How To: Potted Orchids Displayed In A Dough Bowl

I've been in the mood to give my living room a fresh update for the spring/summer season {see this instagram picture}.  One of the great advantages to living in Miami is that we have access to gorgeous tropical foliage at an amazing price.  I saw a local farmers stand on the side of the road last week with a sign advertising orchids for sale for $10 each.  Sold!

I love my vintage wooden dough bowl, and often use that as a vessel for displaying seasonal decor around my house.  Armed with my orchids in hand, I decided to try my dough bowl out as a planter, and am SO happy with how it turned out!

Read on to see how it all came together....

Materials that you'll need:

• Wooden dough bowl, or another vessel to pot your orchids in {even an old wooden salad bowl would work for this project!}.

•  2-3 medium sized orchids, depending on the size of your bowl.  I looked for orchids that had plenty of buds that had not yet bloomed, thus ensuring that I would get about a months worth of enjoyment out of this display.

• 2-3 bags of decorative moss {can be purchased at most crafts supplies stores like Michaels}.

• 1 bag of gravel or small rocks.

• 1 medium sized garbage bag.

• Scissors.

Step 1.

Cut the bottom of your garbage bag, about 6 inches from the bottom.  Place the bottom piece inside your bowl, and spread a thin layer of gravel/rocks on the bottom.  This will aid in drainage for the orchids.


Step 2.

Nestle your orchids on top of the layer of gravel, maneuvering them until they will sit upright.  This part is a little tricky since they love to just flop right over so feel free to add more rocks or whatever will help them stay up.  I originally bought 3 orchids for this project, but felt that it looked a little crowded so keep that in mind.


Step 3.

Add moss, and really try to pack it down so that your orchids stay put and move around minimally.  Additionally, arrange the moss so that the plastic container that your orchids are sitting in is well concealed.


Step 4.

Move bowl to a sunny location and enjoy!  For tips on how to care for your orchids, check out this link.

I displayed my orchids on our recycled wood console table behind the couch.  It's flanked by two black lanterns on either side that I filled with sand, shells, and a pillar candle.  The black lanterns really compliment the black stitching detail in my new pillows on the couch.  I'm really happy with how this looks, and it's the perfect refresh that my living room needed!


For more home decor projects that I've worked on in the past, check out these posts:

•  Coffee Table Decor 
•  Spring Entryway Decor 
•  Decorating With Dough Bowls

Hoping this gives you a little inspiration to make small changes around your house to welcome in the new warmer weather seasons! Thanks for reading! xx

Spring Entryway Decor

Happy first day of spring!!!  When changing my home decorations to reflect the seasons, the first space that I like to update is my entryway.  It's the first area that guests see when they visit your home, and I like for this area to feel warm & welcoming. 

Nothing quite says "Spring" like festive flowers & foliage, and there's no better way to usher in the new season than with a fresh update to your entryway decor.

Here's what my entryway currently looks like.......

Since we live in a condo, I have to deal with an elevator in our foyer.  Luckily, we have a private entry {meaning that we don't share a hallway} and we're the only unit on this floor.  We have extra high ceilings {I think they're 14 feet}, so I thought a tall gallery wall featuring black & white photos would be striking in this space.

I picked up these pussy willows from Whole Foods almost 2 weeks ago!  I've amazed at how long they've lasted.  If you're lucky enough to live in an area where you have pussy willows or cherry blossoms {anything that really signifies spring}, you should take advantage of it by clipping a few branches.  Even plain ol' maple leaf branches with budding leaves look glamorous sitting in a vase!

I also chose two different colors of mums for this display.  I love them because they're cheap and last forever if you change the water every few days.  I arranged them in small vases of various heights around some of my favorite silver frames.

All of the frames for the gallery wall were purchased from Pottery Barn, and the 'Boujour" print I found on Etsy.

For the bottom shelf, I wanted to continue the 'foliage theme' so I filled an old vintage wooden bowl with moss.

To give the shelf a bit of color, I used a couple pastel colored coffee table books to boost up my vintage looking urn.

I didn't need to purchase anything new to complete this look {except for the pussy willows + flowers}.  I mixed and matched items that I already had from around my house to create this spring display.  I love how it turned out; it's simple but it really wakes up this space! 

How do you update your home for the different seasons?