It is always nice to have fresh-cut flowers in a room. Flowers liven and brighten up a room, and their scent can give a room a very pleasant allure. The beautifying effect of flowers in a room could be further enhanced by the flower vase wherein these blooms are put. Flowers and flower vases always go together both for practical and for aesthetic purposes, but the wrong match between flower and flower vase will defeat this purpose and ruin the effect.

A flower vase should always complement the flowers for which it serves as a vessel. The beauty of the flowers should never be paired with a flower vase that is too colorful or too decorative, or else they will clash and hurt the eyes. After all, in any flower arrangement, the flowers are the star of the show and never the vase. The rule that all florists follow in making flower arrangements is that the flower arrangement and the flower vase that contains it should always complement or contrast but definitely be in harmony with one another. Harmony, after all, is the element that brings all forms of art together.

Therefore, whenever you are in the mood for fresh-cut flowers, consider how best to display the flowers in a way that will bright out their beauty even further before you stick them into a vase. Some people simply put the flowers in whatever vase they can find and totally wasting the flowers away.

The height of the flower arrangement should always be proportional to the flower vase that will serve as its receptacle. Always remember that tall flower arrangements, containing flowers will long stems and long petals, should always be matched to tall flower vases. The reverse, of course, applies as well. To give you some sort of idea on how proportions work on flower arrangements and flower vases, when the flower arrangement is placed inside its vase, its resulting height should be taller than the original height of the flower arrangement by around one-half or two-thirds of this original height.

A flower vase should never fight the flower arrangement it carries for attention; as stated above, the vase should complement the flowers it contains. Thus, a good flower vase is one that is muted or neutral when it comes to colors. The colors of a vase should be light and solid, such as white, cream or pale pastel, and these colors should help bring out the beauty of the flowers. Patterns are all right for vases as long as they do not take the attention away from the flower arrangement.

Ceramic and glass vases that are too brightly tinted, crystal vases that have too bold a pattern in their designs, or cut glass vases that are too exquisite to look at are not meant to hold flowers. They are meant to be displayed for their own beauty.

The shape of the flower vase also matters when matching a flower arrangement with a flower vase. There are roughly four categories of flower vases when it comes to the shape.

The traditional flower vases are those whose mouths are wider than the base. They are meant to hold a profusion of blooms. The flower arrangement that such traditional flower vases should contain must be abundant enough to fill the mouth of the vase.

Cylindrical flower vases are vases that are often tall and with straight sides. These kinds of vases are lovely with long-stemmed roses and tulips, a perfect match for these slender flowers.

Flat flower vases are often low and wide, similar to a bowl. They are the ones you can often find on coffee tables or corner tables. This type of vase is great if you are the type who cuts flowers close to the receptacle and lets them float in water to make them last longer.

Bottle flower vases are vases with a narrow mouth and a fluted body. They are perfect for holding delicate flowers that do not bloom in mass profusion, such as cherry blossoms. Such vases are often very graceful, as graceful as the flowers they usually hold.

It always pays to have a different assortment of flower vases stored in your home so that you would not have to worry much about matching flowers with the appropriate flower vases. Many department stores sell cheap but nice-looking flower vases, and they can work well with your flowers. There is nothing to stop you, however, if you want to go for the expensive Murano glass vases or any kind of decorative vase, as long as they do not clash with your flowers.

If you are going to collect flower vases, however, make sure that the ones you are using with cut flowers are always kept clean. Flower vases can be breeding pools for bacteria and they can harm not just your flowers but you as well.