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Right at Home | East Sider | Sun-Sentinel | Go Riverwalk
“As usual the unusual” is the maxim Floral & Hearty Designs, Inc. uses to describe its silk tree and floral arrangements. But it is also a fitting description for owner Michele Errair.
Originally from
At 27, after moving to
For five years the business struggled as a wholesale house and later as a retail
store in “Year after year she was working her little heart out and she was not making any money,” said Laura Weiner, the company’s accountant. “I told her, ‘The best advice I can give you is to go out of business.”
But Errair would not hear of it and things finally turned around when she moved to “Well, I guess I’m glad she did not listen to me,” said Weiner, adding that a turnaround at that stage is unusual. Errair credits her father, Ron Errair, who she calls “the backbone” of the business as being a constant support. “My father would say, “Your choice is to quit or move forward, because you will always have problems in a business,’” Michele Errair said. A flip on the conventional father-hiring-daughter-and-son scenario, Michele Errair, the daughter, has hired her father and brother to help manage the business. Ron Errair also designs most of the floral arrangements. Over the years he has worked with many designers that he would study and eventually he said he just “caught on.” Floral & Hearty has now garnered a loyal customer base that counts on them to create “the unexpected” for their spaces.
“They are very creative and have an unusual twist that I like,” said
Ka-Tina Chirillo, owner of 121 Design Group, in
“I have never sent a piece back yet,” said Chirillo, who has worked with
the company on projects as far away as But most of the company’s business comes from private residences and their designs can range from a 16-foot hydrangea tree to bamboo wall pieces and rose and orchid arrangements in Italian porcelain pots. “Our goal is for our pieces to be the wow of the room,” Michele Errair said.
Pat Patregnani was so impressed with the work done in his first home that he is
using them again in his new “What was great about the experience was that Michele and Ron have come to the house and made several recommendations,” Patregnani said. “They had touched every room in the home from the master bedroom to the loft,” Patregnani added. Like most, Hurricane Wilma has affected business, but they continue to move forward. “She [Michele Errair] works six to seven days a week right now because of the hurricane,” Ron Errair said. “We think the hurricane will take a big chunk of the business, but we have to be as hopeful as anybody.”
Right at Home | East Sider | Sun-Sentinel | Go Riverwalk From Right At Home: Business owner Michele Errair says Las Olas is the perfect spot for her
store, Floral & Hearty Designs, Inc. She
is a member of local organizations such as the Junior League of Greater Fort Lauderdale,
which works with the Ronald McDonald House and Race for the Cure charity organizations,
and the National Association for Women Business Owners.
Errair says she has a close connection to the City of “I feel it’s important to give back to the community that supports my business,” Errair said. “I’ve always been brought up to get involved and volunteer.”
Since the business opened in 1997, Errair started out on Las Olas in what is now
the art gallery section of the Boulevard and since then moved her store to different
locations, including a spot in Most of the volunteer work this business owner is involved with helps women and children in need in the area. Errair says she is inspired by the personalities she has come across while volunteering, especially in working with the Junior League, a women’s organization providing community service through fundraising and volunteerism. “The women I met in that group are amazing,” Errair said. They work, have families and do work to make the community better. I am proud to be a part of that group.”
After leaving an unfulfilling career in sports marketing and a home in “I like being able to help people turn their rooms around,” she said. “We do the finishing touches.” The floral arrangements and trees Errair designs for her customers are usually the last step in decorating the home. Errair’s store offers a range of colors and types of faux flowers and trees as well as a unique selection of other home accents, finishing touches, as she calls them. “Most people have a negative connotation on silk flowers, remembering the ones from the ‘70s,” Errair said. “We are about education people on how far they’ve come. We provide high-end, custom arrangements done by people who have been in the business for over 20 years.” Nestled on a corner among the storefronts of interior designers and consignment shops, Errair said the eastern end of Las is becoming a one-stop shop for residents who want to decorate their homes. She hopes that more design-oreinted businesses eventually will open on her side and that the area will become a ‘design row’ on Las Olas, providing art and entertainment on the west end and home-décor shopping on the east. Errair said she is happy to return to the growing downtown area and has visions of even more growth for the boulevard. “I would love to see Las Olas continue across the bridge,” she said.
