I was asked to talk about plants and trends together with Nordic flower chain Plantagen. Plants are of course interesting from a trend perspective, so I said yes. We did some photos and then actually had a press conference at my apartment in Stockholm. And here is a summary of my thoughts on plants and trends.
I would basically pinpoint five things that are in focus from a trend perspective. And of course I will end by outing the “out” or the real untrendy flower for 2019.
I would say that the interest in having flowers in your home is absolutely increasing. Internationally you have stars like my friends Igor and Judith at Urbanjunglebloggers. They are super stars and travel the world to talk about how to handle interior settings and flowers. You can of course also see instagram accounts like Eliot Park, a guy with a six pack and then flowers…
So, the interest in interiors and plants are growing. And these areas are of more interest than others.
1. Colours. Yes, we see colourful arrangements. We see cut flowers and even spray coloured dried flowers, but regardless, it is coloured. I would like to push the old 60s and 70s plant begonia. I see a codachrome colour scheme like in old vacation photos.
2. Health. We look for plants that give us something more. Like air. It is a functionality perspective. It could have been carnivorous plants if that was an issue, but we want to have plants that give something more. So air. And I see that we focus much more on plants in our bedrooms – just so we can sleep in better environment.
3. Anti-consumerism. Who needs anything more? Who needs a candle holder, another pillow, another t-shirt, etc, etc, etc? Buying plants is almost like a protest movement because you don’t want to contribute to waste and over consumption, etc. And this is where we talk about cuttings. We love to get plants from where we can get cuttings, plant and share (or trade) with our friends.
4. Grouping. We are now used to do still life and instafriendly pictures. And we are working with plants also in social media. And that means we will group them. Dont have your plants spread all over the house, room or apartment. Keep it tight. And instafriendly.
5. “Ugly” plants. Personification is of course also seen in the plant world. Get a large plants with strong character, that is also showing something of who you are. Large, sharp nails? Quirky trunk? Fluffy leaves?
So what is really, really out? The lonely and sad gerbera in a lime green vase. It is a mass produced and boring flower that you can get at the supermarket. Get a cutting from a friend instead. And my favourite right now is the coleus (paletteblad, in Swedish).
So this is me at my home. I am mixing my collectibles with lots of smaller plants.
And that’s a mini-Trendstefan.
Working on the sustainable issue I wanted to show that recycling and plants works really well together. I took some tin cans and just got some nice wrapping paper and just like that I got some cool, small containers for a still life picture with my smaller plants. Very instagrammable.
Second installation is in my bedroom. Yes, focusing on plants that give good air and also again working with plants in groups. And that’s my old beagle Isa on the wall.