Top 10 Best Fresh Flowers for Home Decor

I can’t imagine my life without flowers. Nothing brings me more joy than creating pretty corners in my home and flowers are a must-have for any home decor vignette.

If you follow me on Instagram (find me there as MSongbird) you will see all the ways that I decorate with flowers.

I am no snob when it comes to fresh-cut flowers. I love an ordinary bunch of grocery store flowers just as much as a big beautiful bouquet from a floral boutique.

I prefer my flowers to be cheap though since I want to have lots of them all the time. That’s why my favorite time of year is when I can go out and pick flowers from my garden or the fields around my house.

Oh and one more thing…

I can’t throw a flower away if it still has some life left in it. That’s why you’ll see me rearranging my flower arrangements all the time.

A big bouquet will become smaller and smaller (I love mini bouquets so much!).

Different flowers will be combined in unexpected combinations (like pairing them with greenery or leaves, other leftover flowers, or even with faux flowers).

And that last surviving flower will get a prime position in a tiny liquor glass…

So let’s find out what my all-time favorite fresh flowers for decorating your home are.

Oh, and don’t forget to scroll down for my bonus favorite flower choice. It’s a special one!

Today’s post is all about finding the best flowers that last for the longest time and are budget-friendly. If you love thrifty decorating as much as I do you will love all the other frugal decorating ideas for early spring that my friends from the Thrifty Style Team share. You will find the links to all of their Spring home decor projects at the bottom of the post.

What are the Best Flowers for Home Decor – and Why

For a flower to make the top 10 list of best flowers for home decor, they need to have the following qualities:

• Last long on a vase
• Be readily available
• Be budget-friendly to buy, or easy to grow at home
• Are safe, non-toxic, and not messy
• Fit your personal home decorating style and preference

I have grown, scavenged, and bought so many flowers in my decorating years. There isn’t a flower that I can’t work with, but I have my favorites for reasons.

First of all, I want my flowers to last. If I have gone through the effort of growing or I have spent time and money buying them I want to enjoy them for a long time. And not all flowers as pretty as they may be, have a long vase life.

Whenever I am hunting for some flowers to use in my blog posts (which means in my home) I want them now. No patience here. So my favorite flowers are the ones that I can easily find (when in season of course).

I mentioned already that I do not like to spend a lot of money on flowers. Rare exotic flowers like orchids, for example, do not make my list for that reason. I prefer buying lots of flowers often, instead of buying very special ones on a rare occasions.

RELATED READING: How to Decorate with Tulips

It is important to realize that some flowers are not safe for pets or children. Normally this is not a problem in our house because our cats are just not interested in the flowers I use. But Lilies for example are highly toxic for animals and the yellow pollen in the center makes terrible stains, so no Lilies on my list.

I really do believe there are certain flowers that fit better with certain decorating styles. For example, hydrangeas and tulips are perfect farmhouse-style flower choices, while roses and lilacs fit perfectly with a romantic shabby chic style.

That said, I think you can make just about any flower work in any home decor style. It just depends on the arrangement, the flower vase or container you choose, and the other accessories that you use in your vignette.

My Tried and Tested Top 10 Fresh Flowers for Home Decor

Please enjoy my list of 10 different fresh flowers I use over and over in my home decor.

Some of these flowers are seasonal flowers but many are readily available all year round.

As you can see I prefer my flower bouquets to highlight one flower in particular. I am not the biggest fan of mixed bouquets, although I’ll gladly receive one any day.

1. Roses

Just a few of the last roses on my bush in the garden at the end of fall. A super simple flower arrangement that gets me every time.

This fun vintage teapot flower arrangement was also made with only roses from my garden enhanced with a bit of Lady’s Mantle.

Grocery store roses in a bit of a farmhouse-style arrangement. I think elegant roses pair well with more rustic pitchers and vintage mason jars. A farmhouse roses flower arrangement like this can be pulled together in minutes.

2. Spring Bulbs

Seasonal flowers for sure, but when that bulb flower season hits, I am all in. I love buying those little pots of (almost) flowering bulbs, forcing them to bloom inside and then afterward replanting them in my garden for years and years of flower delight.

This purple flower bulb arrangement in white and blue pottery is one of my favorites.

Let’s not forget about using flowers to decorate our outdoor space. If at all possible I love to have some sort of flower or plant arrangement on my garden table at all times. I often decorate with crates for this purpose, like I did with this garden table in yellow.

Forcing bulbs to bloom on water is easier than you might think. It just needs a little thinking ahead and figuring out the perfect timing and you can have fragrant hyacinths at Christmas (or any other time).

3. Lilacs

Granted, lilacs are not readily available in any flower boutique (not around here at least). But they have made the list anyway because I am addicted to their smell. The fragrance of fresh lilacs is just so wonderful.

