ShareThisBy MARY CAROL GARRITY
As Dan and I rushed up my friend Debbie's front walk, late for her dinner party, I was stopped in my tracks by the shockingly simple but ever-so-grand entry that awaited us. The shuttered front doors, thrown wide in greeting, were flanked by two huge lanterns aglow with candlelight to guide guests on their arrival.
I rubbed my hands together with glee. When a hostess cares enough to create a dramatic entry like this, you know you're in for one fun night!
Lanterns top my short list of gotta-have decorating tools because they are sinfully easy to decorate, yet pack a wallop of a punch. One year when my home was open for tour, we created a simple centerpiece with a killer lantern. We were unprepared for the fervor that show-stealer would cause. Guests flocked to the sales tent, searching for the lantern so they could duplicate the look. We emptied our warehouse of the lanterns, selling them from the back of our delivery truck before we could even put price tags on them.
Lanterns are so versatile, affordable and attractive, you can use them in your home decor all year round, either as pieces of art mounted on the wall or as freestanding accents that give any display a touch of rustic grandeur. One reason lanterns have stolen my heart is because they are so darn easy to accessorize. Decorate them with a simple candle, and they're gorgeous. Fill them with accents and surround them with florals, and they're gorgeous. No matter what you do, you simply can't go wrong.
Lanterns in all sizes and shapes are bedrocks of my fall and winter decorating because they help me create the layered look I love so well. This fall, why don't you light up your decor with lanterns?
Start outside by making a statement at your front door. Put a solitary lantern at the base of your walkway to greet and guide guests, or create a cluster of dissimilar sized lanterns on one side of your front door.
But don't stop there _ there are so many places in your yard just screaming for a lantern. Hang one from your garden gate or descend one from an arbor in your garden. A customer who lost tree limbs in a violent storm told me she hung a few lanterns in her tree branches to fill the ugly void and restore beauty to the damaged tree.
Ready for something new on your front door? Flat-backed lanterns designed to hang on walls look sensational on exterior doors. For a simple but striking look, select a lantern that has a mirrored back, then insert a battery operated candle inside and let it glow for guests.
Want more finesse? Fill the lantern with an assortment of brightly colored gourds. Or place a pillar candle wrapped in faux birch bark in the center of the lantern case, then add colorful twists of bittersweet inside and out. Tuck a small piece of artwork inside the lantern. Or insert a candlestick topped with a bird's nest.
Delight your Halloween trick-or-treaters by adding spooky touches to your door lantern. Fill a clear vase with candy corn, then secure it inside your lantern. Or put a vintage witch figurine inside, next to a glitter-dusted sign that says "BOO."
Lanterns are also the highlight of my indoor decorating this time of year. For fall parties, I'll fill a large lantern with mini pumpkins or tendrils of raffia and berries, then post it at the base of my staircase. Or I might secure a lantern to the end of my banister railing, then surround it with a nest of craggy fall vines.
For a simple centerpiece, march a row of lanterns down the center of your dining room table. Or, treat a lantern as you would a vase. Fill the chamber with a bouquet of orange mums or sunflowers then surround it with votives.
Look for obvious and out-of-the-ordinary spots to put a decorated lantern. How about above the table on your screened porch or from a high interior doorway? No matter where you put them, lanterns will be sure to light up your fall decor.
Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. Write to Mary Carol at nellhills(at)mail.lvnworth.com. For more stories, visit www.shns.com.
