Jose Ibarra credits his late mother with inspiring him to become a floral designer. As a talented seamstress, she always expected her children to help with the cutting and sewing. And Jose has inherited her creative spirit, working with colors and textures — and his own two hands. So when Lookiloos asked Jose to decorate a Mother’s Day table for brunch, he set one in her honor, using things she loved, things she gave him, and things she could only dream about. And then, as always, he took it all up a notch with a trendy and surprising floral display inspired by Jeff Leatham’s designs at the Four Season’s George V Hotel in Paris.

“She always liked Paris, but she never went there,” Jose said of his mother. “So I brought Paris to her.”

Here are some of Jose’s tips for a beautiful, thoughtful and stylish Mother’s Day table:

1. Use special things your mother gave you, but have tucked away, including special china, glassware or linens.

2. Set the table in her favorite colors. Jose’s mother’s were orange and green.

3. Decorate with things your mother loves. Jose’s mother loved bugs. So he set out a collection of decoupage plates adorned with bees and beetles.

4. With a bunch of the same-colored flowers, use Jeff Leatham’s “tip to fall” style. Fill tall vases with water, tie stems together, balance the stems near the top of the water, then arch the flowers over the edge of the vase. They look like they will tip over and fall out, but they don’t. This is all the rage among the floral chic!

5. Pull out an old recipe of your mother’s and make one of her favorite dishes. Place a framed photo of your mother on the table. With all your attention to details and the things your mother loves, she will know how much you appreciate her.

Happy Mother’s Day!

You might also enjoy looking at some of Jose’s other holiday displays here:
Wabi Sabi: Where the Imperfect is Beautiful
Valentine’s Day Decorating Tips: How to Make Paper Roses
St. Patrick’s Day Table Decorating Ideas: Going Green on a Budget

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Decorating, Food and Drink, Garden, Home Decor, Home and Garden, Interior Design, Julia, Modern, Q & A, Q and A, San Jose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.