Young House Love

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A Quick Fall Tablescape

I had a little fun tossing together a quick fall-esque table so I thought I’d share. Happily I used things that I already had around the house so it was a nice little free tabletop makeover.

Table Placesetting 1

All it took was an old runner from Target, a white vase also picked up at Target a while back, a manzanita branch that we’ve had for years, a woven basket from Ikea with a plant in it, woven cups snagged at Sur La Table on clearance, an old Target bowl full of corks, and an old hurricane from Ikea filled with more corks (learn how we whipped that up here).

Table Fall Placesetting2

We’re loving how the texture of the woven glasses and the basket planter mixes with the corks and the manzanita branch for a nice serene fall feeling.

Table Cork Detail

And although we’re enjoying pops of color nearly everywhere else, there’s something casual and effortless about this serene neutral grouping for that oh-I-just-threw-this-together feeling. But it could be amped up with a colorful runner or a vase and a bowl in a brighter hue (like orange, red, or chocolate brown for some fall flair).

Table Fall Decorating

I’m constantly making little changes like this around the house, just to keep things interesting. And most of the time I forget to photograph things before I’m busy changing them again. But this time I remembered. So if you guys like small tabletop switcheroos (and other simple decor-related posts like these) I’ll do my best to take more pics and share them more often.

Table Fall Scheme Vignette

But enough about me- what are you doing to inject some fall flavor into your house? Do you have subtle fall-ish decor that you bring out every year without fail? Or do you prefer to change things up from year to year (using orange fall leaves one year and white pumpkins the next)? We definitely still plan to have some Halloween and Thanksgiving related decor fun, so I guess this is sort of a warm up. Is anyone else out there warming up with fall-ish decor since it’s cooling down outside? Do tell.

Comments

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We use compact florescent bulbs (you know, the ones that look curly and save energy) but they come in three tones (warm, cool, and bright white) and we always choose the warm ones (they’re also called “soft white” sometimes, instead of “bright white” and “cool white”). They look the most like regular bulbs to us (instead of reading as too blue/purple). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  3. Stacey says

    Thanks Sherry! Hopefully, he’ll agree to give it a try…next up, I want to convince him to let me paint our dk. brown wood doors (orig. to the house, c. 1936) white to match the trim. That’s going to be a tough one!

    Can’t wait to see Clara’s costume! My 4 yr. old daughter already picked-out a fairy princess costume. It’s allll about the princesses in this castle ;o)

    Reply

  4. Bonnie says

    I love how you go shopping in your own house. We just moved in our own house 4 months ago, and pretty much started from scratch in terms of decor. How long did it take you to build up a collection?

    -Bonnie.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Well we’ve been here over four years and we’re still picking up small items that we love, so we’d just suggest taking it slow and only grabbing stuff you really love (quality over quantity) so you don’t find yourself with a ton of stuff you’re soft on. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  5. Bonnie says

    Hi Sherry,

    Yes, it does help. But it is so hard to be patient! I have been dreaming of having my own little place for such a long time, and trying to fix it up for one season it difficult enough, leave along changing the look.

    I think I will shop the clearance aisles after the holiday season is over and snag some stuff for next year :)

    -Bonnie.

    Reply

  7. OwningSingle says

    I like the switch. I am very ready for Fall even though it’s hot as heck in Houston. I’ve made my wreath so far and will be ready to put my fall decor out on the first official day.

    Reply

  8. Randa says

    I like changing things up too, and recently had some inspiration as I helped hubby clear off the semi-circular driveway in front of our house. We’ve got a few oak trees around our house, which (loudly) drop tons of acorns this time of year. As we cleaned off the driveway, it struck me how lovely these little acorns are… green, light brown, dark brown, almost even orange-y at times… with their cute little caps. I decided to collect some of the really nice looking ones and put them in a cute little “Coca Cola classic” glass (that I got for $0.50 at Dollar Tree) for display. One element of our fall decor, inspired by our front yard! :) Plus, it made cleaning off the driveway a lot more fun, as I “treasure-hunted” for pretty acorns.

