Timeless tools for creating awesome autumn displays

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Bring on the pumpkins, grab the gourds and fluff up the faux fall foliage. It's time to pay homage to autumn by showcasing the beauty and splendor of the season in your home's decor.At Nell Hill's, we have a short list of must-have decorating tools we rely on time and again when building head-turning autumn displays. There is nothing new about these timeless beauties. We use them year-round to create memorable displays inside and out. What is new is how we reinterpret these classics each season, giving them a fresh, new twist. Here's how you can do the same when you decorate your home for fall:DOUGH BOWLS: While I love all my decorating tools equally, I have to confess that, right now, I have a particular passion for rustic wood dough bowls. If you haven't seen them, you're in for a treat. Hewed out of a plank of wood, no two bowls are alike. Some are long and thin, measuring more than a yard, while others are rounder and shorter. Some are honey-brown, and others have a silver patina. Dough bowls have stolen my heart because they are so rough and primitive that they provide an excellent contrast to the refined and sophisticated silver and crystal pieces I like to use on my dining-room table. For a striking but simple centerpiece, place a tall candelabra, antler-shaped candlestick or fall figurine in the center of a dough bowl, then fill in with a medley of gourds, hedge apples or seasonal fruit.APOTHECARY JARS: Group three apothecary jars of varying sizes at the center of your side table. Fill one with colorful layers of found objects that make you think of fall, like acorns, persimmons, dried corn or hops. Then, fill the second jar with faux fruits or vegetables, like red apples or pears, artichokes, avocados or gourds. Put a handful of aromatic cinnamon sticks in the third.TRANSFERWARE: Transferware is the chameleon of the dish world. It takes on the look of anything you pair it with. As a result, any color of transferware can look perfect for fall, whether it's black, brown, gold, green or red. You just need to pair it with other seasonal colors, like amber glassware, wicker chargers or cranberry napkins. Finish off with some fall accents, and you have one gorgeous table.URNS: Urns are a perfect way to display fall goodies. Empty out your garden urn, and top it with a pumpkin, fill it with gourds or use it as a vase for a bouquet of fall flowers, foliage or berries. If you have a fern potted in an urn, trick it up a bit for fall by making a rim of faux red apples around the base of the plant. Then finish off with an outer rim of bright green berry picks that cascade down the side of the urn.FALL LINENS: With a minimal investment of time and money, fall linens can single-handedly change the look of your dining table. Pair napkins in a great fall pattern or color with everyday dishes. Snake a table runner embroidered with fall leaves down the center of your table. Or scrunch up a paisley throw at your table's center to make the centerpiece more opulent.LANTERNS: What is fall without lanterns? Fill these versatile tools with nature's bounty -- gourds, hedge apples and fall branches -- for a simple and clean display on your coffee table, side table or mantle.BASKETS: I fell in love with baskets when I was a young girl, and I have never lost my passion. Baskets are an inexpensive way to add fall texture and color to your everyday displays. Use a long, thin basket just as you would a dough bowl. Or find a lidded basket to use as a riser in your fall centerpiece, giving a boost to a candelabra or figurine.(Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home-furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. She is the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. Write her at nellhills(at)mail.lvnworth.com.)