It’s that time of the month again — when I get to take a break from my own blog and share a home decor post here at seven thirty three.In case you missed me last time, I’m Amy from Atta Girl Says, where I share ideas to make your home brighter and your heart lighter.

Do you want to know the best way to breathe life into your home? Bring some life into your home,  in the form of fresh florals and houseplants.

12 Ideas for Decorating with Plants and FlowersOver the years, I’ve sent many houseplants to that great garden in the sky. I was not blessed with a green thumb, but lately I’ve been doing better by my plants. I’ve even kept one alive for more than two years, and that has given me the confidence to add more fresh flowers and greenery to our home. I’ve found that having plants where I can see them every day reminds me to water and tend to them.

I like to think of plants and flowers as the final accessories in a room. They are the final layer, and once you add them, you can declare your decorating done! (Decorating done? Never!)

Decorating with Bird's Nest Fern
This bird’s nest fern sits on the coffee table in our family room. And in case you’re wondering why there’s no plant in that pretty green vintage McCoy pot, it’s because that’s where my 6-year-old son keeps his important Lego minifigures.It was only after I’d completely decorated our family room with furniture, accessories and Legos that I began to realize sometime was missing: that spark of life, texture and visual interest that plants add to interiors.

So I added a succulent (displayed in a vintage silver tennis trophy) and some boxwood balls to my cherished antique empire sideboard.
I hung a boxwood wreath from jute webbing in our breakfast nook, which adjoins the family room.
More greenery, in the form of boxwood topiaries, decorates the fireplace mantel, flanking the TV nook. (Forgive the Lego explosion in this photo. But this is real life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.)
While I love pretty planters and vintage flower pots, like these on my breakfast bar, one of my favorite decorating tricks to to think outside the flower pot and to use unusual vessels…
…like the tennis trophy, for my plants.
In our dining room, I’ve filled a terrarium with plants: succulents in a silver gravy boat and an African violet in a petite teacup. (Both “planters’ were yard sale finds.)
Here’s another succulent in a vintage pot inside a wood-and-glass flower box.
As much as I love greenery, I love fresh flowers even more. They just make me happy.One of my dreams is to have fresh flowers in my home year round, but I haven’t accomplished that goal, just yet.

But in the spring and summertime, when blooms are abundant, I get to live the dream.
Here in the South, where I live, wintertime even offers up blooms.
Lilies are one of my favorites. (These were a birthday gift.)
Hydrangeas, too.But I don’t let the seasons (or budget constraints) keep me from enjoying flowers all year long.

I think it’s perfectly fine to incorporate faux florals and greenery, if you choose wisely. You want to go for fakes that look like the real thing.

Can you tell which of these plants and flowers are real? And which are fake?
The tropical red ginger in the summer wreath on my front door is fake.
So is the lily in my spring burlap wreath.Speaking of lilies…

…this arrangement is fake. I created it using realistic florals.The arrangement may look expensive, but it was cheap. I bought the orchids and lily for $1 a bundle at a yard sale, and the peonies in the background are from Ikea.

Speaking of fakes, these faux burlap-wrapped hydrangea bundles came from a local discount store. I think they cost me a whopping 49 cents each.

 
 
The boxwood balls (and the rest of the boxwood in my keeping room) are real, but they’ve been preserved, so they will last a long, long time, and I’ll never have to water them.
 
 
The rest of the plants and flowers in this post and the collage are real.
 
If you want to use faux florals, remember these two “rules:” choose realistic-looking fakes in colors that actually occur in nature and don’t be afraid to use fakes alongside real plants and flowers.
 
I hope I’ve inspired you to breathe some new life into your home by adding a little green(ery).
 
For more decorating inspiration (plus recipes, crafts and furniture makeovers), please visit me at my blog, Atta Girl Says. You can also follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
 
Be sure to stop by next week for the Summer 2013 Showcase of Homes.
 
 
I’m joining 25 other bloggers to take you on a tour of my home. Every home on the tour is gorgeous, and full of so many great ideas. The showcase starts July 22, and I’m up the first day so I hope you’ll check it out.
 
Until then, happy decorating.