I love creating arrangements for events in people's homes. I love choosing vases from their collection, walking through the spaces and talking about all the possibilities. This winter I really lucked out and had the chance to do flowers for a dinner party hosted at a remarkable home. The Hoke House was designed by Skylab Architecture and built in 2007. The house itself is amazing, and in this case it is matched by owners who have a particularly clear aesthetic. Sometimes a house where everything is so carefully curated and displayed can feel stiff and impersonal. That is not the case here. They beautifully struck the balance between the art and furniture contributing to the whole vision and still feeling personal and inviting. All the vases came from their collection. Designing flowers to fill them was a creative joy.

In the front entry I used a stainless steel Michael Graves colander. The house sits on a forested hillside surrounded by ferns and the damp, mossy goodness that is so Pacific Northwest. I evoked that sense of woodland with ferns and lots of textural greens like Hellebore, Sarcococca, Epimedium and a curling tendril of Stauntonia vine. Mini Cymbidium orchids and an air plant gave it a kind of tropical feel.

The second arrangement was for a low table in the living room. Here I used an iconic Alvar Aalto vase. I loved the way the flowers fit and draped in its curved sides. Using a muted palette and wanting it to feel like spring, which was not too far off, I used lots of green foliage, with white tulips and freesia, and soft blue-purple Anemones that weren't fully open. And more maiden hair fern — they drape so beautifully and add such airiness.

The Client had chosen to use white, ivory and antique gold as the color scheme for the dining room. The table is quite narrow and so I decided to do a collection of flowers running down the middle in six small vases — three faceted ceramic ones and three metal. To contrast with the other two arrangements each vase had only one or two single kinds of flowers. Anemone, calla lilies, tulips, Hellebore, Scabiosa pods, paperwhites and a few snowdrops I cut from my own garden. It looked very clean and elegant against the warm wood of the table.

I can only imagine that the dinner and evening were as wonderful as the setting. Cheers!

Hoke House Dinner