Personality Spotlight: Fig and Twigs

Photography by Janice Morrow

Janice Morrow is a grandmother, wife and mom and the voice behind Fig and Twigs blog and Instagram page. Online, she most often shares her beautiful floral arrangements and pictures of her darling granddaughter, Lolly. Here’s a bit about her!

American Farmhouse Style: How did you get started with floral design before Fig and Twigs?

Janice: It was because of my mom. She was a huge entertainer, and had parties at their home. She was a whimsical entertainer, she created florals from the garden or branches from the around the area, and they were always gorgeous. That’s how I gained my love for floral design, through bringing the outdoors indoors.

After I was married a few years I started a culinary school and did culinary design, but then with the classes, after doing the cooking, we’d do a table and create florals to go with the theme of the cooking class. I love the idea of entertaining at home and not being afraid to do it. Doing it yourself and making people feel relaxed when they come into your home.

AFS: What’s your favorite flower or flowers to arrange with?

Janice: I love growing wildflowers. They will grow in any condition and survive. It’s a connection I have to them because they’re so resilient. Year after year they’ll be there for you. I also love hydrangeas and gardenias. The fragrance of gardenias, you only need one to get that wonderful fragrance.

AFS: How do you express your style differently at your two homes?

Janice: Our home in Newport Beach, California, is very traditional. It’s colonial style, so it lends itself to traditional and classic décor. It’s been very timeless, it always feels comfortable walking through the door. I like having the tradition in the family. It’s a home base for us.

The mountain home we built in Big Bear, California, as a sanctuary to escape to, light and airy and there are no painted walls or wallpaper. It’s very simple and clean and has an open floor plan. But it’s also old fashioned with some elements like materials of old stone, and then vintage pieces we’ve collected from flea markets, tag sales, everything tells a story. Everything has a meaning to us. We spent years collecting pieces that spoke to us.

AFS: How did you get connected with the online décor community with Fig and Twigs?

Janice: Five years ago, a friend of mine posted a picture of her garden and showed it to me, and I didn’t know what Instagram was. She set it up for me and told me to post my florals. I posted a chandelier I had made out of beads that had belonged to my mom with a garland I’d made, and I had such a huge response. It started evolving.

I had set a picture of a dinner party with my Mackenzie Childs dishes, and they contacted me and asked me to visit, and a month later I was on a plane to New York with all these other influencers.

After my daughter Kaitlin passed away, I found social media to be a place to share my story and my journey, and it’s been amazing the people who I’ve connected with who have lost somebody. It’s been a connection of people who have been on this same journey with me.

AFS: Tell us about Lolly!

Janice: A lot of what I share now is Lolly because she’s my life now. We’re raising her since her mom (my daughter) died.

I’m doing the best I can to find those moments of joy. When you’re going through extreme grief and you can’t seem to put one foot in front of the other, to purposely think joy. After Kaitlin died, I would try to do one thing to find a single moment of joy every day. It’s that aha moment and I felt so accomplished, and now it’s a challenge. What will it be today? It’s become so important to me. Having those little moments has been what has allowed me to embrace my life. We want to give Lolly the best life possible, and to do that I have to stay positive.