Tag Archives: getting your house ready for fall

Fall Tablescapes

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7843574_SAre you ready to bring your dinner table into autumn? If you’ve started making stews and homemade baked beans again because you just can’t wait any longer, how about making the table itself feel like fall?

Start with a walk through your neighborhood. Even desert landscaping may have some dried branches around that have fallen off a nearby tree. If you don’t find anything, visit your local hobby store or florist to pick up some dried branches, pinecones or any other dried plants or branches.

Next, wander through your kitchen for pottery vases or bowls that mirror the fall colors. Any natural-color basket or wood container would also work well.

Fall flowers can be found in every grocery and warehouse market. Consider sunflowers in traditional yellow or bright dark orange coupled with Japanese lanterns and fall berries in dark reds and greens. Fill in with mums, which come in every color of fall. Add a few of those dried branches and you have a floral masterpiece to echo the season.

Because fall is harvest time, you can add almost any combination of fruit or vegetables and have the mix work. Look for pomegranates, bosc or other yellow or brown pears, apples, and dark red or purple grapes.

Do you have a fall table runner? That’s a good place to start. Now, set all of your discoveries on the table and move things around until it looks right. Those branches may work well in a tall vase or pitcher, or maybe just lay them along the center of the table. Pile fruit in a bowl – a couple of apples, a pear, an eggplant and a few fall leaves and you have created the vision of a harvest feast.

Above all, enjoy the process. Celebrate the changing of the seasons with complementary changes in your home, and you can welcome autumn‘s bounty along with the cooling temperatures. For more ideas, we invite you to visit Fulton Home’s Pinterest board: Seasonal décor.

Bring Fall Colors into your Home

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14387115_SFor those of us who live in the Phoenix area, September is greeted with relief that the hot weather will soon be gone. But if you’re originally from the Midwest or anywhere further North, you may find yourself missing the magic of leaves that turn golden, red and every shade of fall.

If you fit into that category, you can drive up to Sedona or Flagstaff in a few weeks, or you can pull some of those colors into your home right now.

You might start by shopping your closets. All of those russet tones that seemed too hot to bear in June and July will look more appetizing now. Do you have a throw or two, a pillow or tablecloth in fall tones? Showcase them in your home for the next few months.

Discount and department stores are showing off fall colors. Picking up a few placemats or some serving containers shaped like pumpkins add a feeling of fall. Incorporate just a few fall shapes into your year-round accessories and create a sudden autumn impression in your home.

16396871_SDon’t forget grocery stores. Pumpkins of all sizes, gourds, apples and pears, and mixed nuts in their shells can be used to create a wonderful autumn centerpiece on your dining table or buffet. If you’re a sewist, fabric stores carry a rich selection of fall-toned fabrics which just beg to be made into a runner.

Finally, Pinterest has become a favorite place to grab images of fall. How about printing some spectacular photos of fall scenery and hanging them through the house, temporarily replacing some less seasonal art? Warehouse and office supply stores will make larger prints at a very reasonable cost.

We may not see fall leaves in metropolitan Phoenix, or at least not until December, but you can use these ideas to bring fall into your home even as temperatures still hover around 100 degrees.

Take Advantage of Autumn

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It’s here – halfway through October and we’re finally starting to get the weather that makes us glad we live in Arizona. After a summer living in air conditioning, it’s time to expand your life to take advantage of our autumn weather. Here are a few suggestions.

Open your windows. Although it’s still warm in the middle of the day, the weather in the early morning and later in the evenings provide free cooling. Open some windows and any doors that have security screens. Look for opportunities to create cross ventilation. Run a few fans to draw in the cool fresh air.

Take a walk. Once again, early mornings and evenings are lovely. Have you been thinking of starting an exercise program? Walking is a great way to begin. Start by walking around the block and then add distance over time. If you have a dog, take him or her along. Exercise is important for pets too.

Visit a farmer’s market. Locally grown produce and meats, homemade baked goods, crafts, herbs and other surprises can be found at farmer’s markets all over the Valley. Many of the food trucks that are popping up in Phoenix and communities all over the country take advantage of these markets to park and sell their wares, so you can snack while you shop.

Eat outside. You can plan breakfast or dinner in your own backyard, or dine al fresco in one of many restaurants with patios and other outdoor spaces. And as you sit down to enjoy a meal with the sky above you; you can remind yourself why you chose Arizona for your home.

At Fulton, we love it here too.