I grew mini lilacs in my old garden (they smell like maxi flowers), and I couldn’t be happier to have found a full-grown purple lilac in my current farm garden.

4. Daisies

Ah, the humble daisy, how I love thee. Daisies are just so good. They are so cheap you can buy yourself an oversized bouquet anytime. Daisies are the perfect flower for a bit of summer decorating.

And they last really long. Just keep snipping away the dead flowers and watch your bouquet become smaller and cuter all the time.

5. Peonies

I believe I share my love for peonies with many people. These are definitely also seasonal flowers. Enjoy them when they are there because the peony season is short.

But boy-oh-boy these fragrant beauties pack a punch. Whether you use two or three homegrown peonies in a mason jar, or you get yourself a nice big bunch for your living room table, peonies take the center stage any time.

6. Tulips

I am Dutch, and we grow a lot of tulips in the Netherlands. I have grown up with tulips and I love them.

Did you know tulips are the only flowers that keep growing after being cut? This is why tulips can be a bit unruly in a vase, and it is better not to use them in a formal flower arrangement.

But that unruly character is what I love. Tulip bouquets seem to be alive and change from day to day, and it just shows how hardy tulips are.

Take good care of them and tulips last a really long time.

The image of red tulips above is proof of the point that tulips are great flowers for farmhouse-style decorating. Don’t you love that vibrant red against the muted galvanized pitcher?

7. Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are one of those flowers I get many uses out of. I often buy them as flowering plants and use the blooms indoors for flower arrangements. The plants get a new life in my garden where I can enjoy new hydrangea flowers for years to come. That blue beauty up there decorated my bedroom table in my beach-style aqua bedroom for weeks.

Hydrangeas are also known to dry really well. Which makes them perfect for fall flower arrangements like the one below.

8. Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums might not have the best reputation as flowers. They are deemed a bit old-fashioned. But I love them for several reasons. First, they tick all my boxes: easy to find, cheap, do well in a (mixed) bouquet or as single flowers, and are long-lasting cut flowers.

Second, when I say long-lasting I mean really LONG-LASTING. One Chrysanthemum bouquet can last me many weeks and will be re-used in new floral arrangements all the time.

When you buy Chrysanthemums there usually are still quite a few unopened buds that will open over time. Which is why one bouquet last so long. You just have to remove the foliage because that wilts way before the flowers do.

Cute, quick, and easy: a line-up of blue mason jars with white chrysanthemums. Find more ideas for decorating with blue mason jars here.

9. Baby’s Breath

Baby’s breath, is commonly known as a simple vase filler and is often paired with red roses. I love the fluffy lightness of a bunch of baby’s breath flowers. I think they look stunning on their own and they make great mini bouquets.

This little hanging flower pot is part of one of my all-time favorite mantel decorations. It was the mantel I made with an old pallet, dressed up in my ways and styles and that gave me much flower joy for months.

Baby’s breath is also one of these flowers that dry very easily and keep their color when dry. Which makes them perfect for wreaths or floral arrangements that need to last.

10. SunFlowers

When the sunflowers bloom summer is almost over. Good thing that sunflowers are so beautifully big and bright that they make you smile anyway.

This beautiful bouquet of sunflowers is made by Yvonne from Stonegable Blog. Don’t those big, vibrant flowers make you smile? I love the sunflowers in this arrangement their color is almost orange.

With so much presence as a sunflower brings, sometimes just one single flower in a water bottle is enough.

More Early SPring HOme Decorating Ideas for You

Redhead Can Decorate – How to Make a Fake Orchid Look Real

Our Crafty Mom – Simple Bench Makeover with a Boho Vibe

I Should Be Mopping the Floor – Using Wallpaper as Artwork

The How to Home – Turn a Plastic Container Into a Cute Planter Pot

DIY Beautify –How to Make Chenille Hearts

2 Bees in a Pod – DIY Chinoiserie Balls

Songbird – You are Here

My Family Thyme – Spring Dollar Tree Pizza Pan Wreath

Simple Nature Decor – How to Decoupage Easter Eggs

Zucchini Sisters – Dollar Tree Spring Wreath

Sonya Burgess – Budget Friendly Art

Exquisitely Unremarkable – Thrift Store Glass Vase Makeover

A Life Unfolding – Turning a Jar into a DIY Terrarium

Outside category – Lily of the Valley

I hope you enjoyed my list of the top 10 best fresh flowers for home decor as much as I had fun compiling the list.

Is your favorite among them?

And let me conclude by sharing just one more flower.

It is tiny, it is subtle, and it isn’t the best home decor flower…

But I can not, not mention it.

The Lily of the Valley is a flower I carry in my heart.

Because they smell so divine, they are so delicate, and they were in my mom’s bridal bouquet.

But be aware Lily of the Valley is extremely poisonous and needs to be handled carefully.

What is your special flower?

And do you love having fresh flowers in your home as much as I do?