Vases

Vases are natural attention seekers. Whether they find a home as a centrepiece for your dining room table, a mantelpiece, a window sill or a coffee table they are a way to show off a fresh flower arrangement, a silk or paper bouquet or a stand-alone ornament. They come in every size, from a bud vase that would fit in your palm to an impressive urn that acts as a statement for the room. Pitcher vases can even do double duty in the kitchen on occasion. Ceramics are some of the most traditional vases and you can certainly go for a romantic effect with a glazed footed vase in a cream or white porcelain, perfect for housing a bunch of blousy Georgian roses or irises. Ceramics go far beyond the romantic though. Ceramics can be made in a host of modern shapes and textures. Minimalist ceramic flute vases, designed to hold only a few stems in a tall cylinder shaped vase. Fluted cylindrical vases with inset stripes running vertically along the vase to draw the eye up to your floral arrangement or compliment a more avant-garde approach like a vase of silver birch twigs. Ceramics also give the option on an inset geometric pattern, like rows of tiny inset triangles or line-based patterns. In monochrome or contrasting colours these really pop but they are a lovely way to add subtle interest in a single colour too, depending on whether you want your vase to be the focal point in your space. Single colour patterns are perfect with multi-coloured bunches of flowers but a contrasting pattern can look great with a single colour filler like a leafy fern arrangement. Glazes can be a subtle sheen that seals your vase but they can also be colourful and sophisticated. Crackle effect glazes give an unexpected texture, while ombre glazed vases give a gradual ebbing of one colour into another. This is a great way to marry your vases perfectly with your colour scheme. For a light touch, perfect for leafy arrangements you could go for ceramic face vases. The rendering of a face can be either minimal and symbolic or a more true to life representation. For a room with a lot of personality, these vases are perfect as a foil for other bold, statement pieces and with the right arrangement can impart a sense of calm. If your favourite part of a flower is just the bloom, then you could be looking for a sweet little bud vase. They come in traditional victorian inspired cut glass, beautiful delicately coloured ceramics and even in mimic test tube racks for a gorgeous combination of a natural aesthetic with a taste of the scientific. They are compact, can be bought in a matching set and they fit anywhere. Even better they don’t rely on the long stems of a florist’s bouquet, any flower from your garden can shine in a bud vase. Your options aren’t limited to traditional ceramic and glass vases either. For those looking for a room with a lot of natural textures, there is a range of varnished wooden options to choose from that bring their own character to your flowers. You could choose a bamboo vase, a mango wood-engraved option or a simple varnished oblong. Whatever you choose, they are rich in texture and make perfect aesthetic sense wherever you want a polished finish. Copper and brass vases are another choice that you might not have considered first, but you should give thought. Hardwearing, not breakable and gleaming, they look lovely with a warm colour palette and you can experiment with polishing them to a high shine or allowing a little oxidisation to see what look you prefer. Vases are a rare combination of function and beauty, you can never have too many.