As the founder of lifestyle blog French Country Cottage and editor of Romantic Homes magazine, Courtney is known for bringing chic aesthetics and vintage elegance to her designs. In this video, you’ll get to know her creative process and inspirations for her first line of artificial florals with Balsam Hill.
From Home Décor to Floral Design
From renovating her 1940s home to creating her own line of home decorations, Courtney’s designs have a refined yet rustic French country feel. Her signature style is present in her work as a freelance photographer, brand stylist, and writer—for which she constantly searches new sources of inspiration.
“I draw my inspiration for the creative process with what’s around me—with nature, with anything I’m working on, [or] when I’m traveling,” she explains. “Or at home, it may be something as simple as how the light hits the floor when it bounces through the French doors. I’m just inspired constantly. That’s why I have my camera with me all the time to capture those things that inspire me.”
French Country Floral Arrangements
Courtney brings the charm and beauty of the countryside into her first collection of floral arrangements with Balsam Hill. She draws inspiration from real-life flowers blooming outdoors or at the farmer’s market. “What I would like to achieve with my new collection is to give people an option [for] when they want something French Cottage-inspired… and a choice to be able to get these flowers where they live,” shares Courtney.
The lifelike blossoms of her floral arrangements, such as the Loire Valley Arrangement and Brittany Rose Arrangement, show Courtney’s style of mixing together flowers in similar shades to capture the elegant monochromatic color scheme she is known for in her home décor.
Want to bring the French Country Cottage look into your home? Browse Courtney’s collection of floral arrangements in our site.
Video transcriptCourtney Allison: I draw my inspiration for the creative process just with what’s all around me, with nature, with anything I’m working on. When I’m traveling, it’s something that I see and inspires me. Or at home, it may be something as simple as the way that the light hits the floor when it bounces through the French door. I’m just inspired constantly. That’s why I have my camera with me all the time because I want to capture those things that inspire me.
When I’m setting up flowers in my own home, I go outside. I see what is blooming or what inspired me at the flower market, and I put it together. I really love arrangements that are a little bit more monochromatic. Oftentimes, I’ll use something that is all one flower or all different flowers, but they’re all of a similar shade. Then just add a little bit of greenery in or something like that.
What I would like to achieve with my new collection is give people an option when they want something really French cottage inspired. I hear from readers all the time that they would love to have the flowers and the choice to be able to get those flowers where they live, but they can’t get them because I do like to use very unique, specialty type flowers. It’s a different look. It’s a softer side maybe than some of the stuff that Balsam Hill usually has in their floral collection. It’s more of a French cottage inspired. A little bit vintagey feeling.