Right at Home | East Sider | Sun-Sentinel | Go Riverwalk From The EastSider Business
owner Michele Errair says Las Olas is the perfect spot for her store, Floral & Hearty
Designs, Inc. She is a member of local
organizations such as the Junior League of Greater Fort Lauderdale, which works with the
Ronald McDonald House and Race for the Cure charity organizations, and the National
Association for Women Business Owners. Errair
says she has a close connection to the City of “I feel it’s important to give back to the community that supports my business,” Errair said. “I’ve always been brought up to get involved and volunteer.”
Since the business opened in 1997, Errair started out on Las Olas in what is now
the art gallery section of the Boulevard and since then moved her store to different
locations, including a spot in Most of the volunteer work this business owner is involved with helps women and children in need in the area. Errair says she is inspired by the personalities she has come across while volunteering, especially in working with the Junior League, a women’s organization providing community service through fundraising and volunteerism. “The women I met in that group are amazing,” Errair said. They work, have families and do work to make the community better. I am proud to be a part of that group.”
After leaving an unfulfilling career in sports marketing and a home in “I like being able to help people turn their rooms around,” she said. “We do the finishing touches.” The floral arrangements and trees Errair designs for her customers are usually the last step in decorating the home. Errair’s store offers a range of colors and types of faux flowers and trees as well as a unique selection of other home accents, finishing touches, as she calls them. “Most people have a negative connotation on silk flowers, remembering the ones from the ‘70s,” Errair said. “We are about education people on how far they’ve come. We provide high-end, custom arrangements done by people who have been in the business for over 20 years.” She said she hopes that eventually more design-orientated businesses will open on her side and that the area will become ‘design row.’ “I would love to see Las Olas continue across the bridge,” she said.
Right at Home | East Sider | Sun-Sentinel | Go Riverwalk As seen in: Go
Riverwalk Floral & Hearty Designs
Returns To When people walk into the new
Floral & Hearty store at 1523 East Las Olas, there is usually an audible gasp!
As they walk through the store, there is a look of sheer amazement!! By the time
they reach the back of the store, they are just about bowled over!! These expressions of awe were
repeated over and over again as owner Michele Errair recently hosted a ‘Grand
Opening/Ribbon Cutting’ party to celebrate her return to Las Olas. “I had
a store in the 2400 Block of Las Olas about a decade ago, and since then I moved to a huge
space on When an opportunity presented
itself for Michele to move her business to a store in a unique location in Coral Springs,
she not only jumped at the chance, but decided to go back to her roots of concentrating on
the highest quality silks available, enhanced by a design team second-to-none, and an even
larger selection of home, yacht and office accessories. The store at “It’s well known in the
fashion world that “accessories make the outfit.” The same is true for any
interior decorating project,” Michele said. At Floral & Hearty
Designs’ newest location on Las Olas Boulevard, Michele Errair and her staff strive
to create the perfect finishing touches for clients’ specific needs. One thing
is quite obvious when you visit the store… high quality silk flowers and plants have
changed dramatically since they were first introduced decades ago. Even a
single silk floral arrangement created by our design team can change and enhance an entire
room. “Most people think when their walls are painted, the window treatments are hung and the furniture has been delivered, that they’re finished decorating,” Michele mused. “After spending huge sums of money to beautify their homes, condos, offices and yachts, they forget to focus on the finishing touches.” According to Michele, no matter how expensively a room is furnished, without the proper accessories, the room will feel cold and incomplete. The easiest way to “warm” and define the feeling of a room is by using silk florals, greens and trees. Not only do they last forever, but they don’t need constant attention… like watering and cleaning the leaves from the floor! With over 35 years of experience in the floral industry, Floral & Hearty provides clients with original, custom arrangements made out of the highest quality silks available on the market today. Other services offered to clients include on-site consultations, on-site design services (for pieces too large to move), delivery and installation. The designers will even fill a client’s own container if they bring it in to the store. One visit to Floral & Hearty is all it takes to realize this is truly a unique decorating firm. The imaginative and creative designers on staff make the extra effort to bring together and “finish off” all of the design elements in a room. Recent projects have included corporate offices, model homes in condominium and upscale housing developments, restaurant, hotels, churches and yachts. Michele is very active in and
supports the Fort Lauderdale Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners
(NAWBO) and the Junior League of Greater Ft. Lauderdale, as well as other business and
charitable organizations. For information, call (954) 510-9900 or visit our website
www.floral-hearty.com
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