Friday Favorites: Fall Arrangements

This week’s Friday Favorites features an easy fall arrangement anyone can recreate, plus a favorite skincare habit, a new piece of art, a movie worth watching, and the very first Christmas Countdown, a new weekly series to help you feel organized and unhurried all season long.

One large arrangement can completely change a room’s feel. This week, I’m sharing how a single gathering of fall branches, arranged in minutes, turned my dining room table into a whole seasonal moment, plus a few designer tricks, favorite vessels, and stems worth adding to your own home this year.

This Week’s Favorite

This week I’m loving how much one simple arrangement can do for a room. I filled a large ceramic vase with faux nandina branches because I was drawn to the color variation and the graceful way it drapes and spills over the edges of the vase. No floral foam, no fussing over exact placement, just letting the branches fall where they wanted to.

That vase has actually done double duty this year. Last year it held the same nandina, tucked into the corner of my living room by the window, but it was white. This year I wanted something moodier for the dining room table, so I gave the pitcher a coat of dark, muted blue-gray spray paint. I added brass candlesticks and a small brass acorn box already on the table, and the whole look came together in minutes. I love that one piece can serve two completely different looks in two different rooms, just by changing its color and its company.

See the nandina HERE.

If you’re looking for another quick option, I also created a simple fall vignette on my kitchen island this week, a white pitcher filled with oak leaf branches, paired with a candle and a small white pumpkin. It took less than five minutes to put together and gives the kitchen its own fall focal point.

🌿 TIP BOX: A single oversized arrangement often makes more of a statement than several small ones scattered around a room. Choose one great vessel, add generous stems, and let it do the work.

A Few Tips For Trying This In Your Own Home

If you’d like to create an easy fall arrangement of your own, here are a few things I’ve learned.

Choose one great vessel and let it lead. A large pitcher, urn, or crock gives branches room to spread naturally, without needing a second or third container to fill the space.

Skip the fuss. Floral foam and careful placement aren’t necessary for a natural, gathered look. Trim or bend stems to varying lengths and let them fall where they want to.

Look for branches with color variation. Stems that shift from green to gold to red, like nandina, add depth and interest without mixing in a second variety.

Don’t be afraid to change a vessel’s color. If a piece feels stuck in one season or look, a coat of spray paint can give it new life in another room.

Build in layers around the arrangement. A candle, a small pumpkin, or a meaningful object placed nearby turns a single arrangement into a full vignette.

Keep it seasonal, not permanent. The best fall arrangements are simple enough to refresh in minutes, so you won’t be afraid to change them again for winter.

If you’d like more ideas for building a centerpiece like this one, I’ve shared full steps in 12 Fall Centerpiece Ideas: Step By Step Instructions And Tips, and a guide to the best stems and materials to use in 12 Best Fall Organics To Use In Your Home This Season.

Stems, Branches, And Vases For Fall

Create an easy, beautiful fall arrangement…

Also Loving This Week

A Small Habit

As I’ve gotten older, taking good care of my skin has become more important to me, so I’ve turned it into a small nightly ritual. Before I tuck in for the night, I slather my arms and hands with a thick layer of lotion, then slip on a pair of men’s white crew socks to cover them while I sleep. My favorite lotion for this is Gold Bond Retinol Age Renewal Overnight, and I wake up with skin that looks and feels noticeably younger. It’s such a simple habit, but it’s become one of my favorite parts of winding down each night.

An Item I’m Loving

I’ve been wanting to add a small piece of art under the brass sconce in my dining room, and this moody still life felt like exactly the right fit for fall. The warm tones in the painting echo the color of the sconce above it, while the gold frame adds a nice contrast against the white wall. It also features a piece of blue-and-white pottery, which I love. It’s not a precious piece by any means, but the frame fools the eye, and I love it enough that I think it will stay in that spot right through winter.

You can find it HERE.

Something I Watched

Bobby and I watched I’ll Find You this week, and it’s one of the best movies we’ve watched in a long time. It’s a haunting true story about love surviving through a horrific time, and it stayed with both of us long after it ended. If you’re looking for something meaningful to watch this weekend, I think you might love it too.

I’d love to hear what you are watching, reading, and listening to that is worth the time.

15 Weeks Until Christmas — Friday, September 11

Do a little to be more organized and less stressed when Christmas is here.

To Do:

• Make a list of handmade gifts and Christmas DIYs you want to work on, and start projects
• Start a Christmas budget
• Make a simple gift list with names and ideas

Fun: Pick one favorite fall activity and actually do it this week — a walk, a coffee shop visit, apple picking — a reminder that enjoying autumn is part of enjoying the season ahead too, not something to rush past on the way to December.

Fill In The Blank: (now it’s your turn) __________________________________.

A Personal Note

This month marks seven years since we moved into Tanglewood House, but it doesn’t feel like that long at all. I can say without hesitation that I love this house every bit as much as I love StoneGable, just in a different way.

We have a few smaller projects underway right now, including papering our kitchen with a beautiful green wallpaper called Esther. I’m excited for the new look it’s going to bring to the space.

Before You Go

Did you notice? My style and color palette are changing just a bit. I still love white walls, at least for this style of home, and I still love neutrals, but I’m warming them up and adding in a bit of green. Don’t be afraid of change. Start small. I recently moved our bedroom’s brown-and-white buffalo check curtains into the sunroom, and they make the whole room look better. Try a small, low-commitment change and see where it leads. You can see a glimpse of the curtains in an image above.

That’s this week’s Friday Favorite. I hope it inspires you to look at a piece you already have a little differently, or to gather a few branches and try a simple fall arrangement in your home.

Happy Friday, friends…