Your listing photos make a promise. Guests book the room they saw, and they notice when the room they arrive in doesn't quite match. The holiday lets that get it right look the same for the first booking of the season and the fortieth, and it rarely comes down to big furniture. It comes down to a few well-chosen finishing touches that survive every changeover.
1. Give every room one focal point
Pick one spot per room and make it count: the console in the hall, the dining table, the mantel, the chest of drawers in the main bedroom. One generous arrangement photographs far better than lots of small accessories, and there is less to straighten at changeover.
2. Choose a curated arrangement, not a bunch of stems
This is where most holiday-let flowers go wrong. A handful of wholesale stems in whatever vase was in the cupboard tends to look exactly like that: every stem the same height, a vase that is too small or too narrow, and nothing that ties it to the room.
The look comes from the pairing. The vase and stems are chosen together, the stems stand roughly one and a half to two times the height of the vase, they are used in odd numbers at uneven heights, and there is enough foliage to soften the shape. We cover this in more detail in How to Make Faux Flowers Look Real and How to Choose the Right Vase for Artificial Flowers.
Our arrangements are designed this way: each one is a vase and its stems chosen and styled as one piece, with photographs to copy, so the finished look is decided before it arrives.
3. Pick pieces that survive changeovers
Weighty stone and ceramic vases are far harder to knock over than glass. Faux stems mean no water to spill, no petals to sweep up and nothing wilting by the third guest. At changeover, a quick dust or a hairdryer on the cool setting is all they need.
4. Keep one look across rooms and properties
If you have more than one bedroom or more than one cottage, choose a palette and repeat it. The same arrangement in each property gives your listings a recognisable look, and guests who return know what to expect.
5. Change the stems, not the vase
A seasonal refresh doesn't mean starting again. Keep the vases and swap the stems: something fresh and green for spring and summer, warmer tones for autumn, frosted pine and berries from November to January. Our vase-and-stems arrangements all come with a Stems only option for exactly this.
6. Think about every guest
Real lilies are dangerous to cats, which matters in a dog- or cat-friendly let, and fresh flowers can be miserable for guests with hay fever. Faux stems avoid both. If you want candlelight, LED candles give the same glow without an open flame. See Pet-Safe Flowers and Flowers for Hay Fever Sufferers.
Four arrangements that work hard in a holiday let
- The Olympia White Arrangement: soft white blooms, eucalyptus and bracken in a terracotta vase. A calm, year-round centrepiece for a dining table or console.
- The Olpe Eucalyptus Arrangement: willow eucalyptus in a reactive-glazed olive jug. Quiet and green, lovely in a kitchen or bedroom.
- The Tiber Pampas Arrangement: soft taupe pampas plumes in a full-bellied stone globe. Holds a corner on its own.
- The Monte Winter White Arrangement: for the Christmas season, frosted pine, a snowy branch and lambs ear in a white bell vase.
Styling more than one space?
We help holiday lets, B&Bs, salons and small hospitality businesses choose arrangements for each space, and approved businesses get 15% trade pricing on orders over £100. Tell us about your property on our Holiday Lets & Businesses page, or apply for a trade account.