5 Creative Ways To Style Vases in Your Home

With their wide variety of shapes, colours and sizes, vases are one of the most versatile styling tools you can use in the home. At Spotlight you can discover a great range of beautiful vases as well as vase-making materials, giving you all the tools you need to get the perfect vase for that space you're looking to fill. Whether you're using them to hold flowers or just want to add some decor to an empty spot on your shelf, we've got five great vase decor and vase styling ideas you can try in your home today!

Quick Links

• How to arrange flowers in a vase
• How to paint a vase
• Create a vase with fairy lights
• Use a large floor vase to make a statement
• How to make a vase that suits your space

1. How To Arrange Flowers In A Vase

Flower arranging is an art, and if you want your vase to look good when filled with flowers then you need to do more than just plonk them in and call it a day! But luckily, learning how to put flowers in a vase doesn't need to be hard when you've got these flower arranging steps to follow.

The first step for learning how to arrange flowers in a vase is to pick a colour scheme and stick to it! Your vase should be a part of this - have it match your flowers or contrast them as a complementary colour. Think of matching colours like orange and yellow, or complementary colours like pink and green. Make sure to trim your plants and remove any dead leaves, excess buds or stems before placing them in your vase.

You may like to use floral tape to create a grid at the top of your vase to help your flowers stand properly. Start your flower arranging with some lower greenery, like ferns, ivy and other similar, leafy plants. Then choose your statement florals (an uneven number looks best) and place them so they are standing up straight in the middle of your vase. Add a few smaller flowers to fill the space and finish with some more 'floaty' blooms that stick out from the sides and top.

Your finished vase with flowers should be displayed somewhere it can be seen from all sides. If you have people coming over, give it a light spray with a water bottle to make the blooms look dewy and fresh! Make sure to check out this blog about more ways to decorate with flowers for other fun floral decorating ideas and inspiration for how to put flowers in a vase.

2. How To Paint A Vase

Give an old vase some love with a fresh coat of paint! You can use acrylic paint or some specialty ceramic paint or glass paint for a permanent finish on clay and glass vases - use a flat brush to apply wide, thin layers of paint and a round brush if your vase painting ideas include some finer details.

Before you paint a vase, give it a quick wipe-over with a damp cloth. This will remove any dust or dirt stuck on it, which could otherwise show up under your paint if left in place. When deciding how to paint a vase, you should also decide what kind of finish and body you want your vase to have - will you go for a sleek, glossy paint that's great for modern vases, or a textured, grainy matte paint that looks more rustic and homey? Both vase painting ideas can look great with any colour scheme!

Colours like blue, purple, black and any metallics are more suited to gothic or contemporary-themed homes, while terracotta colours and neutrals can suit bohemian, Scandinavian and more traditionally styled homes. When you have finished painting your vase, make sure to seal it with a varnish that is non-yellowing and clear to keep your vase's colours bright and in place. Some paints may also require you to bake the finished design in the oven - this will make it waterproof and much more durable.

3. Create A Vase With Fairy Lights

Transparent glass vases are the perfect vessel for a string of fairy lights, and they're one of the most popular vase styling ideas you'll see on social media due to the sheer beauty of the light and glass vase combination. The glass diffuses the light coming through from the inside, giving you a beautifully glowing piece of decor that looks just as good outdoors as it does inside.

Most string lights come in two neutral colours - a cool white or a warmer yellow. Cool white light is harsher, brighter and is ideal for use in modern homes that feature a lot of monochrome colours. Warmer yellow string lights give off a cosier, candlelight-like glow that is great for use in an outdoor setting or in a more romantically-styled home. Whichever colour you choose, make sure they are loosely coiled inside the vase and not scrunched up!

When picking string lights to use in a vase, choose ones that are battery-powered so you don't need to have it attached to a powerpoint all the time. Popular vase ideas include using them around your spa, along a shelf or in the centre of your tablescape to show them off. Make sure the glass vase you are using has been cleaned and is shiny - you may like to wipe it down with glass cleaner before filling it with fairy lights for the perfect glow. Check out our blog on five stunning ways to use fairy lights at home for more easy string light and vase decor ideas!

4. Use A Large Floor Vase To Make A Statement

One of the best vase ideas is to use a large floor vase - they're a great way to make a statement without taking up much space, and even though they're much larger than the average table vase, large vase styling doesn't have to be hard at all! Despite their large size, floor vases don't take up a lot of horizontal room and are great for all homes, even smaller ones. If you want to add plants to your large floor vase, keep in mind that most large floor vases are filled with floor vase decor like branches or grasses, as most flowers are too small to look good in one.

Large floor vases can be used to take up that irritating blank space in your home that's too small to add most kinds of decor but too large to just leave blank. Pop them next to a staircase, floor-length mirror or fireplace where you've got a gap you'd like to fill and enjoy the instant boost to your home's visual aesthetic!

If you have enough space, one of the best large vase ideas is to group multiple floor vases together. Pick vases of different sizes and choose an odd number (three always looks good) to group, with the largest vase at the back and the smaller ones in front. You may like to only fill one of the vases here, as you don't want your greenery getting tangled together or getting in each other's way.

5. How To Make A Vase That Suits Your Space

If you can't find the perfect vase for your home, why not try making your own? Our modelling clay supplies include both air-dry and oven-bake clay, and both can be used to make stylish vases for your home.

Both oven-bake and air-dry clay come in a range of natural and synthetic colours, and you can also find special-effect clays with glitter and glow-in-the-dark variations available. And if you choose to paint a vase you have created yourself, make sure it is fully dried and set before adding colour which will prevent your paint from cracking as the vase dries. Please note that homemade vases should not be used to hold water unless you have waterproofed them!

For more information on how to make a vase and some vase ideas to try, check out our blog on making pottery for beginners and our guide to using polymer clay.

Become A Vase Styling Expert With Spotlight

You can use any of these five vase styling ideas to give your home a quick decor refresh - for a bargain! Once you've chosen your vase or vase-making supplies from Spotlight, safely pay online and we'll deliver them straight to your front door. If you choose to shop in-store at your nearest Spotlight, make sure to ask our friendly team for some help in choosing the perfect vase for your home.

For more information on what home decor supplies you should buy, read through our comprehensive cushions buying guide, rugs and mats buying guide and candles and home fragrances buying guide. And if you'd like more inspiration for all the fun ways you can decorate your home, check out our blogs on simple ways to decorate your guest bedroom, everyday tablescaping ideas and wall art decor ideas.