HOW TO DECORATE SUSTAINABLY KITTEN GRAYSON, Founder, Kitten Grayson Flowers
Decorating allows you to create an atmosphere for people to make amazing memories in. When I was little, we always used to go and see The Nutcracker ballet in the run-up to Christmas and that’s been a huge inspiration for the work I do today – I try to evoke that sense of enchantment.
I like to use lots of wild, natural materials – garlands of hops, foraged berries, dried hydrangea heads or grasses – but used in a very considered way. Every piece of foliage or flower is beautiful in itself and we want to highlight that.
I always find it so painful seeing Christmas trees lining the streets in January so, for the last few years, we’ve found fallen branches in our local forest that we either put in a stand or suspend from the ceiling, and decorate with gorgeous ribbons, baubles and fairy lights. That idea of sustainability is also behind our new Everlasting Installation service in which we use dried flowers to create bespoke pieces of floral art that are designed to last for years rather than days.
It’s easy to dry your own flowers. Hydrangeas, dahlias, straw flowers, statice, gypsophila and roses all dry well. Just hang them, freshly picked, upside-down somewhere airy and out of direct sunlight. Just a few in bud vases running down the table can give a really dramatic effect.
All I want for Christmas is... It’s been a tough year so I’m just looking forward to being with my family and having time to reflect. kittengrayson.com