Amaranth and Friends: Textural Fall Floral Arrangements

I rented my first apartment in New York during the era of peak minimalism. Instagram and Pinterest grids were populated with images of white walls with white couches and white pillows, a single mid-century chair in a corner next to a lone monstera plant, little succulents on big tables. It felt like an aesthetic cleanse, wiping clean whatever we millenials were carrying with us as we entered into and began navigating adulthood and all of its challenges.

I succumbed to the minimalism and have been working my way out of it ever since (she says as she sits on a white couch surrounded by beige-ish pillows and ivory blankets). I’m drawn to simplicity, “less-is-more”. But minimal design–the way it was explored in the mid-2010s–eventually started to feel more stifling than relaxing; I missed color, personality, the eclecticism of letting a space be an amalgam of things collected.

Last fall I had some leftover flowers after a photoshoot, seasonal flowers like zinnias, snapdragon, amaranth, and chrysanthemum. I played around for an afternoon, indulging in my minimalist instincts by working with only two flower varieties at a time, while letting the shape and energy of each piece be anything but.

Below is the result of that afternoon: little creatures, each of them distinct, yet visually connected by a base of amaranth. They offer the burst of color that comes as we approach the first frost, and still feel grounded in the autumnal season with murky greens and a pair of ivory and peat candles. Designing these textural fall floral arrangements in white ceramic bowls, against a white table and backdrop, allows the vessels to disappear, focusing all of the attention on the stunning, seasonal blooms.

FLOWERS: Sourced from local growers via Flower Aggregate | VESSELS: West Elm | CANDLES: The Floral Society