Fresh flowers have long been synonymous with luxury. They perfume a room, soften an interior and, for a few fleeting days, transform a house into something alive. But in the Gulf, where soaring temperatures shorten their lifespan almost overnight, that ritual often comes at a cost, both financial and environmental.

For Katy Leech, founder of Dubai-based Ivy + Silk, this contradiction became the starting point for an entirely different way of thinking about flowers. Rather than accepting their impermanence, she began asking a different question: why should beauty inside the home be so temporary? “I began to question why beauty in the home should be so fleeting,” she says. “The space we live in, grow in and return to every day felt too significant for something so transient.”

That idea eventually became Ivy + Silk, a female-founded studio creating design-led faux floral arrangements that are conceived less as decorative bouquets than as enduring interior compositions. It is a subtle but significant shift, one that positions florals alongside furniture, lighting and art rather than somewhere on the periphery.

Leech’s relationship with flowers has never existed independently from design. Interiors, antiques and craftsmanship have always informed her visual language, making the transition into spatial design feel almost inevitable.

“I’ve always been equally drawn to interiors, art and florals,” she explains. “The move towards longer-lasting florals allowed me to create pieces for the home in a far more intentional way, blending my love of interiors, art and floral design.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, was changing perceptions. Artificial flowers have long been associated with imitation rather than authenticity, something Leech was determined to overturn through obsessive attention to detail. “With a background in fresh florals, I became obsessive about realism, true Virgo energy,” she laughs. “Movement, texture and natural imperfection sit at the forefront of everything we source.”

The stems, she explains, are selected for their tactile quality as much as their appearance: real-touch finishes, tonal variations and subtle irregularities that mimic the unpredictability of nature. Yet what ultimately distinguishes Ivy + Silk is not simply the realism of each flower but the composition itself. “I see Ivy + Silk as being less synonymous with faux florals and more as a reimagined expression of nature.”

That philosophy is reflected in an aesthetic deeply rooted in Mediterranean interiors. Mallorca remains one of Leech’s strongest references, inspiring a palette of worn terracotta, rustic stone, raw timber and faded earth tones. Equally influential are the quieter corners of the UAE, whose weathered architecture and traditional craftsmanship informed the studio’s own collection of artisan clay vessels, produced with local makers.

The result feels closer to interior styling than traditional floristry, where each arrangement responds to the materiality of its surroundings. For Leech, flowers occupy a unique place within the home because they introduce something no object can fully replicate. “Florals are an essential layer rather than an accessory,” she says. “Unlike furniture, lighting or art, they carry movement and subtly shift the energy of a room.”

She describes them as “an emotional language within interiors,” capable of altering atmosphere through colour, composition and scale. Brighter arrangements energise a space; softer palettes create calm and grounding.

That interest in emotional wellbeing is perhaps unsurprising given Leech’s previous career in occupational therapy. While the combination may seem unexpected, she sees a clear connection between the two disciplines. “Occupational therapy is rooted in how meaningful activities support wellbeing, identity and quality of life,” she explains. “Many clients choose our boxed arrangements so they can create their own florals, and that process of making is inherently therapeutic. The act of creating can be just as important as the finished arrangement.”

It is a perspective that feels increasingly relevant as homes become places not simply to live but to restore ourselves. In cities such as Dubai, where life moves at relentless speed, Leech believes people are seeking interiors that offer emotional balance rather than visual perfection. “There is a growing appreciation for longevity and sustainability,” she says. “People want pieces that feel intentional and lasting instead of constantly disposable.”

More importantly, she believes nature inside the home has evolved beyond decoration. “Bringing nature indoors becomes less about styling and more about creating atmosphere, almost a form of regulation within everyday life.”

Asked where she would most like to create an installation, Leech doesn’t imagine an opulent hotel lobby or a grand European palace. Instead, she dreams of an old courtyard house in the historic heart of the UAE, where weathered plaster, carved timber and wind towers tell quieter stories. “I would want the florals to feel as though nature had slowly reclaimed the architecture,” she says. “Less a floral installation and more a quiet dialogue between nature and heritage.”

For a designer whose work began by questioning the lifespan of a bouquet, it feels like an appropriately poetic destination. At Ivy + Silk, flowers are no longer simply something we place inside a room. They become part of the architecture of how we want that room, and ourselves, to feel.