I am a firm believer in having fresh flowers in your apartment at all times. ALL TIMES. They make you as happy as they make your space more beautiful and, more importantly, having beautiful flower arrangements all over your house whenever people come over makes them jealous of your apartment. That’s why we’re all here.

Making pretty flower arrangements is SO EASY. All it takes are a few bundles of grocery store flowers and less than 30 minutes of your time. The result is apartment envy, which is priceless.

I needed a BIG centerpiece for the center of the big outdoor table I was going to use for the party that never happened. I was at Trader Joe’s anyway (this is literally the greatest grocery store OF ALL TIME) so I grabbed a few bundles of flowers. All of these cost less than $20!

I find the easiest way to do it is buy a variety of dense flowers (like hydrangeas, used here) and pick one or maybe 2 colors. Creating a monochromatic look is simple to do because you don’t have to worry as much about balancing multiple colors. Also, if the vase you’re using has a wide opening, make sure you buy enough flowers to fill it or they’ll flop over!

First, fill your vase with cool (not cold) water and add the little flower food packet that came with your flowers. This keeps them fresh longer. (Didn’t come with one? I haven’t tried these recipes but they might work.)

Once you’ve done that, start preparing your stems. Cut them all off so they aren’t too tall for your vase. Make sure you cut them at an angle.

Now tear off all the leaves that fall below the water line and any others that aren’t pretty.

Leaves Underwater = Stinky Apartment. True Story.

Now comes the fun part! I like to start by taking some of my flowers and creating a base, or outline, all the way around the vase. (Make sure you leave a few to spread throughout the arrangement later.)

Next, chose a different type of flower and spread them around evenly.

Mix in the remaining flowers you saved when you created the base. At this point your arrangement should filling up. If not, switch to a smaller vase or buy more flowers.

Now add another type of flower.

And then, one more time, with another type of flower. Fill in all the sad spaces.

Wasn’t that easy? Now you have a beautiful arrangement for any occasion! Magic!

A big impact for $20, right? You should try it!