13 In Bar Cart/ Company’s Coming/ Décor/ DIY/ Entertaining/ Hidden Garden/ Holidays/ RECIPES/ Thanksgiving/ THE CORNER HOUSE

Simple Fall Decorating and Table Settings

Fall Decorating Kept to a Minimum this Year

Easy floral fall decorating using dollar store flowers

Finally…I got some fall decorating going on!!! I had two events going on at my place last week. It was exactly what I needed to light a small fire under my behind to get it done. I work better under pressure. LOL…last minute Mare!

Easy Fall Bar Cart

Fall themed bar cart. Champagne, apples and popcorn

fall themed bar cart using champagne, apples and popcorn

fall bar cart with champagne veuve clicquot recipe

fall bar cart with champagne veuve clicquot, ginger beer and apple cider recipe

Given that it was the thought of having company over that got me started on some fall decor I started by setting up a small bar area in the living room. I love how easy it is to move from room to room as it is on wheels. I bought it online through Wayfair a couple of years ago. In keeping with a fall theme, I added apples for decor. It doesn’t get much easier than that, does it? The cocktail was chilled champagne, ginger beer, apple cider and sliced apples for garnish.  The full recipe is below. They were seriously delicious. On the bottom shelf, I put out some popcorn and small, brown, paper bags so guests could help themselves. Obviously, on this evening big daddy was on puppy duty because I am pretty sure Tank would have devoured the popcorn!

fall florals in a blue and white ginger jar

I have a lot of blue and white in my living room that I typically swap in and out seasonally. This year I kept most of it in and utilized it. This gorgeous bouquet is fake, fake, fake. You might have read my last post about sprucing up your outdoor flower boxes with fake florals. If not you can read it HERE.  Anyway…these pics all came from the dollar store. Dollerama for the win!! Seriously…I love that store! I could easily go in there and buy everything needed for a beautiful tablescape and I bet you’d be hard-pressed to tell that anything came from the dollar store! (that sounds like a challenge)

Fall florals in blue and white ginger jar

You might remember my DIY blue and white pumpkin from last year on the bottom left of this photo? You can get all the instructions HERE to make your own. That fine piece of Waterford crystal is a trophy from one of our horse races. (just thought I’d throw that in)

The fireplace is always a great focal point for fall decorating. I added some leaves and ribbons to these lanterns that I have used in so many posts before. The garland was 40% off at Michaels. Using tiny clothespins I attached small decorative bags between the wooden leaves. Inside each bag is a small treat for the girls.  A bowl of velvet pumpkins is the only other decor in this room. It was all kept for low key and simple

DIY fall decorating for your dining room

I used the exact same ginger jar and florals in my dining room. I don’t have a closeup shot of this…but you get the picture….no pun intended. (winky face…I wonder if there is a way to add emojis to my blog…I could sure use them!) It makes a beautiful statement when I flank each side of the dining table with them. Major impact for just a few dollars!

DIY fall floral arrangement

I kept the dining room table very simple. I actually had no clue what I was even going to do with the table this year. For the past two years, the fall decorating has been all about pumpkins. I just finished polishing my silver server set when I picked up a couple of small (fake) bouquets and stuck them in the teapot to get them out of the way and voila!!!…turned out quite nice, didn’t it?  Sometimes it pays to not think!!!

DIY fall floral arrangement in silver tea set

You’ll notice a small set of dishes stacked off to the side of the table…well… a terrible thing happened. I put two exercise balls up on the table out of Tanks way. They sat there for a week or so. When I picked them up they stuck to the table and took the finish right off. There is no way to buff these spots out. I have always thought about painting this table. The finish on it gets marked so easily …tough with the little ones. A couple of coats of Tremclad paint and it will be perfectly new again…and so much more durable. I have used it on a dining table before and it lasted for years! Until then…I’ll be strategically hiding the marks with dishes and table runners!

