Welcome Home: the cheerful, friendly home

From September 4 to 8, 2025 Maison&Objet (M&O) in Paris focused on the theme "Welcome Home": home as a safe haven that we consciously dress up with warmth, humor and imagination. Trendwatcher Aafje Nijman visited both the fair and Paris Design Week and summarized her harvest for florists.

'I showed what I stand for'

Flower stylist Franka Roenhorst (35) finished fifth at the World Cup Floral Art in The Hague in August 2025. As the brand new Dutch champion Floral Art (January 2024), she entered as the Dutch delegate in a field with the world's best. The competition required sharpness, creativity and stamina - and earned her a place in the leading group. In this interview, Franka looks back on the competition, the preparation and the choices she made along the way. How did she stay close to herself, what worked well, and what will she take with her toward her daily work and new plans?

'There are still tremendous opportunities'

After more than two decades at the helm of Smithers-Oasis Benelux, Chris Martens is stepping down as managing director. A great moment for a candid conversation about innovation, sustainability, his love for the flower business and the people who create it.

'Curating down to the smallest detail is essential'

At 's Zomers Flowers - Botanical Warehouse, the Rotterdam company of Michael Swier and René Jongeneel, their world of flowers, objects, fragrances and installations comes together in one spacious store with bindery and a botanical café. 's Zomers has been a household name for more than three decades; on June 3, 2024, they celebrated their 30th anniversary. They started in Van Oldenbarneveltstraat and moved to their current location in De Hofbogen in 2019. The studio organizes and provides decoration projects on location; the store is a daily vibrant place.

The carnation, our age-old friend

It is the current zeitgeist to move toward local, indigenous, original and pure with flowers as well. The picking bouquet and the field bouquet are the product of this. The impression is given that the flowers are from here and we picked them outside. But an expert knows that there are some lies in this. It is about the impression, not the reality. Lurking in the picking bouquet are flowers grown industrially in greenhouses. And they often come originally from other regions.

'Growth begins with a head full of dreams'

During the closing night of the World Cup Floral Art in The Hague, European champion Floral Art Hanneke Frankema presented her spectacular multimedia show "Growth" - a production the likes of which has never before been seen in the floral world. With programmed light and sound, cinematic visuals and live moments, she built her story in themes: from the first fascination with growth and the Passiflora, through craftsmanship and competitive spirit, to sustainability and a finale that elevated 're-use to reduce' to aesthetics. The whole thing was tightly directed "to the second," yet personal, light, and distinctly skilled.