Fireplaces steal our hearts and fancy, and they are usually the first thing we lay eyes on when we walk into a room. Yet even though the fireplace is an undisputed focal point, when so many of us decorate this all-important spot, we dress up only the mantel, leaving the hearth tragically bare, a yawning, empty cave that grabs visitors' attention but leaves them cold. This season, when your fireplace is not home to a merrily roaring blaze, use it as a display case to showcase some fabulous fall decor. Need some ideas to light your fire? Here are a few tips for turning this black hole into a show-stealer.
BOUQUETS OF FOLIAGE. Harvest the dizzying array of fall leaves, berries, nuts and vines at your disposal this time of year to create a jaw-dropping display on your hearth. You'll need a hefty container that will not get swallowed up by your gaping fireplace and that is substantial enough to hold a bevy of branches and flowers without tipping over. How about an antique olive vessel? These delightful jugs, which stand over 2-feet tall, sport an aged patina perfect for fall decorating. Iron urns, beefy baskets and big cachepots are also great picks to hold autumn arrangements.
Start your bouquet with bare branches from your yard. Then add in faux foliage in fall colors that harmonize with your decor. For a fun, natural look loop in tendrils of honeysuckle vine throughout the bouquet.
GARDEN STATUARY: Years ago, I lost my heart to crumbly, aged garden statuary, like the busts and figurines you'd find in the garden of an English manor home or a historic cemetery. The real stuff is priced out of my league, so I use cleaver reproductions in my year-'round decorating to bring a bit of rustic elegance to my decor. For a great fall hearth, place a piece of garden statuary to the center or side of your fireplace. Ring the figurine's head with a wreath of fall berries, or hang the wreath from its outstretched hand. Arrange pumpkins and gourds at its base then twist tendrils of your favorite fall vines up the statue.
BIRDBATH: Place a smaller version of this perennial garden favorite to the front or center of the hearth, then let your creativity run wild. Rest a fall wreath on top of the bath, then fill in with mounds of hedge apples. Or put a big pumpkin at the center of the bath and sprinkle bird seed around it. You could also place a lantern at the center, then wind a fall vine up the bath and around the lantern so it reaches for the mantel above.
WOOD HOLDER: If you burn wood in your fireplace, requisition an interesting holder to corral the firewood with style. How about an antique concrete planter? An iron urn? A hefty basket? A big copper caldron? A blue-and-white Asian cachepot?
FURNITURE GROUPINGS: I think small clusters of furniture look snuggly and charming in front of a hearth. Try a simple bench or an upholstered ottoman centered in front of the fireplace. Or arrange two upholstered chairs on either side of the hearth with a small table tucked between them.
IMAGINATIVE LOGS. If you like to keep a stack of logs in your hearth at the ready, make them more visually intriguing. Dot the logs with votive candles or gourds and pumpkins.
APOTHECARY JARS. Fill a collection of large, wide apothecary jars with a jumble of gourds, hedge apples or nuts, then line them up on your hearth. Use enough so they fill the width of the opening. When winter comes, change the display by filling the jars with tree bulbs, pinecones or peppermint candies.
(Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home-furnishings stores and is the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. Write her at nellhills(at)lvnworth.com.)
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