Turquoise and Orange: Summer to Fall Decorating Hack

Today we hit a record high on the heat index at our house – 115 degrees in the shade! In the 28 years I have lived in this valley, it has never been this hot and certainly not this hot in late September! So how do you combat this record heat when all you want to do is decorate for fall? By adopting my turquoise and orange summer to fall decorating hack!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Pier One to look for Halloween things to add to our ever burgeoning Halloween collection. And, I found this small, lovely turquoise and orange table runner in their marked-down bin. Blue is my favorite color and although I have a hard time committing to a specific shade of blue, I think secretly that turquoise may be at the top of my blue list of favorites. I knew this runner would fit perfectly on our small kitchen table, so I snapped it right up.

Then, a trip to the grocery store and guess what? Pumpkins everywhere! I couldn’t resist those, either, and loaded up my cart with 10 pumpkins! You see, I have Pumpkin Fever and if you’ve followed my blog for the last 3 years, you’d know that I’m pumpkin crazy.

I bought 4 of these darling little pumpkins with their twisted vines still attached. Plus, I bought 3 smaller pumpkins, 2 pie pumpkins, and a larger pumpkin. Then the next time I went to the grocery store, I bought a Cinderella pumpkin! And, it isn’t even October yet.

I already had this great set of blue bottles encased in a metal framework and knew they would be perfect. And, right now our Red Mexican Bird of Paradise bushes are in full bloom. Aren’t they gorgeous? Here’s a close-up:

And another…

The downside of this amazing bush is that the flowers, once cut, last a maximum of two days. This lovely bush is meant to enjoy outside, but if you are lucky enough to have several in your yard, you can pick a bouquet to last just the day.

The upside of owning this bush is that it is hardy, prolific, self seeds, drought tolerant, can hold up in hot weather (but doesn’t do well in colder climates), can grow to 15 feet high as well as wide and blooms for many months. I believe the actual correct name of this bush is Red Bird of Paradise without the word “Mexican” in it, but when I asked what it was in a nursery years and years ago, they referred to it as a “Mexican Bird of Paradise”. But, a true Mexican Bird of Paradise bush only has yellow flowers and as you can see by this glorious burst of sunset colors, the Red Bird of Paradise is shades of red, orange and yellow tinged in fuchsia.

Anyway, I set up my tablescape, my turquoise and orange summer to fall decorating hack, and pleased with the result, set about photographing it for this blog. And, this is what happened next:

Coco! Not to be left out of anything that remotely appears to be “fun”, Coco jumped on the table to see what I was doing.

So, he sniffed and he explored and he stuck his head in the middle of the flowers, knocking some off their branches…

And he ordered me to quit taking his picture (of course, I ignored that request).

Then he plopped down at the end of the table with his back to the tablescape and proceeded to ignore me (he hates to have his picture taken, but I’m determined to make him an internet sensation at some point, so he just might as well get used to it).

So he gave me the evil eye…

Mellowed his countenance a little to disdain…

Allowed me an almost perfect portrait shot…

And a profile shot (such cute paws!)…

Then took a nap!

So, I just kept taking oodles of pictures of my turquoise and orange summer to fall decorating hack to the point that I had about 160+! I overdid the photo op and it took me awhile to narrow it down to these 20! So, you get the benefit of seeing my tablescape of the Red Mexican Bird of Paradise flowers and mini pumpkins on a turquoise and orange table runner from every possible conceivable angle!

And, if that isn’t enough, here’s one to pin to your Pinterest board (please share!)…

Red Mexican Bird of Paradise, mini pumpkins with twisty vines, blue glass bottle vases and a turquoise Mexican tablerunner – the perfect Turquoise and Orange: Summer to Fall Decorating Hack! And, it was so easy!

Just in case you have pumpkin fever, too, here are links to some pumpkin posts from years past: