MY FALL FIREPLACE DECOR

pumpkins, baskets + gourds — oh my!

 
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I’ve been scheming and dreaming about festive fall and holiday decorating since we moved in our house seven months ago, guys. No exaggeration. It may be 80 (read: 92) degrees in Charlotte today but it’s September and I refuse to allow the lingering, Carolina heat stifle my seasonal decorating any longer, friends. It’s officially fall in the Conti-Tramontana house and we’ve got a pretty, pumpkin-packed fireplace to prove it.

As excited as I was about flocking every available surface of our home with pumpkin and squirrel figurines alike, I knew that I needed to be strategic and realistic with my budget. One of the best design tips I’ve learned over the years is that decorating your home should be a marathon, not a sprint. Not only will this mindset save you from breaking your budget on unnecessary accents you’ll probably hate in two years but it also ensures that your decor has a personal and curated look that evolves and adapts to your personal style over the years.

Keeping this tip in mind, I decided to throw my seasonal decor budget and attention towards the heart of our home: the open-concept living room and kitchen. The focal point in this space is a tie between the wrap-around wall of windows and our soon-to-be remodeled stone fireplace. Regardless of my intense loathing of our stone fireplace, I knew I would have to decorate it because it’s FALL, ya know? The goods new here it that throughout my journey of decorating my fireplace for fall, I’ve discovered that there are very few situations in design (and life, for that matter) that a voluptuous pile o’ pumpkins can’t fix.

Rather than draw attention to the parts of the fireplace I dislike (the entire exterior of the structure), I chose to narrow my scope and decorate with the intention to draw the eyes away from the sad, stoney façade and inward — literally — to a festive, fall firebox overflowing with pastel pumpkins and gourds, galore.

Want to recreate the look at home? Follow my step-by-step instructions below and don’t forget to share your final, festive results with me on Instagram @- or at hello@mariaconti.co

 

How to: Pile Pumpkins in Your Firebox


MATERIALS:

  • 1 ANDIRON

  • 1-3 FOOTED SERVING BOWLS
    must be able to support weight of pumpkin(s)

  • 1 WOVEN BASKET TRAY

  • 4-8 FAUX MINIATURE PUMPKINS
    pictured here in bright-white, silver, navy and ivory

  • 2 FULL MOON or BLANCO PUMPKINS
    pictured here with smooth white exterior + green stems

  • 2 FAIRYTALE PUMPKINS
    pictured here in two varieties; stout white with white stem (front)
    and sage green with green stem + rounded square silhouette (back)

  • 3 SMALL PUMPKINS
    pictured here in ivory and speckled green-and-cream

  • 1 FRECKLED GREEN + WHITE GOURD
    large

  • 1-3 PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS
    or similar

METHOD:

  1. Rinse your natural gourd and pumpkins in the sink, using a vegetable scrubber to remove excess dirt. Set aside to dry.

  2. Remove any debris from your firebox and clean interior with fire-safe products. While you’re hunched over, go ahead and treat your andiron to a nice, deep-cleaning, too.

  3. Nestle your woven basket tray in the back of your firebox. Lean against back wall for now.

  4. Balance a footed serving bowl on andiron. Place 1 fairytale pumpkin into the basin of the bowl. Using the footed serving bowl as a pedestal creates an illusion of fullness and adds height to the display.

  5. Lay the large gourd on andiron to provide stability to footed bowl.

  6. Balance 1 Full Moon pumpkin between the firebox ledge and andiron. Display your second Full Moon pumpkin outside the firebox, positioned horizontally to the first.

  7. Add 1 fairytale pumpkin to exterior of firebox, bridging the gap between the two Full Moon pumpkins. This is where you will begin to see the “overflowed” look.

  8. Fill in the remaining gaps of the display with a mixture of faux and fresh miniature pumpkins. Use plastic bags (or similar product) to fill any awkward holes, provide support to the small pumpkins and even add height to your display.

  9. Gently lean woven basket tray against the footed serving bowl pumpkin to create the illusion of an overflowing harvest basket.

  10. Snap 100 pics for the ‘Gram and tag me ASAP.


So easy, right? Let me know what you think in the comments down below.
Thanks for reading! xoxo

Maria Conti Tramontana