A vase is one of the most underrated things in a room. It doesn't do anything, technically. It just sits there. And yet a well-chosen vase on a sideboard or shelf can anchor an entire space in a way that art, rugs and furniture sometimes can't.
The wrong vase, though, can make a room feel cluttered, dated or just slightly off. Here is how to choose the right one — and how to use it once you have.
Form before flowers
The first thing to accept is that a beautiful vase does not need flowers in it. Some of our best-selling vases at House of Dudley are bought purely as decorative objects — a sculptural ceramic on a shelf, a ribbed glass piece on a dining table, a stoneware bud vase on a bathroom ledge. The form is the point.
This matters because it changes how you shop. Instead of asking “what will I put in this?”, ask “what shape do I want to live with?”
The three vase shapes every home needs
If you want a starting point, these three shapes cover almost every styling situation:
- A tall, slender vase (30–45cm) — for a single stem, a dried branch, a few stems of pampas or eucalyptus. This is a statement piece. It works on a floor, a mantle, a sideboard. It demands space around it.
- A medium rounded or curved vase (15–25cm) — the workhorse. This is the vase that holds a loose bunch from the market, a handful of garden flowers, or sits empty as a sculptural object. Ceramic or stoneware in a matte finish works beautifully here.
- A small bud vase (8–12cm) — for a single stem, a sprig of herbs, a flower from the garden. These are endlessly useful on bedside tables, bathroom shelves and kitchen windowsills. Buy several in varying heights and group them.
Choosing the right material
Material sets the mood more than colour does. A few guidelines:
- Ceramic and stoneware — warm, tactile, earthy. Works in almost any interior style from coastal to contemporary to Japandi. Matte finishes are more current than gloss right now.
- Glass — light-catching and elegant. Ribbed and fluted glass is particularly strong in Australian interiors at the moment. Clear glass works with everything; coloured glass (olive, amber, cobalt) makes more of a statement.
- Sculptural or unusual forms — for those who want a vase to function as art. These pieces don't need flowers. They just need space.
Colour: the honest guide
Earthy neutrals — warm white, terracotta, oatmeal, sage, charcoal — are the safest starting point because they go with almost any interior palette and allow the form to do the work. If you want colour, go deep or go playful: a cobalt, a dusty rose, an olive or a rich forest green tends to work better than mid-range pastels, which can look uncertain.
Our Noss and Co range offers something genuinely different here — gingham and stripe-patterned ceramics in unexpected colourways that bring a joyful, graphic quality to a shelf without trying too hard.
How to group vases
Odd numbers first: three or five vases together always looks more intentional than two or four. Vary the heights — aim for the tallest piece to be roughly double the height of the smallest. Keep a consistent colour palette but vary the materials and forms. Leave breathing room between pieces; they should feel like a considered group, not a crowd.
On a sideboard or console, a group of three — one tall ceramic, one medium glass, one small stoneware bud vase — in a shared palette of earthy neutrals is almost always successful.
The vase as a gift
A beautiful vase is one of the most reliably well-received gifts you can give, because it is specific without being personal. It doesn't require the recipient to be a particular size or have particular taste — it just needs to be genuinely beautiful. A quality ceramic or glass vase from a considered range outlasts flowers, candles and most other gift options, and sits in a home for years.
Our vase collection at House of Dudley is one of the most extensive you will find in Adelaide — over 100 styles at any time, spanning Robert Gordon stoneware, Noss and Co ceramics, sculptural glass and much more. Available online with fast delivery across Australia, or visit us in Parkside, Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.