Andrew Anderson, coowner/designer of Ilex Designs
“Flowers and home décor are extensions of personal style,” says Andrew Anderson, coowner and designer of South End floral mecca Ilex Designs (73 Berkeley Street, Boston, 617.422.0300). “Your home says as much about you as the clothes that you wear; it’s your personal calling card to your style.”
Anderson’s personal style is what he calls modern but warm. “I try, in dressing, to choose things that have classic lines with a modern twist to them. And I always try and base that around a timeless piece.”
He brings that same approach to his floral designs. “I’m all about texture and color, and the way that they combine,” says the 36-year-old designer, who with business partner Carol Sharp creates fashionable floral pieces for weddings, events, and residences. For your home, Anderson suggests infusing style into a room by “going simple, and not trying to be so designed necessarily,” he says. Try a simple cluster of blooms in a color that gives a little contrast to the space and stands out. Anderson recommends masses of textured green foliage in varying shades, or a hearty bunch of dark, auberginecolored carnations. “They’re color and texture, not a flower per se,” Anderson says. “They take on a different feel than that grandmother’s presentation of carnations and baby’s breath — which was the reason for years I didn’t touch them.”
Using flowers as accessories in your home is kind of like adding statement pieces to an outfit, according to Anderson. “Flowers are something that you always get to recreate, so you can always be fashion-forward,” he says. “It’s cool to switch out your accessories against a simple, classic backdrop.”
Want to bloom as a DIY designer? Anderson suggests placing a series of vases down the center of your table, and putting a different texture of the same color in each one to add instant style to a room.
