Burning Question: Mums The Word?
We kicked off our fall decorating with two giant white mums for the front porch (snagged at Home Depot for just $4.99 a piece). And while we were at it we used a few chain links to lower our hanging ferns ever so slightly, so they’re no longer riding high. The porch is officially pimped for fall. Well, at least until we dig out our Halloween stuff:
Do you guys have any fall decorating rituals? From mantle decor to servingware switcheroos, sound off about the things that you do to make your house look fall fabulous- and feel free to send us some pictures while you’re at it!
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This is terribly embarrassing, but perhaps not since this was our first year in our home. Anyway, we bought a wreath last September, a month after we moved in. A gorgeous fall wreath with reds and browns and oranges. And then we left it hanging on the front door all darn year. So my fall ritual for this year is finally feeling better about myself that my wreath matches the seasons again! Also, I have a witch’s hat we put on the lawn ball we got as a wedding gift. My husband insists we have to keep it outside, so I decorate it.
I love picking up mums every fall. The best thing about them is after they die, if you plant them in the ground and then cut them back, they’ll spring up twice as big next year!
They’ll look like a dead stick when they are finished blooming, but I promise they’ll come back if you put them in a sunny spot.
My Fall ritual is switching out my throw blankets from cotton to something more warm and cozy.
I have a soft spot for seasonal decorating, so I like to go all out. Leaf garland, pumpkins and gourds, mums and scarecrows in the yard. I enjoy the season and changing out decor.
I LOVE fall…inside my blog (a couple posts back) you can see what I’ve attempted to decorate for fall. Still more landscaping to be done!
I’m not a huge fall decorator, although I appreciate others’ efforts to decorate for fall. For me/my home, it means lots of mums, mostly in yellows, reds and rusts – some in the ground and some in pots – including on the brick stairs leading up to the front door. I always get 3 large pumpkins for the front porch and have my fall wreath up. Other fall rituals include going apple picking.
Last night I did our sideboard in the front entryway with all things Halloween. A black pashmina that I found in the guest room closet is “artfully draped” on the top of the sideboard. I have one of those wire spooky halloween trees that I got a few years ago from Pottery Barn, and I placed that in the center. It has orange glass votive cups hanging from it, so when it’s lit, it’s all aglow. To the right I placed a small old gilt mirror that I found in the garage face up on the sideboard, and put three old tarnished silver candlesticks on it, and found some drippy old candles to put in them. There is a mirror on the wall behind the sideboard, so all of this candlelight is reflected from the bottom and from behind.
On the left side of the spooky tree, I put a skull and cross-bones encased in this glass dome thing that I got at Target last weekend–and on either side of that, I raided our bookshelves for tomes with gloomy titles: Dead Man Walking, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Helter Skelter, Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe, Roald Dahl’s The Witches, Angels and Demons, etc. I stacked and leaned the books around the skull and cross bones piece. Oh, and on top of one of the stacks of books, I proudly placed a mini pumpkin that my three year old painted Jackson Pollack-style at the local school’s carnival last weekend.
I like my display, and am happy to say that I barely spent anything on it. We don’t go to the pumpkin patch until the 18th, but after that, there’ll be lots of pumpkins and gourds to add to the autumnal ambiance.
And gee–thanks for asking!
Well this is the first time I decorate for Fall. I bought some mums, small pumpkins and put up a wreath. Love my wreath. Got some pics of it on my blog if you’re curious. ;)
I change out the table runner to a more subdued color, throw three pumpkins on the porch, mums in the planters and pull out a cozy wool blanket for the couch.
There are areas in my house that always host natural decor-table tops, vases, nightstands, etc. In the fall I swap my regular bouquets and centerpieces for fall ones, and I do the same with the planters on my porch. I’ve already figured out the balances in each of my rooms, so swapping, rather than adding, keeps things looking correct.
Whoops-I forgot pics. I do have a few examples of this in my Flickr stream:
http://flickr.com/photos/28307215@N07/
The pumpkins on my nightstand replaces single blooms from summer, the Fall colored lilies replaced summer bouquets, etc.
Am I the only one who didn’t know about mums being the official fall flower?? I will have to go out immediately this weekend and get some for the front porch.
Last weekend, I decided it was cool enough to warrant putting out my holiday stuff. We don’t do Halloween, but I love fall decor, so the house currently has vases, and bowls filled with assorted pinecones, mini pumpkins, gourds, faux fall leaves, and sprigs of berries. In addition to the pots of mums I will now be putting out this weekend, we’re gonna pop by Michael’s to grab a fall wreath, a couple harvest looking baskets, and I want to pick up a couple cable knit throws to switch out the sofas.
time for a trip to the pumpkin patch!!! a fall porch is never complete without the perfect pumpkin. :)
Ok, don’t hate me… I love you guys…but, please tell me you are not going to keep your mums in the plastic containers they came in? tell me it ain’t so.
Oh happy day! We’re so excited to hear from all of you guys about your fall decor. And Amy, not to worry. It ain’t so. We’ve actually been on the lookout for some nice planters for the front porch that we can just sub out everything from pansies in the spring and summer to mums in the fall but haven’t found the perfect pair yet. Stay tuned as the hunt continues (into the fall season- which should be fruitful since everything’s getting marked down).
Anyway, smooches to all of you for taking the time to answer our burning questions. And stick around for a few more super controversial ones headed your way soon!
xoxo,
Sherry