What Working from Home as a Florist Really Looks Like

Working from home as a florist may take shape in many forms, including taking over the dining room!Jessica Antonio Photography — Working from home as a florist may take shape in many forms, including taking over the dining room!
*Jessica Antonio Photography*

Welcome to My Home-Based Floral Studio!

Hi, there! I work from home as a floral designer. Confession: I cleaned because you came over. I stored up the piles of paper clutter on my desk and reorganized my ribbon stash.

Someone, anyone: Please tell me I am not the only one whose ribbon pile looks like a 2-year-old made spaghetti out of it? My hope is that by giving you an honest glimpse into my messy, beautiful life working in a home-based floral business, it will inspire you to embrace your own!

Love floral design? Check out this article about how to become a floral designer with helpful advice from florists across the globe!

There are things that I wish I could change about my home floral studio, like the pile of boxes under the table or the mismatched vases stored everywhere—in boxes, on shelves looking pretty, and in the dishwasher with regular dishes. I wish that my kitchen stayed magically clean, but here I am to confess that it never will. There are so many things I love about working from home as a florist, though.

If you work from home as a floral designer, it can be a beautiful thing. It might also be full of challenges. Whether you are working from home by choice or necessity, here are four lessons I have learned that make it easier.

A home-based floral business sometimes includes the cutest coworkers.Jessica Antonio Photography — A home-based floral business sometimes includes the cutest coworkers.
*Jessica Antonio Photography*

1. Give Yourself the Security to Freely Create

Numbers hurt my brain. I would much rather work with colors and shapes! But running a flower business from home requires some numbers. When the thought of business insurance popped into my mind, I immediately got overwhelmed. “Maybe if I don’t think about it, it will go away?” Yeah… no.

Thankfully I work with an amazing insurance pro, and she takes care of all of those little details for me! Aside from business insurance, I was shocked at how much working from a home-based floral business affected my homeowner’s insurance.

Take the time to talk with a pro and make sure you have the necessary coverage so that you are free to do what you love: creating beautiful floral designs! If you think working from home or being “too small” means that you don’t need it or can’t afford it, then you need it more than ever. You can’t afford not to have the proper insurance.

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2. Be Inspired by Your Home Floral Studio Space

Being in a space that inspires you is important no matter what your business looks like—but it is incredibly important when you work from home! Why? Because the dishes, piles of laundry, and your family members’ belongings everywhere can quickly overwhelm you. The stresses of both work and home overflow into one another. Ever tried to make dinner and design a centerpiece at the same time? It doesn’t end up too well for either activity!

Early on in my business, I ordered some canvas prints of my floral work, because I thought having some would make my studio look like the real deal. One canvas is the first bridal bouquet I created for someone I didn’t know. The other is a photo of the very first bouquet that I made in the highly sought after “garden style.” After months of practicing, the bouquet finally came together the way I wanted. It was in that moment I knew I could create what I saw in my head with enough learning and practice!

So, are these photos in my home studio of my most gorgeous work? Nope. The point is they hold deep meaning for me, and I needed to be reminded of those things every single day. Because every single day the dishes and voicemails pile up, the family and client demands seem like too much to balance, and I feel like I am not “pro” enough to do big things. Those photos remind me that I can do this—and I can do it well.

So find something that inspires you, and put it where you see it in your home studio every day. Take over a room, a wall, or even just a corner in your house. Keep what you create front and center, even if you feel like it doesn't match your decor or theme. You made it. It’s yours.

Add artwork that you love to your home-based floral studio.Jessica Antonio Photography. Artwork by Rebekah Seiler — Add artwork that you love to your home-based floral studio.
*Jessica Antonio Photography. Artwork by Rebekah Seiler*

3. Allow Yourself Some Grace When Running a Flower Business From Home

You are amazing, no matter where you work. No matter how big or small your business is. No matter what style you create in, or what your favorite flower is. Whether you create from a storefront with employees or a converted dining room, your work is valuable. Did you make a bride smile? Did you help a friend “stop and smell the roses?” Did you add some beauty to someone’s life?

That’s amazing. And that is why it’s all worth it.

Your studio may not look like it fell right out of Pinterest. You may have to do a mad cleaning dash before someone comes to pick up a delivery. That is 100% okay. Just think: What if we all gave each other a little more grace? What if we gave ourselves a little more grace? Would we be able to create more? Create better? Make a bigger impact? Just imagine!

4. Embrace Where You’re at in Your Floral Business Journey

Ever wish your home studio space looked like someone else’s? Ever wish that your bouquets looked like [any famous designer’s]? Ever think “When I get to where So-and-so is, then I’ll be set?” Ever wish your walls were a different color so your Instagram feed looked “better?” Stop it.

Stop it right now.

There will always be parts of your home studio and parts of your life that are not perfect. They are annoying and make you want to change them. They don’t fit into your big picture. All those annoying little things that “don’t belong” really do belong, though. The messes are just all part of the bigger story — part of you. Don’t run from the imperfections. Be thankful for them instead of fighting them.

So I guess if I wanted you to know just one thing, it would be this: You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be! You don't have to change who you are, what your home floral studio looks like, or what you create to better fit the current hot trend.

Keeping up with the Jones's Instagram account is exhausting! Live your life. Live it fully. Live it in the dust and the sunshine. Live it in the not-perfect spaces filled with mismatched things. I sure am not perfect, and neither are you—so let's just get over that already and find joy in creating beautiful things!