Vintage Charm Charlotte creates timeless, faux-floral designs that last.
by Michelle Boudin | photographs by Richard Israel
Megan Morris has grown accustomed to finding dead or dying plants on the front stoop of her Myers Park home.
“A lot of people bring me their dead plants and planters and say, ‘I’ve tried. I give up. What can we do with it?’”
The mother of two boys manages to work her magic every time, designing stunning faux-floral arrangements that look strikingly real. Morris officially launched her business, Vintage Charm Charlotte, in January 2024 after word spread about what started as a hobby.
“My dining-room table was empty forever and ever. I would have rotating hydrangeas come through, and then they would die. So I decided to make an arrangement for myself, and a girlfriend asked me — and then another friend asked me. I started an Instagram page to see where it would go. I got a few sales and gained more confidence.”
Morris has always loved entertaining and design. She spent years arranging real flowers before realizing faux flowers could look just as nice and required a lot less upkeep.
“When I think about real flowers, I think they’re celebratory and beautiful but they are not meant to last. What I do adds to the design of a room without needing the maintenance. I think every room needs an organic piece, some kind of plant along your bookshelf, that can really complete a room. Who has the money or time to refresh their dining-room centerpiece with real stuff? I think of my stuff as more like a fixture.”
Morris admits, sometimes the idea of fake flowers can be a tough concept for people to get behind.
“Some people are scarred by the faux florals from the ’80s. They equate it with the mass-produced arrangements that aren’t the best quality.”
Morris sources flowers from several local outlets but mostly finds them online. Her clients typically provide the vessels, but she keeps an inventory as well. She loves scouting for vintage vases and bowls at Sleepy Poet Antique Mall, local estate sales and online. The finished products start at about $150 and go up from there, depending on the size and amount of work that goes into creating them.
Most new clients find Morris on Instagram or through her website. Her finished designs are also sold at a handful of local home boutiques, and she’s recently had a few high-profile clients around town. Morris loves that one of her arrangements now greets customers at jeweler Erin McDermott’s Elizabeth studio.
Still, the former public-relations professional is looking to expand and add more retail partners in Charlotte.
“I’d love to do more large-scale arrangements. I love designing and being creative in general, and I absolutely love when someone sends me a picture and says, ‘This completes the room.’ That brings me a lot of joy.” SP