    Reply

  10. Lauren says

    Sorry for commenting twice, but I just thought of a question! Do you guys do put anything on your front door? I’ve been seeing a lot of fall inspired wreaths and things in stores so I was wondering if you decorate your front door/porch for fall?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love simple square wreaths but we don’t usually put anything on our front door since it has a small rectangular window on it (which tends to get chopped up oddly by any hanging wreaths). But we do have a little fall-ish porch mini makeover on our list. Stay tuned…

      xo,
      s

  11. Alison says

    You need some more orange and yellow;) Just kidding, I love all of your decorations. I got all of my decorations for fall up. I went and bought a hurricane vase and found some pine cones around our house and filled the vase with them and tied a ribbon around it. I also made a fall wreath, the first wreath I have ever made and I think it turned out ok.

    Reply

  12. Sheena says

    I live in a house with hardly any storage. What do you do with your extra decorations when you are not displaying them? any good pointers on storage ideas for them..?

    Reply

  14. kbow says

    sherdog, at first I was all like “whaaat? Did they repaint?” then I just realized it was a photo white balance thing…you had me freaking out that I missed a dining room makeover but anyhoo…I just wanted to recommend that your readers can find those branches at save-on-crafts.com
    The site is seriously awesome for things like that :)
    Give clara kisses from Will!
    XO – kb

    Reply

  15. Libby says

    Where do you get good wine corks? I want to do some things with them but from my actual wine bottles are not actual corks.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Libby,

      A bunch of them were actually leftover from our backyard wedding (we saved them all from that day when we went through quite a lot of wine thanks to nearly 75 guests) and we also have friends who collect them for us (my mom is adorable, every time we see her she has a little baggie of corks for us). We’ve also heard that you can buy them at craft stores like JoAnn or Michael’s – or you can even ask local wine shops to save them for you since they have tastings and would just be throwing them away. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  17. Mari says

    Hey guys,
    Love the blog and awesome table scape! I was just wondering, do you use your dining room table for meals every night? I’ve always ended up just scratching the whole centerpiece idea because I got sick of having extra things to move on and off the table every night. Just wondering, thanks!

    Mari

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Mari,

      We do eat at the table nearly every night these days, but we serve our meals in the kitchen (loading our plates, salting them, etc) so we don’t bring serving dishes or salt & pepper out to our dining table. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  18. Angela says

    Yes! I like small tabletop switcheroos. Although I can never put anything on my tabletop because my cat would knock it on the floor, you always spark my creativity.

    Reply

  20. harmony says

    LOVE the “small switcheroos”! They are totally inspiring, and I love changes I can make in ten minutes when I need a quick update!

    Reply

  24. Monica says

    I love this. I feel like too few people change the look and feel of their house for each season, and it’s wonderful to have some inspiration and motivation to do it!

    Reply

  26. danyelle says

    looks great! But I want to know what are you going to do with that bottom shelf once Clara starts pulling herself up?:) I have barren lower shelves all over my house because of my wee ones!

    Reply

  28. Sara M. says

    Sherry,

    I love how you use nature to decorate. I tried picking flowers this summer and they looked gorgeous on our table, but there were bugs! Do you ever have that issue? Any suggestions on how to get decorations from the outdoors without the bugs?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We surprisingly haven’t had that issue, but it might be because we tend to leave things on the porch, patio, or sunroom for a little while before bringing them in. This little “holding area” of sorts might give bugs time to vacate the clippings and make their way back to safer territory that hasn’t been clipped. We’ve also heard from readers who have had that issue who do things like spray down their clippings with the hose outside (or rinse them in the sink) to wash any critters away. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  30. HSP says

    Lovely vignette but – find the white balance button on your camera and set it for tungsten or fluorescent (depending on your bulbs). If that doesn’t clear your color cast enough open the RAW or jpeg file in Camera Raw and adjust the WB there. :)

    Reply

  31. Sammy says

    Love your table. So classy!
    Maybe I’ll try that cork idea with walnuts…

    My fall decor is really simple (yet somehow laughable). I just go to our local farmer and buy some small weird pumpkins (this year I got an warty green one, an orange starfish-like and a cream/yellow one that resembles The ugly duckling) and some colored baby-corncobs. And it’s not only local but really budget-friendly (less than 5$).