simple fall florals

More fake flowers in the kitchen. I love Sunflowers (as you can probably tell). Sunflowers to fall is what Daisies are to summer….very happy flowers. I was planning to make a pink and orange bouquet which is my favourite floral combination but once again without thinking I put this little arrangement together in the kitchen and placed it on the table. It worked perfectly. These chairs are so colourful…any number of colour combos would have worked. Even the candies matched! I ordered these pillows from a girl I follow on IG. Her account is Joliemarche. Her pillows are beautiful and I have ordered from her a couple of times. Fast and efficient attention too! You can visit her website at www.joliemarche.com

Fall Decorating For Your Table
Pink and blue fall tablescape

I wanted to chat a bit about not matching…sometimes being all matchy-matchy is just too you know….matchy!

I put together this cute little table outside in the not so secret garden. Remember last year it was surrounded by beautiful evergreens…well they died!! uh! Can you believe it…all but one of them. This year we surrounded the secret garden with Burning Bush. These are going to be stunning later in the fall. I was going to use Rose of Sharon but with flowers come bees. Bees are important – I know – but not at dinner! The girls would be screaming…lol…I can just hear them!

pink and blue fall tablescape

I want to point out this table cloth from April Cornwell. This company makes some beautiful linens. I love that it has built-in embroidered, napkin holders! Everything about this table cloth and napkin set is dainty with all the pretty vibes. When I purchased it I never thought of using it for fall decorating. I was thinking more along the lines of an afternoon tea.pink and blue fall tablescape

The dinner plates were used in last years Thanksgiving table setting. I like them a lot but wanted to change it up a bit. I used something completely out of what anyone would consider the norm for a fall tablescape…these plates were purchased last winter at Home Goods (USA Home Sense) for $3.99 each. The gold on the smaller plates picked up on the gold leaf of the dinner plates and the blue matched the linen.

tiffany blue flower pots

I bought the small flower pots from Tiffany’s. I usually have them sitting on my windowsill in the kitchen.  In keeping with the whole fake thing… I inserted pink silk flowers in the plants.

Tiffany flower pots

I added pink water goblets and pink cutlery to bring it all together. It sure isn’t traditional but it sure is pretty.

Black and White Fall Decor

For a more traditional table setting, I used the same little floral display from the kitchen.

black and white fall tablescape

I had a gift certificate from Pier 1 that my mom gave me for my birthday last year. I purchased the black and white dinner plates from there. They were not on sale…but I guess because I used a GC it felt like a steal to me! 🙂

The salad plates are my everyday plates from Ikea. Once again…Dollorama for another win – the onion soup bowls… a buck apiece!  I upcycled some black and white material leftover from another party and I cut them it into squares for simple DIY napkins. If you cut with pinking shears they won’t unravel too much. I throw them in the washer and drier after cutting them to soften the edges. I wrapped them around the handle of the soup bowls…the bowls obviously get super hot when you broil the soup to melt your cheese into that ewwy gooey mess that tastes amazing.

gold cutlery

simple black and white tablescape for fall

easy black and white fall decorating

Keeping things simple and minimal does not mean boring. With the addition of all of your serving dishes filled with your favourite recipes, your table will be beautiful once it is completely set adding lots of layers and colours.

I’m hoping to get some shots of my front porch and window boxes in the next week or two. The season goes fast, doesn’t it? If I don’t get a move on the outdoor fall decorating soon I might just have to skip right through to Christmas!!! 🙂

Funny how year to year our creative ideas vary so much…I suspect it is based on what’s going on in our lives right?

and…We all know what that is for me!!!

cute puppy

This little bundle…I can’t even….he has seriously stolen my heart.

Champagne Cider Cocktail

Ingredients

  •  2 ounces brandy — or dark rum
  •  4 ounces apple cider
  •  8 ounces chilled champagne — Prosecco, or other sparkling wine
  •  Optional: Apple slices — for garnish

To rim the glasses

  •  2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  •  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon — pumpkin pie spice is also tasty if you have it on hand
  •  Additional apple cider

Instructions

  1. Rim the glasses by first dipping the glass in the cider and then into the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
  2. Pour 1 ounce of brandy or rum and 2 ounces apple cider in each glass. Top with 4 ounces champagne. Enjoy immediately, garnished with apple slices as desired. (recipe by Erin Clarke)

What’s on your fall decorating agenda this year? Are you going all out or keeping it simple?

