Preserving Nature - A Chat with Ali from Milla Rose

Aptly titled Bloom, our Spring Summer 2021 Collection highlights nature, dried foliage and uplifting homes by bringing the outside in. With more people turning to nature at this time and sustainability at the forefront, dried and preserved arrangements are in demand as gifts or just for one’s home.

We chatted with Milla Rose Founder Ali Paige about dried and preserved blooms and her budding business which was featured in our recent collection, plus three benefits of using dried foliage at home.

How did your business start?

I have always wanted to start my own business and I love interiors and home decor. I was working as an SEO specialist in Melbourne and a year into the job and having a 6-month-old daughter at the time - I decided to start my own business, specialising in dried flowers. Milla Rose is named after our now almost 2-year-old daughter.

With a background in website design and digital marketing and starting to see dried flowers slowly popping up on my Instagram feed - my partner encouraged me to start researching suppliers and how I could make this dream a reality.

My partner, Daniel now works with me most days of the week and helps me with the marketing and day to day operations.

Why preserved and dried flowers?

The biggest benefit of preserved and dried flowers is that they last for years. They are very low maintenance, so you can simply display them in your home and not have to worry about them as you do with fresh flowers or indoor plants. Preserved and dried flowers can be given as a memorable gift that people can have in their homes for up to 6 years and don't need to be replaced frequently as fresh flowers do.

What tips can you recommend in buying and decorating with preserved & dried flowers?

I would recommend determining the space that you are going to have the arrangement in then measuring the space and looking for an arrangement to suit the width and height required. We love neutral colours as we feel these suit any space but our most popular arrangements are neutral and native flowers! If you have a neutral home but are wanting to draw some attention to the space and really make a statement - we recommend opting for some bright and bold colours with some feature flowers.

Which are your favourite arrangements that you offer?

We absolutely adore our best seller - our Charli arrangement. We created this arrangement as we believe it ties in preserved and native flowers perfectly (we also dry the banksias ourselves in our Melbourne Studio). Our Charli arrangement is perfect for those neutral lovers and we believe it suits any home!

We also love our ready-made gift boxes - these have been carefully curated using beautiful products from other Australian based businesses. We have recently relaunched our gift boxes and now include a gift box for men!

If you’re looking to add a gorgeous arrangement into your home with these long-lasting blooms, Ali shares three benefits of having dried foliage arrangements:

A Lasting impact - more than just floral arrangements, they create joy in the home.
Part of the home - creates an accent that complements any interiors.
Low waste - low maintenance and doesn’t need to be replaced frequently.

Head on over to Milla Rose to take a look at their floral offerings and see how we added their arrangements to our Spring Summer 2021 collection here.