What Are Demijohns? Use Them for Your Patio!

Trying giving demijohns a shot and arrange them in your patio. They're a great decorative piece.
What Are Demijohns? Use Them for Your Patio!

Last update: 08 October, 2018

In our post today, we’re going to tell you all about demijohn bottles. They just might be something new for you.

We all know what they are, but most of us probably just know them as jars or bottles, or even just as liquid containers.

They’re usually made of clay, earthenware or glass. In addition, they commonly have a wicker or plastic cover, which is more often the case these days. However, demijohns don’t always have covers.

They also might have handles for easier transport. These spherical containers come in all sizes: they can hold anywhere between 5 to 40 liters of liquid.

We hope that you can learn a little more about these containers from our post. They can add something special and original to your patio, garden or balcony.

Where does the word “demijohns” come from?

Some people say that the word’s origin comes from the word “dame-jeanne”. This is a word that refers to an event regarding Queen Joanna I of Naples.

Demijohn anecdote

In the midst of a storm, the Queen of Naples decided to take shelter in the workshop of a master glassblower. The story goes that the Queen herself tried to craft her own glass bottle and, surprisingly, made a 10-liter container– something unusual for those times.

There are other theories explaining the name’s origins, but this is the most widely-told one.

Decorating with Demijohns

As you’ve read above, these containers come in several varieties. Most often they are glass-colored (although there are plenty of different tones), with or without handles, or different shapes: they might be flatter, elongated, big or small…

They’ll look great both inside and outside your home, which we’ll go over in the next section.

If you’re interested in demijohn bottles, we know you’ll love earthenware vases, which you could also use to decorate your home. They’re not only practical, but they also look good.

These containers really do look wonderful in any room. On top of that, you could try using different colors, shapes and sizes together, creating harmonious sets.

Demijohn balanced set

All you need to do is find the style that best suits your house and decide which room you want to place them in.

Floral decoration ideas with demijohns

Below, we’d like to share some decor ideas with you that use demijohns.

People normally don’t use them to hold liquids like water or wine anymore. Instead, they’re most often used as flower vases.

You could use yours as a traditional vase by adding some flowers. To keep the flowers in place, just pour in a little water.

If you decide to use your demijohn as a flower vase, keep the bottle’s dimensions in mind to calculate how long the flower stems should be. You want them to be long enough to pop out of the bottle in addition to reaching the water as well.

When your flowers start to wilt or rot, just remove them and replace them with new ones.

Another idea to try is using dry bra nches as a decorative piece. Additionally, you can bring it inside when summer’s over as an interior decoration. If you like crafts, you could paint the branches in bright colors for something fun. They also look great with dried reeds or wild plants.

Demijohn Flower Vase

If you like the glass color of your demijohn, you can opt to just leave it empty, using the bottle itself as the main attraction. On a further note, if it’s very big, you could try filling the bottle with flower petals, dried leaves or little balls of colorful paper.

Lastly, try filling the container with string lights and turn them on when the sun begins to set. They’ll have a beautiful effect. If you have extra string lights, try spilling them outside of the demijohn, fastening them onto a wall or something similar.

You’ll need to have a socket close by to plug the string lights in. If there aren’t any around, you can find string lights that run on batteries at a store.

Conclusion

We hope that you found some inspiration with these ideas. There are even more beautiful ideas that’ll come together in no time with a little creativity. For example: you could use a demijohn as an improvised lamp.

So, we hope that you’ll remember the options that you have with demijohns when you’re preparing your balcony, garden or patio for the summer. They’ll also look great on shelves, on top of furniture surfaces or even just on the ground.