Don't be a petal pusher when adding floral accents to your interior. With spring in bloom, it's easy to get carried away with pretty floral décor, but overgrown prints can push the limits of good taste. Interior designer Tony Torres takes us through the home of one of his Denver clients, and shows us the tasteful way to make an interior garden grow.

DW: When your clients hired you, a husband and wife, did they specifically say to you, I want flowers in the bedroom? How did you introduce the floral décor?
TT: They are very "summer" people. They have another home in California. Right after we finished re-decorating another house, we found this model, and there was so much natural light and she [the wife] wanted her home light and bright and airy. The print on the valance and curtains is a custom Lee Jofa print. On these windows, typically I would do a panel at each intersection of the wall space, however since a husband and wife have to share this room, we felt that was way too much flower, so we compromised and I found these botanicals at a gallery in New York. We decided to use those instead of more fabric just to create balance. We did the same thing with the bedding. The flowers are really just on the pillows. Everything else is very neutral and we added a stripe, a plaid and a subtle floral on the quilt, which is all balanced by a geometric pattern in the carpet that was custom made, too. To make this room a little more masculine, I also chose the darker plainer nightstands, a soft oval and a square.
DW: It's a feminine room, but it's not effeminate. In other words, the husband won't want to kill himself every time he comes into the bedroom?
TT: Right, that was the point!
DW: Can you tell me about the two side chairs and the fabric?
TT: The chairs are a wonderful Pindler & Pindler matelasse, very soft and "bedroomy." The chairs are down and so they're just great little reading chairs to sink into. Again the pattern on the chairs is a subtle floral, too.
DW: I would expect the kitchen and informal dining area to be light, but in this house, black is the accent color? It's not you're typical white and stainless steel kitchen. It's very rich looking.
TT: This started with the black floral lamp, which was actually in the music room in the other home. It was black and went with the piano. The fabric for the chairs was found to specifically compliment the lamp. The dark color of the kitchen cabinetry, which was all custom-designed, the detail over the fireplace mantle, even the dark floral runner on the kitchen floor, was all pulled from the lamp and the fabric.
DW: In the dining room, I notice the lampshade and a loose floral print only on the two main chairs.
TT: I wanted to add a little bit of tapestry, and this lamp is actually a wonderful printed shade that looks like an 18th Century tapestry. It's perfect. We actually upholstered this room, too, with a subtle woven damask to make the room more intimate. The host and hostess chairs are in a completely different fabric than the guest chairs. It adds more interest to the dining room, and again, it's a wonderful way to add just a little bit of floral without having 12 floral dining room chairs.
DW: In the guest room, I notice again that black is the accent color for the floral décor.
TT: We wanted to do a hand-painted headboard inspired by a Victorian farmhouse. We found the fabric first, and then we gave it to the artist to mirror the pattern from the accent pillows. Again, the pillows, the rug and just a detail of the print in the curtains make the floral print unobtrusive for guests. It's a guest bedroom. Men and women share this room, so it's a nice balance of floral – without being too much floral.
DW: If you could give people one tip when attempting floral décor, what would it be?
TT: I personally have to be very careful when I layer floral and patterns. Just remember to try not to get too busy.