Every time House Beautiful Style Director Robert Rufino goes to shoot a house, he carries at least one—often two—CB2 Marta glasses with him. No, not because he's particular about what he drinks out of. It's because he's found that the $2.50 cup is the perfect vessel for holding simple-yet-elegant floral arrangements, especially when it comes to roses.
"It's the perfect scale for a bedside table or powder room, or you could line up six of them in a row on a dining room table for a dinner party," he explains.
For photo and video shoots, Rufino typically heads to the nearest flower market, but in a pinch, he'll grab roses from his local supermarket. With two $10 bouquets from Whole Foods, we challenged him to make it look every bit as good as an arrangement we'd order from a florist—and reveal his tricks along the way. Here's what you need to do.
Step 1: Choose more than one color.
Yes, monochrome bouquets are a safe choice—but they can feel a little bland. Mix things up with two colors, so the arrangement truly pops.
Step 2: Remove any browned petals.
Most people overlook this step, and it's so crucial. Not only does it make the bouquet look better, but removing damaged petals can help the blooms stay fresh longer.
Step 3: Remove excess leaves.
Removing most—if not all—of the leaves will make it easier to arrange the flowers, so there aren't any strange gaps or crammed corners of the arrangement.
Step 4: Trim stems
You know that you should cut the stems at an angle, so they drink up more water, but another common mistake people make when arranging roses is cutting them too short—or tall—for the vase they're using. Rufino suggests trimming them so they're about 1-2 inches taller than the vase itself, if you're using a small vessel, like a cup.
Step 5: Let them breathe!
This is the most crucial step—and the most often ignored. Once you've arranged all of the roses in the vase, gently grab them all just under the bud, lifting them a few inches out of the water, and slowly lower them back into the vase. That makes for a looser, more romantic arrangement.
Check out the video above to see the full tutorial in action.
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Candace Braun Davison writes, edits, and produces lifestyle content that ranges from celebrity features to roll-up-your-sleeves DIYs, all while relentlessly pursuing the noblest of causes: the quest for the world's best chocolate chip cookie.
