Nature Inspired Fall Decorating & A Break-Up

September 25, 2013

Welcome to Fabulous Fall! I’m joining the amazing Jennifer Rizzo today along with 7 other talented bloggers to bring you some ideas and inspiration for Decorating with Natural Elements.

You know, I used to have this “faux” ficus tree.

I vividly remember seeing this big empty corner in our first apartment after we got married and telling my husband that we really needed to put a ficus tree there. I mean, my mom had one and his mom had one and surely that’s what married women do, right? They go buy ficus trees!

I took my newlywed self to the craft store and pulled every single ficus tree they had into the aisle so I could study them from all angles. Kind of like when you’re picking out a Christmas tree and need to make sure there aren’t any “bare” spaces.

Except in this case, I knew that at least I could bend the branches if I needed to fill in a spot!

I finally made up my mind and picked out THE BEST ficus tree and proudly took it home to our apartment and plunked it in a corner and declared the space “decorated”.

That ficus tree earned it’s keep. It went from apartment to apartment to town-house to first home. But, along the way it got sad…and more sad…and even more sad. Even though it was “faux”, the branches seemed to droop and the layers of dust began to build until it had a slightly “gray” tint to it.

It was at this point that I decided I would have to break up with my ficus tree. It wasn’t working for me anymore. I needed something fresh and new.

We had a “it’s not you, it’s me” conversation and I loaded it into the back of the car and donated it, trusting that it found a lovely new home in which to reside….and that they dusted it.

You see, I’m not one to ever declare that there is no room for “faux” in my life. I have “faux” orchids and “faux” boxwoods and I put on my “faux” face everyday thanks to foundation, concealer, tweezers, eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner and blush. 😉

But, there is just nothing like “real”, is there?

Real pumpkins, real gourds, real dried hydrangeas and real branches from the maple tree in my backyard.

They just give off a different vibe than the faux…you know? (Like my rhyming skills?)

A faux gourd would look fine…but a real one with a twisty stem sitting on a plate just makes me smile.

And there is nothing like the soft rustling of corn husks.

It seems I have a slight “thing” for corn husks. My corn husk wreath has made an appearance many a time around these parts but I never get tired of seeing it. Although you might be! 😉

And it’s just as easy to add real wheat to an urn as it is to add faux wheat, isn’t it?

But you simply can’t compare the beauty of the real deal to it’s faux counterpart.

I think my favorite thing about decorating with nature is how uncomplicated it is. The beauty of the elements, like pumpkins piled high in a silver bowl, stand on their own.

No need for too much embellishment.

Now, don’t get me wrong…

I’m not going completely and totally au naturale.

There will be foundation, concealer, tweezers (thank the good Lord!), eye shadow, eye liner and mascara.

There will be faux orchids and faux branches and faux berries and faux boxwoods.

But, more and more, there will also be nature. The celebration of the beauty of this Earth and all that is in it.

And I know with this approach to decorating I won’t ever have to have another “it’s not you, it’s me” conversation again!

Now, how about some more ideas and inspiration for decorating with nature?

Check out all of the other projects being shared as part of this fun Fabulous Fall Party!

Sharing this post here:

Be Inspired Party

Nifty-Thrifty Tuesday

Inspire Me Tuesday

44 Comments on "Nature Inspired Fall Decorating & A Break-Up"

Sort by: newest | oldest

Guest

Leave a Reply