Beautiful Ways to Decorate with Botanicals

Decorator Becki Griffin has a not-so-hidden talent -- creating natural vignettes as pretty and layered as a wedding cake. And her signature arrangements are on full display in the Houston home she shares with her husband, Mark, and their twin teenage boys. Her own coastal paintings ("I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm not afraid to try!") share a room with vintage botanicals. "A bowl of river rocks or a glass box of feathers is art to me," Becki says. "My style is influenced by nature, and I'm a scavenger at heart."

Collections are a big part of her personal style, which she describes as "light, loose, comfortable, and casual." White beaded-board wainscoting creates an airy cottage backdrop in the living room, while above, pale sea-foam green walls work as a neutral. Comfy upholstered furniture is slipcovered in white. "The furniture and paint colors set the tone, then the personal vignettes pull you in a little closer and tell the story of our family," Becki says. "This is a typical builder's house, but there's nothing cookie-cutter about it on the inside."

A chipped old kitchen cabinet finds new life in the living room. Treasures gathered from family vacations, like the sea glass, mix with vintage bottles and fielld guides to create a visually interesting vignette.

Becki Griffin, a decorator and stylist whose favorite place is the beach, is in her element in her living room, where a basket of beachcombed seashells decorates the coffee table and a printer's tray of more shells tilts against the wall. Becki loves searching flea markets for unique vintage pieces like the big glass bottle on the side table.

Not a single pillow matches on the two living room sofas. Their variety of color and pattern plays off the plain white slipcovers (which hide "a floral print that's beautiful beneath its collection of Cheerios and dirt"). Pressed botanicals flanking a mirror bring garden freshness indoors.

Inexpensive white slipcovers on IKEA chairs and a garage sale table painted white continue the cottage look in the dining room. The stainless-steel cart, striped rug, and clean lines of the chairs bring in modern elements to keep the room from getting too sweet. A $10 stainless-steel restaurant prep table is the perfect height and size for a sideboard.

Pages of butterflies and months from a $1 book hang together as a poster-size collage.

Mismatched patterns in watery hues play nicely in the bedroom, where paintings hang on the walls beside paint palettes and supplies. An old mirror placed in fornt of a vintage shutter balances the bedroom's single window.