    Reply

  32. Gail says

    I am definitely getting into the fall mood. I am obsessed with changing my tablescape also but I set a full table, I don’t have any kiddos yet so I am sure that is how I can still do it. I have all white china that I pair with accent plates or items to change up the look. I am still on the search for some Halloween plates. I would really like to see some of your tablescape ideas with a fully set table complete with centerpiece ideas.

    Thanks
    Gail

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Gail,

      We have white china too, we love how versatile it is! And you can see a ton of posts about table setting that we’ve done in our archives and even some videos (just search “table setting” on the search bar near the top of the page). Which isn’t to say that we won’t do more- those are just to keep you busy in the meantime! Stay tuned…

      xo,
      s

  33. Cassie says

    I love posts like these. Any tips or ideas on tablescapes, console table arrangements, holiday decor, etc. are the best in my book. You guys do such a great job with throwing together a lot of random stuff to make look elegant and festive!

    Reply

  34. Jen says

    Definitely do more of these little tablescapes! I love them – they’re so easy and quick to do, and they can change the look of a room entirely.

    I love leaving bowls of red apples (good snacks!) and those tiny orange pumpkins around on shelves and desks/tables. I’ll change out our comforter, blankets, and pillows from the normal cream and greys to dark reds/oranges and creams instead.

    Reply

  35. Blair says

    Okay, maybe I read this blog too much, but…

    I am so used to Sherry using “we” to describe things, that the “I” in this one really threw me for a loop! I like it! I want to know more about who is responsible for what design decisions rather than just what you decide together. Kind of like that magazine article – a little he said, she said take on things. This is fun! :)

    Reply

  36. Jacqueline says

    Hello!

    I would love to see a post showing a ‘standard day’ in your lives. What time you get up, what you do, how you structure your day, how you plan for future posts etc. A ‘behind the scenes’ of a typical day.

    Would you ever consider doing this? (or have you done this in the past?)

    Cheers!

    Reply

  37. Hayley says

    Hi Sherry,

    I’d love to see a how-to about lining up the dishes on the shelves. I know you’ve already mentioned the product you use, but if you could empty off the shelves and then redo it from the beginning, it would be a really useful feature! I’d love to do something like this, but I’m not brave enough without YHL holding my hand…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ve been itching to play around with those shelves and reaarange things so maybe we’ll whip out the ol’ video camera when we do! Thanks for the suggestion.

      xo,
      s

  38. JoDi says

    I would definitely love to see more posts with simple switcheroos like this one and the one you did on your table in the family room.

    I’ve been changing things up on our kitchen table regularly for a while now since starting to read your blog. Right now there is a beachy, shell theme on the table, but I will be doing something a little more fall-ish soon!

    Love the inspiration reading your blog gives me!

    Reply

  39. Kasaundra says

    I’ve been following your blog for a few months now and I just have to say your little family rocks! I love how eco conscious you both are and the gorgeous ways you update your home. I look at a lot of blogs just so I can look at the pictures, but yours always makes me sit for awhile and read. I love it! Congratulations on your beautiful little Clara. She’s a lucky girl.

    Reply

  40. Carol says

    Hello,

    I really love the colour of your walls, could you tell me which colour did you use? I’ve been planning to paint my place, and have dark wooden furniture and floor, like yours.

    thank you

    Reply

  41. Sara O says

    I’ve been using wine corks everywhere in my early fall tablescapes too…lots of various sized Mason jars filled with them…on my coffee table, entry table, ect. They’re handy little fillers ;) And, by the way I love to see all the little switch ups. I do them all the time as well and it’s fun to see what ideas you have. So, I vote more posts on them!

    Reply

  42. owldeedoo says

    These arrangements are beautiful! AS to be expected from your lovely blog :) We’ve been collecting corks for a while, too, but it seems to be taking longer than we’d like! We’ve been tackling projects right and left, but there are always issues and conflicts of interest. I think it surprised us both since we have very similar styles. Turns out we have very different ways of prioritizing and spending. It seems you both get along so well! Any advice?

    (Also, in Photoshop, if you go to Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter or Layer > Adjustment layer, you can remove the yellowish lighting of the image. Or you might have a color balance setting on your camera that you can change for indoor lighting, too, and nip it from the get-go! :)

    Cheers to you guys cuz you’re awesome!! Thanks for blogging!

    Reply

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