I wish all ya’ll a happy fall! (heard it in a movie and really wanted the chance to say that) xo

You Might Also Like

13 Comments

  • Reply
    Suzanne Colasimone
    September 24, 2019 at 8:44 PM

    What BEAUTIFUL pictures Mare. You have done a fabulous job of capturing the coziness and warmth of your home. It definitely puts me in the Thanksgiving spirit, my very favorite holiday. It also puts me in the shopping spirit, so I think I will head on over to HomeSense and browse around, then one day this week on to Springridge Farm for some pumpkins.
    Thanks for sharing your lovely home. xoxo

    • Reply
      Marion
      September 24, 2019 at 9:24 PM

      You are the sweetest person on the planet Sue!!! Thank you so much for your kind words.
      Let me know when you are heading to Springridge.

  • Reply
    marion hunter
    September 25, 2019 at 3:25 AM

    Once again Marion, you have treated us to your creative spirit. Sure does get me in the spirit and I love this season. My windowboxes need a shakeup before I start the inside decor. Always fun. Thx for the nudge.

    • Reply
      Marion
      September 25, 2019 at 7:58 PM

      Glad to have helped you get into the spirit Marion. I am sure your home is the cosiest of all!!xo

  • Reply
    Mary Lynn
    September 25, 2019 at 12:26 PM

    Omg Marion this is beautiful, so warm and cozy. I am heading over to curl up on the sofa in front of the fireplace…with my champagne cider cocktail…..love everything. I like that you kept the blue and white this year, it suits your home. Actually, Tank completed your decor this year. ML ?

    • Reply
      Marion
      September 25, 2019 at 7:57 PM

      haha…ML you can come over and curl up anytime…you don’t take up much space 🙂
      Tank definitely completed the decor this year…his golden fur is the perfect accessory!

  • Reply
    Mary Ferguson - Allan
    September 25, 2019 at 1:59 PM

    Love love love the season, your place looks amazingly beautiful. Of course Tank is the perfect star.

    • Reply
      Marion
      September 25, 2019 at 7:56 PM

      In deed he is!!! THanks. xo

  • Reply
    Val Cater
    September 25, 2019 at 5:01 PM

    Cider, ✅ Pumpkins✅ Fireplace✅ Beautiful home✅ Wonderful Hosts✅ AND Tank✅✅ That’s a nice life!❤️❤️? Congrats!

    • Reply
      Marion
      September 25, 2019 at 7:55 PM

      HA HA….when I first saw this I wondered what was wrong with my site!!! LOL….thanks for all the checkmarks Val.

  • Reply
    Jackie Wells
    September 26, 2019 at 1:32 PM

    Delightful! Love your enthusiasm! We both have a commonality .. working best under pressure ..geez .. .. better get Thanksgiving – inspired .. Today’s the day! after reading your blog! .. Happy Days Marion!

    • Reply
      Marion
      September 26, 2019 at 4:59 PM

      Hey JW!!!!!!!! Love you lady!!! You are the best and wasted no time at all checking out the blog!!! Thanks a bunch for stopping by…it is so greatly appreciated. I am happy to have lit a candle under your butt!!! LOL It is a beautiful day out there today. I wouldn’t be worried about any indoor decorating today. It’s a much better day to go out for a walk.

  • Reply
    2019 Free Christmas Planner - Savvy Snowbirds
    December 1, 2019 at 1:04 AM

    […] and remembrances. Being Canadian we celebrated Thanksgiving in October, (you can see it HERE) Hallowe’en (you can see last year’s HERE)  and Remembrance Day (you can see it HERE). […]

  • Leave a Reply