One of the reasons that property developers’ show homes appear so “dressed” is not just because of the linen on the bed and the sofa in the living room, but also the colour co-ordinated vases on windowsills, shelves and table tops.
A big vase placed in a small room can make a bold statement — we are talking waist-high, such as Heal’s 1m-tall, urn-shaped Lola vase in clear glass, at £120. When grouping vases, use ones of varying heights, shapes and sizes, with a unity of material or colour tones. Avoid too many short, fat or squat vases (disparate small vases grouped together will simply look cluttered). Bowls used as vases can work well — floating flower heads are a little passé, but a bubbling overflow of hydrangeas, for example, hits the right note of contemporary floral chic. Generally, aim for good, strong, clear silhouettes.
Vases from the leading manufacturer LSA are handmade in Poland and available in department stores, from Liberty to Selfridges, as well as local gift shops and interiors boutiques, with prices ranging from £8 to £140. Look out for its 1930s art deco, thick chocolate-brown cut glass, or vases in 1960s-style vibrant hues.
Nowadays, every big furniture design brand has its own selection of vases. Habitat, The Pier, BoConcept, Ligne Roset, Heal’s and Driade at Selfridges all have wide ranges. Woolworths has some great large, chunky coloured glass vases, as well as ceramics, priced from £2.99 to £12.99, and Matalan’s homewares collection has a bargain striking red bud vase and a pink ceramic egg-shaped vase, both £6 each. Muji sells clear and black glass vases, priced between £6.95 and £17.95, with a clear glass spherical vase, a little like a goldfish bowl, for £12.95. The mail-order catalogue Really Linda Barker has a Spira-like collection of textured vases, from £9.11 to £28.20.
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It’s been fashionable for several years now to collect coloured glass vases that were produced en masse in the 1950s and 1960s. Find them in junk shops and at car boot sales — look out for Whitefriars glass. Baileys by Mail has vintage retro orange glass vases from £12 and clear bud vases from £6. Ligne Roset’s Mati vase comes in three parts, with a main outer container in clear glass, and two blue glass vases inside it, in various configurations, for £137. Block has aluminium, clear and coloured acrylic vases in solid, block-like forms, from £12 to £50.
Think carefully about where you position your vases. Coloured glass on a windowsill, for example, will act as a filter for the light and subtly change the mood of a room. A simple white ceramic vase, on its own on a shelf or in a niche, will immediately seem more like a fine piece of sculpture than a mere container. Place ceramic vases over cupboards in a kitchen but use only one colour, as this will look more uniform and chic.
Vases and planters shouldn’t be hidden away when not in use — mix or match them as accessories, and move them from room to room. Put posies of fresh flowers all around the house, not just in the obvious places — a single rose in a small bud vase works wonders in a small loo. Don’t clutter the area around a vase — give it room to breathe and allow it to be seen. Approach the whole process a little like window-dressing.
In terms of planters, look for either smart, architectural stainless steel pots — Ocean has these, with the option of having them on castors, from £59 for 35cm diameter and £85 for 50cm diameter. Or try more classic, traditional materials such as ceramic: even an old soup tureen can work well as a planter. OKA sells rattan planters, from £29, and square zinc planters, either tall or squat, from £22. Ecco Trading has handmade banana bark planters, handwoven palm leaf orchid planters, and palmwood planters, all in a range of sizes, from £25 to £130.
Alessi sells the Babà multipurpose container — a stainless steel vessel in four different sizes. It costs from £49 to £165, and can be used as anything from a plant pot or vase to a wine cooler, a small bin or even an umbrella stand. Who would have thought humble vases could be so versatile?
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Alessi 020 7518 9091, www.alessi.com
Baileys by Mail 01989 561 931, www.baileyshomeandgarden.com
Driade at Selfridges 020 7318 3101, www.driade.com
Ecco Trading 020 7622 4274, www.eccotrading.com
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Habitat 0845 601 0740, www.habitat.net
Ligne Roset 0870 777 7202, www.ligne-roset.co.uk
Matalan 01695 552 793, www.matalan.co.uk
OKA 0870 160 6002; www.okadirect.com
Ocean 08701 226592; www.oceanuk.com
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The Pier 0845 609 1234, www.pier.co.uk