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Flowers can enhance any space, sure. But for Larissa Carlton, co-founder of design company Detroit Flower Wall, it’s about more than depositing bunches of bouquets around a space — it’s about helping clients achieve the events of their dreams and improving a business’s customer experience, through the power of interior design.��

Founded by Carlton and her brother, Terrell, in 2018, Detroit Flower Wall specializes in luxury flower wall installations and signage for events and businesses. From decor for birthdays, baby showers, seminars, and weddings to vinyl installations and logos for beauty studios, clothing stores, and other companies, the Detroit Flower Wall team — a tight-knit seven-person crew consisting of Carlton and her brother, who assists with client consultations and building, along with their mother, their cousins, and some friends — can do it all.��

“I look forward to the opportunity to create the space for individuals and young business owners to shine,” Carlton says.

Real and silk flowers are used to adorn the lavish walls, which take around three weeks to build and can stand as tall as 8 feet high and 16 feet wide. Clients can take their space to the next level with custom neon, acrylic, and wooden signs, as well as props like arches, swings, and even a Champagne wall. Detroit Flower Wall’s offerings are available to purchase and customize or to rent.��

Creating installations that attract potential customers to a business and amplify its digital presence — since the right picture-perfect setup can make a company go viral on Instagram, TikTok, or another social medium — is key for Carlton. It’s also her goal to help local Black-owned businesses gain that traffic and cultivate engaging experiences, since these companies historically start off with less capital than their white-owned counterparts, and 57 percent of Black-owned companies across the country were considered “at risk” or “distressed” even before the pandemic. “What is important to me, being a designer of spaces, is to create aesthetically pleasing marketing,” Carlton says. “Everyone’s showing where they’re eating; everyone’s showing what they’re doing. … So, my goal is to help businesses in the Detroit area allow their space to market itself on these platforms and allow the community to come inside their businesses based off the look and aesthetic.”��

Prior to co-founding Detroit Flower Wall, Carlton would create props and decor for luncheons, parties, and women’s empowerment events as a side hustle, while working full-time as a recreational therapist. The Ypsilanti native never imagined leaving her career in the health industry and turning her event props gig into a full-time job — let alone a six-figure business — but Detroit Flower Wall has served more than 200 clients across metro Detroit and Ohio, including The Lip Bar, For the Love of Sugar, the Detroit Athletic Club, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Grammy Award-winning gospel singer and native Detroiter Karen Clark Sheard.��

“The goal has transformed from just putting up flower walls into really allowing interior design to become a big part of Detroit, as a Black designer,” Carlton says. “We really look forward to the opportunity to connect with local business owners and do even more big events in Detroit.”��

Learn more about Detroit Flower Wall at .

This story is from the April 2022 issue of ����vlog��׿�� Detroit. Read more in our digital edition.��