rosy posy

One of the sad truths about working in a flower shop is that sometimes "crap" flowers come in from the wholesaler.  One of the sad truths about being a human is that sometimes I am prone to inadequate judgment.  But one of the delights of being an inadequately-judging human who works in a flower shop is that to me the crap flowers look loverly and, yes, I would be pleased as punch to take them home with me!

That explains this vase brimming with white roses.  I did eventually see the basis for my more-experienced co-workers' condemnation of these drooping beauties.  They were already losing petals by the time I got them home.  Last night I was sitting on the couch and the motion of a falling petal caught the corner of my eye.  But I don't care.  I still get a kick out of seeing these pretty things on my coffee table. 

Here's an in-context view.  I love the way the greens, browns, and off-whites play so nicely together.  I'm learning to work the not-quite-matching techniques I've been seeing in well-designed spaces.  I love how mismatching or near-matching, done the right way, avoids two pitfalls.  First, the monotony of a room where all the furnishings and decor look so coordinated that it seems as if the decorator brainlessly went and snatched up an impersonal set from one store.  Second, the chaos of a room where everything looks like it was meant to match, but there are so many shades of "one" color that it ultimately clashes.

Don't get me wrong, monochromatic can be amazing, as evidenced by the way it works in homes like this one, designed by Tom Stringer and featured in House Beautiful.  But it has to be done methodically.  It has to look carefully curated rather than haphazardly gathered.

Then again, sometimes it occurs serendipitously, as when the green vase that's the right size for a bunch of cast-off roses just happens to look good next to the green pillow.  I'll take that too.