Orly Khon — the thirty-one percent

Orly Khon Photograph by Lydia Carmichael/The Thirty-One Percent — **Orly Khon**
*Photograph by Lydia Carmichael/The Thirty-One Percent*

If you live in Boston, chances are you’ve seen Orly Khon’s beautiful floral arrangements at a corporate function, someone’s wedding, or in the beautiful Restoration Hardware space in Back Bay. From early morning trips to the Chelsea flower market to the occasional night out, here’s how Orly gets it all done.

5:00 AM

I start my mornings really early between 5 and 5:30 in the morning. That’s when I’m able to get a work out in, maybe yoga. During the week, even waking up at 6:30 or 7 feels like I’m sleeping in.

7:00 AM

Around 7, I’ll pack lunches to get everyone ready to go to school, and I’ll also prep my own stuff for the day. I’ve learned by now that I’m not the person who can just have a coffee in the morning; I always have to have something for breakfast. Even if I run out of time, I’ll make a smoothie and bring it with me to work.

8:30 AM

After everyone’s left for school, I usually take a little extra time for myself before work. That said, some days I’ll head straight to the flower market in Chelsea. The flower market to be across the street from my office, and that was awesome because I could just check it out anytime during my day. When it moved to Chelsea, I had to get a little more organized about visiting, so my official flower market days are now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for the most part. If I have a client meeting later in the day, I don’t like to feel that I’m rushed, so I try to prepare in advance for that in the morning.

Scenes from Orly Khon’s flower studio in the South End Photographs by Lydia Carmichael/The Thirty-One Percent — **Scenes from Orly Khon’s flower studio in the South End**
*Photographs by Lydia Carmichael/The Thirty-One Percent*

11:30 AM

I usually get to the office 11:30 or noon after the flower market. Either we have a lot of things to put together, or some installations. If it’s the beginning of the week, I’m mostly in meetings or catching up with paperwork. I try to work from home on Mondays, but most of the beginning of the week, we try to figure out all of the paperwork for what’s to come. Once I get back from the flower market, we sort of get the rest of the day going.

There’s a few of us in the studio, so we’re always busy preparing arrangements, bringing plants in, or choosing things for clients. We could be loading the elevator or loading the van. This happens both at Restoration Hardware and the South End studio. I’ve had my business for the past fifteen years, and I’ve mainly been in the studio in the South End (which is where everything gets delivered and it’s more like a big workspace). That’s the fun part. Restoration Hardware is a little more of a showroom and retail experience for plant styling and interior design, because we do corporate flowers and weddings, too. Most of the clients we get there are looking for something for their home or office. Everything that happens there actually happens at the studio, so that’s why we’re constantly moving between those two spaces.

1:00 PM

The afternoon usually goes by really quickly as we prepare deliveries and orders for the next day, or proposals and meetings with clients. When it comes to lunch, we’re pretty strict about taking time. I used to be terrible about skipping lunch, but I’m pretty ridiculous about taking it now. I’m always hungry, and by 1 or 2, I’m not functioning. I usually have a coffee right after lunch, too.

The key to having a good day is wearing shoes that match your mood. Photographs by Lydia Carmichael/The Thirty-One Percent — **The key to having a good day is wearing shoes that match your mood.**
*Photographs by Lydia Carmichael/The Thirty-One Percent*

5:00 PM

I do love having my meetings between 9 AM and 5 PM, but because I do a lot of weddings and events it can be hard for brides to take time after work, so once in awhile my meetings happen in the evening. I try not to do more than one evening a week just because I like to be home with my kids, too. The bride usually comes to the studio and we’ll show them different vases and flowers.

6:30 PM

After work, I’ll pick my kids up from after-school or swim practice––there’s always something going on in the afternoon. I’m usually home by 6:30 or 7.

I don’t love cooking, but I do try to keep it pretty healthy so I try to cook as much as possible at home. We try as much as we can to have dinner together, even if it doesn’t happen every night.

Once in awhile, me and my husband like going out. Either I’ll go out with my girlfriends, or the two of us will go out, maybe once every other week. Sometimes it feels like a drag when you’ve planned things and actually have to do them at the end of a long day, but by the time you sit down with a glass of wine, it’s great.