBC on Instagram, then you’ve probably had a peek at this first idea for creating modern flower arrangements. The inspiration for this guy came from a vase I found at HomeGoods. In my book, the marble base and a big glass hurricane make it a stunner.

Side note: When I’m shopping at places like HomeGoods and find something unique that I wasn’t looking for but “need” to have, I try to think about 3-4 ways or places I can use the item. These vases were a perfect example. (I used the plural because I bought this one and its big sister.) Not only did I picture them as flower vases, but I also figured they could hold candles. In addition, I imagined them in the center of my dining table or on my coffee table. Finally, I thought they would work as the vessel for a cool terrarium. Sold!

For this arrangement, I decided to do something simple but bold. I filled the vase with 48 or so tulips. Just tulips. (I found a couple large packs.)

For tulips, I like to tear off a couple leaves, wash the stems (They tend to be dirty), and then tuck them into the vase. Tulips like to do their own thing, so I embrace their awkwardness. After a couple days, I typically go back and remove a few more leaves and change the water. This tulip arrangement lasted a little more than a week. If you want your tulips to be perkier, toss a penny into the water.

If you want more information on arranging tulips, I have an entire post dedicated to the process of arranging tulips filled with more tips, tricks, and ideas for beautiful arrangements.

Try a Tulipiere

And let’s not forget my all-time favorite:atulipiere!

Have you ever heard of one of these magical “self-arranging” vases? If not, you’re in luck because I havean entire postdedicated to them.Consider it a mini crash course in tulipieres: what they are, how to use them, and my favorite ones.

One Variety of Bloom

As you saw in the last example, sticking with one type of flower is an easy way to design an arrangement. I did the same thing last in my bedroom makeover post. There I used a modern vase and filled it with mini hydrangeas. That was it.

With any flower arrangement, you will want to remove any leaves below the water line and recut the stems before placing them in your vase. To get the longest life out of your blooms, I also recommend changing the water every couple of days.

Arrangements like this are ideal when you want to make a simple but bold statement. They’re not fussy, and the neutral palette looks great in any room.

Monochromatic Arrangement

Speaking of hydrangeas, I found these massive purple hydrangea blooms on my flower hunting adventure. This vase contains only two of them, but each one is the size of my head.

While these hydrangeas would have looked gorgeous on their own, I wanted to play off the purple, so I added a few stems of freesia to create a monochromatic arrangement.

The colors work together nicely, and the size and style of the blooms complement each other. Putting the different blooms together makes it look a bit more intentional, interesting, and stylish.

Also, I find it easiest to work with vases with a smaller opening at the top. It helps to keep the stems in place and standing up straight.

Here is another example of a monochromatic look, but done in a different way. This was the centerpiece for my Easter table.

Here, I used three white pitchers and filled each one with a different flower. While the colors vary slightly, all the hues are similar and work well together.

I think it turned out beautifully. I love the bold pop of color.

Peonies

Peonies are one of my favorites flowers. In fact, I love them so much I have at least two dozen bushes on my property that I enjoy growing, cutting, an arranging every spring.

I created an entire guide to creating beautiful peony arrangements, so I won’t go into too much details here.

While peonies are a classic and romantic bloom, they can also be arranged in away to feel more modern. I especially like this arrangements of just whites and greens.

Flowering Bulbs

Because it’s spring, you’re going to see a lot of blooms that come from bulbs. (For example, tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, and lilies) In stores, you’ll even see these flowers being sold as potted plants or blooming bulbs.

I saw these potted mini daffodils and thought they would look delightful in an Easter tablescape I was working on. They came in a plastic pot, so I transferred them to a white-footed bowl I had on hand. It took minutes and instantly made this $3.99 plant feel special and rich.

When buying tulips as planted bulbs, I prefer getting ones with lots of unopened blooms. Watching the blooms open gives you more bang for your buck. Potted tulips with unopened blooms will also last a lot longer than those with all their blooms open.

Mini Bouquets

Last but not least are mini bouquets. If you’ve been following Inspired by Charm for some time, you know these are my go-to. Why? Because they are the easiest and they look good every single time and in any location.

The key with these is to use a small vase with a small opening and just pack it with flowers. It basically arranges itself. You can use all the same flowers or a mixed bouquet. One tip is to make the overall flower arrangement the same size as the vase or just a bit larger.

This idea is best for when you need quite a bit of floral decor, but don’t have a big flower budget. Instead of lumping everything together in one vase, you can divide the flowers into 3 or 4 smaller arrangements you can spread all over your house.

I especially like this idea for creating a line of 3 or 5 vases down a table. It’s also an easy way to add a little life and freshness to your bathroom or dress up a bookcase or side tables in your living room.

Plant a Terrarium

…or anything for that matter. I know that a plant is different from a fresh flower arrangement, but they essentially serve the same purpose. I also like plants because they last longer. I’m talking years if you have a green thumb.

I recently took a class at a local plant shop (Farm & Forest) and created my own terrarium. But you don’t need a class to plant something fun and special. Nowadays you can buy them at the store. Check out this beauty I picked up at Whole Foods.

You can use plants just as you would flower arrangements. They can add life to a side table, function as a centerpiece for Easter, or bring a splash of color to your kitchen island.

If you’re looking for a terrarium tutorial, I have one of those too! Check out this beauty…

So whether you planting something or simply adding fresh blooms to a vase, do what works for you to create beautiful modern flower arrangements that will make you smile.

I hope you found a few of my tips and ideas helpful.

More Flower Arranging Guides

• The Ultimate Flower Arranging Guide
• How to Create Beautiful Peony Arrangements
• Tips for Beautiful Fall Flower Arrangements
• DIY Flowering Bulb Planters

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