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Page 2
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Explain the concept behind Flower Hardware. |
Flower Hardware is a design concept based on the appreciation and implementation of nature through natural materials and products. Flower Hardware is about the texture, color, scent, beauty and design of flowers and plants
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What is your philosophy behind the shop? |
Flower Hardware is a flower, garden and home shop that emphasizes the appreciation of individual flowers and plants and the materials and goods that accentuate them. We do not limit the products to just flowers, plants and basic containers. The shop is full of lots of different products. The store gives individuals options to gardening and decorating – the idea being to bring the outside inside and the inside outside.
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Behind your flower arranging? |
I have a mixed concept and style about flower arranging. Flower Hardware stresses the beauty in the individual flower and accenting the flowers with the perfect container. We want to educate our shoppers to make flowers a part of everyday and not just for special occasions. Our concept is flowers kept simple in type or color accent a room with out overtaking the design, and will last longer – the main complaint about cut flowers. We do offer the beautiful mixed combinations that ‘Flowers by Cecelia’ is and has been known for as an option for our customers as well.
My main rule is that good flowers start with freshness. I am very careful about the flowers I sell in my shop and use in my arrangements. I have several growers that ship directly to us in Jackson to ensure the best flowers possible. We receive shipments daily to keep things fresh and different in the store. We use a lot of local farmers for flowers in the summer months. We import directly from Europe in the winter months. We also strive to offer very unusual materials, such as cut grasses, shrubs, pods, etc. Sometimes, a simple bucket full of grasses is the perfect touch for a room. Our ‘simple’ philosophy is the main approach at Flower Hardware.
‘Flowers by Cecelia’, my first business, was started about 12 years ago. The store was a small, custom flower shop, about 200 square feet. My popularity was due to the combinations of unusual flowers and colors, textures, etc. in my bouquets. The store was just about cut flowers and arrangements. People love the ‘arrangement’ – many different flowers and greens in a vase. Flowers by Cecelia took this old principle to a higher level in Jackson. The typical arrangement from Cecelia would not be tight roses, mums, and asparagus fern, but a combination of David Austin roses, camellia and honeysuckle vine. The simple bouquet and the mixed combination both have their place.
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| I know you had Flowers by Cecelia, what prompted the creation of another shop? |
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As my business grew, clients frequently asked for my advice in their homes about decorating decisions, color, accents, etc. I started collecting containers and fun decorating ‘hardware’ for clients. This new service quickly went from the home and into the garden.
I grew up gardening in Georgia. My mother is an amazing gardener and taught me everything about growing plants and flowers. Jackson Hole, Wyoming was such a change from the warm zone of Augusta, Georgia – I went from old fashioned roses and hydrangeas to sage brush and willows. I had been able to bring Jackson Hole unusual and different cut flowers and flower design, and I wanted to do the same for the garden.
I decided to bring all of the different parts of my business – the cut flowers, the interior decorating and the garden design into one concept and under one roof.
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Can you tell me a bit about the interior of the shop, and what kind of atmosphere you were trying to create?
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Most flower and garden shops are either on the too cute side or almost too chic and clean to be functional and comfortable. As a kid, I was infatuated with junk yards, hardware stores, anything industrial – the garage, the barn, the basement, the potting shed. These places were places that you could make a mess, find a treasure, or just escape. I wanted to make my store have this feeling, but also be very aesthetically pleasing.
We built the interior of the store out with aged barn wood, brick and metal. We used old horse troughs, tubs, etc. for our sinks. The walls are hand applied with a special plaster mixture. The colors in the store are all deep earth tones so the plants and flowers really stand out. The interior seems like it has been there for 100 years, but we added a lot of funky, industrial touches with lighting and shelving, etc. I did not want the store to have a feminine feel, like most flower and garden stores, but to be welcoming to everyone of every age. It is a beautiful store with a junk yard feel.
There are masses of cut flowers and plants everywhere. The hardware and natural materials are all placed in a color coordinated fashion – i.e. all of the greens would be in one section, hardware and flowers, and this would flow into the yellows and into the reds, etc. I feel by somewhat separating the basic colors of things that it is easier for the shopper to decide on a choice and is also very pleasing to the eye.
There is always a treasure hunt at Flower Hardware – the store is filled with one of a kind products as well as manufactured goods. The shoppers usually linger to take it all in. People feel like they have entered into another place when they visit the store – a little bit European, a little bit big city, a lot of outside.
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