Nothing is more welcoming or uplifting than fresh-cut flowers. Bold and bright or pale and demure, a well-place bouquet instantly breathes freshness into a room. However, after a few days, the bloom may be, quite literally, off the rose. Extend the life of your next arrangement, even by just a day or two, with a few easy tweaks.

- Change the water daily. Seems easy, but it's also easy to overlook. Just think about how your skin would feel without water for a day. Enough said.

- Trim the stems everyday. Be sure to cut them on an angle, preferably under a running faucet. I like to use kitchen shears for a precise cut. Be sure to remove leaves after they start to look limp.

- Add a pinch of sugar. Flowers need food to stay alive. By adding a bit of sugar to the water, which is drawn up through the stem, you're giving the flowers the energy it needs to bloom.

- Drop in a penny. The copper in a penny helps ward off bacteria, which can cause flowers to die more quickly.

- Switch up the vase. As the arrangement gets smaller and the blooms get wider, switch out a tall vase for shorter, rounder one. This play on proportion makes the flowers look artfully full.

- Keep flowers out of the elements. Seems a bit counter-intuitive, but freshly cut flowers do best when not in direct sunlight or excessive wind.