When setting the table, every element counts: The textiles, the china, the flatware and, most importantly, lots and lots of beautiful flowers.
Brooklyn-based floral designers Kathleen Hyppolite of Kat Flower and Emily Howard Kudva of Phileanor know a thing or two about setting the perfect tablescape. The pair just launched The Flower Salon, a collaborative workshop series for floral enthusiasts (and those, like us, who simply can't wait until spring).
The designers met with ELLEDECOR.com at You & Yours Fine Vintage in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to share four of their creations,and shared some floral trends to keep an eye out for in 2016.
The Color Of The Year
Thinking about Rose Quartz, one of Pantone's colors for 2016, Kat Flower features a beautiful centerpiece with French anemones, garden roses, and sculptural greenery made up of rainbow eucalyptus.
The soft pink hue reflects the muted tones that have been popular for floral arrangements over the past decade. Yet applied to an organic, garden-to-table composition mixed with vibrant greenery, this arrangement takes on a fresh and modern approach. Paired with classic black and white table settings and gold flatware, the soft pink adds a subtle yet refreshing touch.
"My style is textural and personal with notes of romance and whimsy," says Hyppolite. Arrangements like this will be popular this year, marking a return to looser, more relaxed styles where color takes center stage.
A New Cultural Aesthetic
Shades of pink, coral, and orange come together in this vivid, tropics-inspired arrangement of rose lilies, poppies, daffodils, and kumquats. It's a perfect opportunity to spread other natural elements around the table, from glasses in wicker sleeves to handwoven, coiled grass baskets, and a single leaf set in porcelain rice bowls.
With fresh fruit in the mix, this arrangement is a celebration of natural beauty that designers and stylists are embracing this year. "I try to use the same approach with flowers as I would food," says Hyppolite. "Using fresh, seasonal elements to create a thoughtful and natural design that captures each bloom's charm, grace, uniqueness and beauty."
Playing With Contrast
This centerpiece, by Emily Howard Kudva of Phileanor, is the perfect example of the range of color trends that we can look forward to this year. While hot hues will certainly have a moment in floral design in 2016, arrangements that draw together disparate colors are equally on trend.
Showcasing tree peonies, ranunculus, and carnations, this arrangement makes the most of the contrasting shades of yellow and purple to create a truly show-stopping display. The mix of florals sets the mood for a dramatic, romantic, and whimsical table, where antique yellow and bright purple flowers take on a modern feel within a mixture of vintage black and metallic dinnerware.
Bold Textured Arrangements
Flowers we're used to seeing at the local bodega, like carnations, roses, and lilies, are finding new roles in new colors and combinations in the arrangements of today's top floral designers. "The work I do with flowers tends to be gestural but not too wild," says Howard Kudva, "complex, but not busy; pulled together but a little irreverent and feminine."
Featuring a mix of conventional blooms in bold colors, such as red carnations, cosmos, seeded eucalyptus, and feathers, this centerpiece has layers and layers of unique texture.
Wood elements and ceramic pieces such as the Japanese blue and white Willow Ware create a layered backdrop of color that propels the vibrant floral array to center stage.
Styling by Angela Belt.
