What inspired you to start a flower shop?
When I asked my mom if she knew I’d ever open a flower shop she said, “when you were little, anywhere we would go, you’d come back and bring me a bouquet of flowers or weeds.” So I’m guessing it was always there. As soon as I started working with flowers, I realized how beautiful each one is, how unique and special, which taught me to see so much beauty and uniqueness in people, situations and places.
As far as what inspired me, I’ve always been an entrepreneur and dreamed of opening a few businesses. I officially opened an online, out-of-garage business as a florist about five years ago, and the time came to open a storefront as a flower shop. I didn’t want FLEUR studio to only be mine though, which is why I added studio. I wanted it to be a place for creativity to flow out of, not just from flowers, but from photographers, events, coordinators, other florists, artists, painters, and so on.
Tell me about your workshops, what can you teach someone who doesn't know anything about floral arrangements?
I am so excited to start hosting seasonal workshop and workshops curated for Mothers and Father’s Days. In these classes I chose to do different styles of arrangements: from hand held, to wrapped, to vases, to boxes, to baskets. Individuals will learn how to create a color scheme and correctly fill a vase with flowers, the process and steps to make an arrangement, and different tips and tricks for how to open the flowers up to look fuller and to help them live longer.
How would you describe the style of the floral arrangements you create?
I would describe my style as European inspired. I was born in Belarus and a lot of my fashion, interior design and floral design is inspired by the city of Moscow, and Russian and European culture. I also love architecture and am always inspired by buildings and structures, so I try to apply architecture to my floral arrangements. Making one flower taller than the others, or making them look like they would if they were growing out of the ground. Nature, flowers and plants have their own flow to them, and I try to capture that flow in my arrangements.
Any new plans for the studio in the near future?
So many plans, but I am taking this a day at a time. For now, the nearest plan would be to have summer markets with a Pike Place feel, and live music sessions – I want to host Saturday evening live music and welcome Seattle artists to perform at the studio.