Autumn foliage and warm colours
It’s at this time of the year that nature’s colour palette changes from the last vibrant flowers of the summer to the warm hues of harvest golds and autumn leaves. I love being outside in the summer, but as the seasons change I just want to curl up indoors with a good book. And I like my surroundings to feel homely.
Home decor tends towards feelings of comfort at this time of year
Where the use of cold blues may help you to relax in summer, warm reds, oranges and yellows will help you feel cosy in the autumn and winter. Fallen leaves provide all the inspiration you need for a seasonal colour palette: russet oranges, rich chestnut browns, soft golds and earthy terracotta reds.
The first open fire of the year is always a big thing in our house: warming golds, oranges and reds again dominate. Bonfire night and Guy Fawkes fireworks pave the way from Autumn into Winter. Where I live in Sussex, there’s a whole bonfire season with processions and public displays hosted by one town after another, spanning from September right through to late November.
Harvest displays of cereal crops
I’m contacted a lot at this time of year by customers who are putting together harvest thanksgiving displays for their local church or school. Traditionally we celebrate abundant crops in the UK shortly after the children go back to school in September.
Barley (above) is one crop commonly found in Great Britain, alongside Wheat and other cereals. A traditional way of displaying these is by making a wheat sheaf – I made the one in the pic below using both Barley and Wheat.
Seasonal dried flower arrangements in warm tones
Why not carry the harvest theme into your home by creating arrangements using cereal stems and grasses like the ones above, bringing in shape and colour by adding dyed and natural flowers and foliage in seasonal shades.
In the pic above is the beginnings of an arrangement with grasses: natural brown Lagurus, dyed green Lagurus, natural Quaking grass, naturally pinkish Miscanthus and naturally pale green Oats. All it needs is some colour and form, here’s some inspiration:
In the pic above left to right:
- Top row: Achillea, Clover, Bulrush
- Middle row: orange Lagurus, Sunflower, naturally purple Nigella seed pods
- Bottom row: yellow Lonas with grasses, Protea compacta, Craspedia.
Other flowers might include natural Carthamus (orange), Roses (red), Amaranth (red), Sanguisorba (red), Helichrysum (red, orange, yellow), Sanfordii (yellow), and Goldenrod (yellow).
By the way, the only dyed item in the above pic is the orange Lagurus. So if dyed dried flowers are not your thing and you prefer them as nature intended, there’s plenty to choose from!
Architectural forms of autumnal seed pods
Seed heads and seed pods like the Nigella above are often seen in the garden at this time of year. Nigella is also known as Love-in-a-Mist and is common in the UK so don’t be too hasty to tidy up for the winter! Other seed heads you might find in the garden are Poppy (pic below), Honesty, Fennel, Carrot, Allium or Ammi. The architectural nature of these often brown stems means that they fit nicely into a soothing natural or minimalistic colour scheme.
Happy harvest :)