A man in a green sweatshirt holds a vase filled with flowers in the kitchen. He is smiling. A man in a green sweatshirt holds a vase filled with flowers in the kitchen. He is smiling.

IKEA everyday rituals

In full bloom

During the week, Sam works for a software company in Amsterdam but his weekend ritual couldn’t be more low tech. Whether it’s a stolen moment in the garden drinking coffee or a trip to the local market to source fresh blooms, he loves tapping into nature.

As a child growing up in the UK, Sam (@saminnederland) loved nothing more than being outside. On his bookshelf stands a photograph from when he was no more than five or six years old. He’s sitting in front of a shed in his grandparents’ garden selling flower arrangements displayed on a small table. It’s one of his earliest memories of a lifelong passion for flora and fauna.

Every Saturday in Utrecht, where Sam has lived for the past ten years, he takes his bike and cycles to the local market. He meets friends and together they scout the flower stalls to see what’s in season. "It’s usually me and a few friends and they grab me and say, 'Will this work? What do you think about this?'. I always get text messages and questions about plants from my friends. And, if I’m going somewhere, I’m much more likely to bring a bunch of flowers than a bottle of wine."

When it comes to choosing the blooms for the week, Sam tends to opt for what’s in season, as they are usually less expensive, more likely to coexist better together, and are more sustainably cultivated. In Spring he’ll choose daffodils – his favourite flower. “I love daffodils. They have such a wonderful connotation. It’s one of the first flowers you see in Spring, and they have that really distinctive smell that I love,” says Sam.

Sam and his friend wall to the flower market in Utrecht. The sun is shining.
Sam loads his basket of flowers onto his green bicycle. He is smiling.

Once home, his weekly ritual commences. He spreads the flowers out on the kitchen island, then picks out the standout colour. Next he adds complimentary colours, textures and foliage, before finally casting a critical eye over the final result. Although Sam’s main rules of thumb for flower arranging are to trust your instinct, do what looks good to you and more importantly, enjoy the process, he shares a few more important pointers, “Try not to mix too many things that grow in different ways. For example, I wouldn’t mix bulb flowers like tulips with roses because of the sap that comes out of their stems – they don’t really love being together.” He also warns against mixing exotic stems together, as they don’t always work well sharing the same water.

Sam’s talent for florals comes from the heart. For him, the real joy of cut flowers is that each stem holds a memory of friend, a loved one or a special day. From the blooms bought with friends over coffee to marigolds, petunias and clematis – the flowers of his childhood – each arrangement tells its own tale.

A man in a green sweatshirt cuts flowers in the kitchen.
A pair of hands cut flower stems on a kitchen island.
Sam puts a vase of flowers on a side table, next to a yellow armchair.

Sam's top tips

Two pairs of hands spread out flowers on a kitchen island.

Always use a sharp knife or scissors for cutting the stems. The cleaner the cut, the more water they can soak up.

To extend the life of your bouquet, keep the water fresh and take dead flowers out daily. If a sachet of flower food is included in your blooms, be sure to add it to the water.

A hand sprays flowers with a glass water spray.

Flowers like being sprayed with water. A quick spritz will keep them happy and hydrated. Avoid sunny spots and heat sources, too.

There's no need to spend a lot on flowers. Market bunches can be just as good as florist stems if you avoid flowers that are too open or too closed when buying. Try to get them just as they are about to open.