You can give a room a lick of paint or spruce it up with new furniture but nothing warms up a home like fresh flowers.

Just ask Elton John, the singer was once rumoured to have blown almost £300,000 on lavish bouquets in less than two years.

Just like our fashion tastes, we all have different ideas about the perfect flower. "There are some flowers that look good whatever home they are in," said Heather Groves, of George Lesley Flowers on Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, Swindon."White roses sit comfortably in a modern or period house and they can be structured to look formal or loosely arranged for a casual feel."

AMAZING ARRANGING There used to be a lot of rules to arranging flowers in the home, which included specific vase to flower proportions, flowers had to be in certain numbers and arrangements had to follow certain shapes.

Fortunately, this has all changed and things have become more informal.

VASE VANITY "There are no real rules on vases, and flowers can be displayed in any waterproof container - from cups to a huge goldfish bowl vase," said Heather.

But if you want the flowers to do the talking, go back to basics. A few simple, key purchases can suit a multitude of flowers, such as a plain cream jug. It looks great filled with tulips, peonies in summer, a country garden bouquet or different coloured sunflowers.

DAZZLE WITH DISPLAYS For extra theatre, display flowers in a glass vase and use sparkling water. The bubbles are a real talking point.

Try grouping vases. Three types of flowers in one colour look very stylish displayed in co-ordinating vases.

Scented flowers give the best of both worlds as they look and smell gorgeous. Place them in a hall so as you walk through the door the fragrance greets you.

George Lesley Flowers, 72 Cricklade Road, Swindon, 01793 693240. Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 7am to 4pm. George Lesley Flowers supplied the £30 floral tablepiece for our dinner party story, pictured top.

11:39am Thursday 27th March 2008

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