Is there anything better than the arrival of spring? Nevermind that it will likely snow here several times before consistently nice weather arrives. On a day that we hit 60° in Chicagoland, it feels only fitting that Park & Oak Collected launch its Spring Collection today.
We are giddy over the selections the Collected team has brought in for spring. Here are some previews of our favorite categories.
Florals
Of course, what is spring without flowers? You know we love a well-made faux botanical, and these are some of our favorites for spring.
We know everyone loves the real deal. We do, too! Freshly cut peonies…a magnolia branch pruned at just the right time to bloom indoors…the leaves of a fall maple. But here’s the thing about these beauties…they’re fleeting. With florals and branches in particular, you can gaze upon their glory for a few days, a week at most, and then…poof. They’re gone. And you’re sweeping pollen and branch dust from your credenza, scouring your yard for the next thing to take its place.
Potted plants are always an option, of course, just ask our friends at Good Roots. But what if you really, really want a fiddle leaf fig to give your family room a little panache, but that room has little natural light and your thumb is as black as night? Let’s face it. Some of us are just not skilled at keeping fussy plants, like fiddle leafs and their ficus cousins, alive.
We are here to tell you that for these reasons and more, it is OK to go faux. Really. Here’s why:
1. Well-made faux botanicals are works of art.
We’ve all stumbled upon the faux florals in the checkout line of the big box stores. They can certainly be useful, but rarely evoke the same kinds of emotions as the real deal. It’s ok if you feel a little jaded based on that experience. But those are not the only faux botanicals to be had. The faux botanicals we’ve curated at Collected have been painstakingly constructed. Every detail has been considered…the way the veining of the flower looks before it’s been cut in the wild, the natural bend of the stem, the exact shade of the pistils in the interior of the petals. They are hand-assembled to assure a finished piece that is both accurate to reality, and also slightly different from its neighbors. To see these in real life, whether it’s ranunculus, a cherry blossom branch, or, yes, a fiddle leaf fig, is to initially wonder…wait, is that real?
2. Couldn’t we all stand to eliminate one stress point in our lives?
Life is busier than ever. And unless you truly have a passion for foraging and the eye of a seasoned florist, filling your home with freshly cut anything can be challenge. Sometimes the cost of a well-made faux floral can feel like a barrier. But, if you give some thought to how much one spends on a talented florist’s seasonal bouquet, or the time involved in identifying and trimming just the right leaves and branches from your property (and then repeating that process 2x/week!), the one-time purchase of a beautiful faux floral — much like the investment you would make in framed art — actually makes a lot of sense.
Go on. Give it a try. It’s the right time of year to start thinking about how to bring the outdoors in, anyway. And we’re here to help if you need it!
