Silk Floral Design Styles: An Introduction

Silk or faux (false) florals are actually made of polyester or other man-made materials. However, at floralhomedecor.com, we use the finest high quality, high end artificial materials to create breathtaking floral and foliage silk flower designs. Our silk flower arranging is accomplished by skilled professionals who utilize a variety of silk floral arrangement styles.

Although experts may differ regarding the names of the myriad floral arrangement styles that have evolved over the centuries, silk floral arrangements tend to fall within four basic categories: 1) the mass style, 2) the line style, 3) the line-mass style and 4) the miscellaneous style.

The mass style is the most traditional style for real or artificial floral and greenery arrangements. You or someone you know may actually display this style of silk or real floral arrangement at this time. The mass silk floral arrangement groups the flowers and foliage together into a mass or bunch, and the silk flowers and foliage are arranged all around the silk floral design with little or no gaps in the silk flower arrangement.

The line style of silk flower arrangements, on the other hand, contains open spaces or gaps within the faux floral design. Twigs, posts and other materials are used to provide a vertical and horizontal structure to the silk floral arrangement or centerpiece. Once the the basic structure is in place, silk flowers, foliage, greenery, ferns and grasses are placed to create unique faux floral and foliage designs that play with color, lines and space.

There is also a line-mass style of silk floral arrangements. This particular silk floral arrangement style only partially fills the boundary or space designated for the silk floral design with material. The line-mass floral arrangement style allow gaps within or around the grouping of silk florals and foliage and uses vertical and/or horizontal structures to hold the silk flowers and foliage in place.

Lastly, a miscellaneous silk floral and foliage arrangement style has developed within the last several decades. Any silk floral design which does not directly fall into the categories described above is referred to as a miscellaneous silk floral design. Also, a silk floral and foliage arrangement that uses any combination of the styles described above falls into the miscellaneous silk floral arrangement style. Garlands, wreaths, pot-et-fleurs, topiaries and swags are all popular miscellaneous silk floral designs.

Floral Home Decor specializes in experimenting with a variety of high quality silk floral and foliage arrangements. You will find many silk flower and greenery arrangements on our website; custom silk floral and foliage designs to fit your unique home interior can also be ordered.

Silk Floral Design Styles: the Line Style

The vertical silk floral arrangement, the free-style silk floral arrangement, the abstract silk floral arrangement and the Ikebana all follow the line floral arrangement style. The line style silk floral arrangement comes from Asia and is supposedly over one thousand years old. This ancient style creates a boundary with vertical and horizontal structures, but the boundary is filled with space. The silk floral mass style, on the other hand, is a product of Western European cultures, evolved much later, and features tight, rounded groupings of flowers with virtually no gaps. The gaps of air within the line arrangement, by contrast, are extremely important. The silk floral line arrangement is carefully framed, and each element, including air space, has significance.

The Vertical Line Style

The vertical silk floral arrangement style is defined by a vertical line in the center. Floral material is then placed on the vertical structure according to specific, formalized rules. The vertical line silk floral arrangement has no filler material. Lilies, gerbera or anthurium are common dominant florals in this vertical silk flower design.

The lkebana

The lkebana is one of the recognized silk floral line arrangements. This silk floral line style originated I Japan and follows intricate rules for silk floral arranging. However, if you have ever created a silk florwer line design with three specific heights or points of interest -- the highest for the heavens, the middle to represent man and the lowest to symbolize earth -- you have most likely crafted an lkebana silk floral line arrangement.

The Free-Style Silk Floral Line Design

In contrast to the silk floral line styles described above, the free-style silk floral line arrangement lacks symmetry and pattern. Influenced by the cultural rebellion and reform of the 1960's, the free-style silk flower line arrangement defies rules. However, any free-style floral arrangement will feature uncovered or bare line material as well as a bold or unusual plant. There may be unexplained gaps or florals and greenery that contrast tremendously -- elements that were strictly forbidden in both silk and natural floral arrangements from previous periods. Other names for the free-style floral line arrangement, which is specifically Western in origin, is the modern, contemporary or free-line design.

The Abstract Silk Floral Arrangement

As you read about the origin and development of the floral mass style versus the floral line style, the contrast between the two flower arrangement styles becomes clear. The floral line style, first becoming prominent in the 1980's, rejects the regulated formality of the traditional floral mass arrangement. Above all, the abstract floral arrangement style takes free-style flower design even further. Most experts agree that "the arrangement" no longer exists in the abstract floral line design. Instead, the craftsman has become an artist and the arrangement has evolved into a three-dimensional work of art. Living, dead, or artificial floral and foliage material may be used. The flowers and greenery may be altered -- painted, sliced, sprayed -- to create an artistic statement in florals and other assorted materials.