How to Design Your Fall Tablescape in 8 Easy Steps

After this extreme heat wave in Newport Beach, California, I am more excited than usual for fall to arrive! Not only does fall bring cooler weather, beautiful autumn leaves, and pumpkin spice lattes, but it also is the perfect excuse to get out my favorite fall decor (and shop for some new items). What’s the first place I start my little seasonal home makeover? My dining room table.

A beautiful fall tablescape can really transform the look and feel of your home. It’s especially fun to decorate your table for big events like Halloween or Thanksgiving, or even an intimate dinner party. We’ve put together 8 easy steps to help you design the perfect fall tablescape. While these tips may be tailored for fall, these 8 easy steps can help you design a beautiful tablescape for any occasion or season!

1. Determine your color palette

The first step in designing your fall tablescape is to choose your color palette. You can opt for a theme like traditional fall colors (orange, neutrals, maroon, navy, ivory, gold) or nature-themed colors (variations of greens, browns, rusty orange)...

…or you can choose a more bold and moody option like deep, darker shades of purple, green, black, and orange.

Alternatively, you can pick a modern and simplified color palette—think black and white with a pop of color, or an all-white and gold table. 

Whichever design style you decide to go with, make sure to choose colors that complement each other. We’ve included a design color wheel to help remind you of what colors go well together.

2. Choose your main focal point

While beautiful centerpieces are guaranteed to steal the show at your next event, you don’t always have to make a big centerpiece the main focal point of your fall tablescape. In fact, something more simple like a patterned napkin, seasonal pumpkin, or single-stem flowers could do the trick. The best way to decide is to think about the vibe you want to create. Is it a soothing, simplified, modern look that you’re going for? Or an all-out “more is more” show stopping display? We love looks on all ends of the spectrum, so choose what speaks to you. Here are a few designs to help inspire you!

3. Go for a layered look 

How do you create that high-class designer fall tablescape? Layers! Start with a tablecloth, and then continue to add more layers—table runners, placemats, and a variety of dinnerware. Then add napkins, place cards, gifts for guests, and get creative with other decor items like cutting boards, themed tchotchkes or twinkle lights for a unique touch.

We’re swooning over this Thanksgiving tablescape by Denby Pottery. Notice how a pop of blue is layered with neutral colors. And then they topped the layered dinnerware with a mini cutting board and miniature pumpkin for each place setting—adorable!

We also love this totally eclectic table design that layers…well, everything! Check out Leaf Home Blooms fall collection of fabric pieces, candles, dinnerware, glassware, and much more. We love how they added layers and varying heights with a cake pedestal.

4. Mix and match 

We use this tip in almost every design blog we write—and that’s because it works. To avoid looking matchy-matchy or worse, outdated, try mixing and matching types of dinnerware, flatware, fabrics, patterns and materials. It’s easy to create balance in a tablescape because of the repetition of items so mix up those materials with wood, copper, glass, and various textures, sizes, heights, etc. We love the way these two fall tablescapes came out!

5. Bring in a little nature

During fall, pumpkins are everywhere! While we absolutely love decorating with all different varieties, colors and sizes of pumpkins during fall, there are a ton of other ways you can bring a little nature into your fall tablescape. Decorate with traditional flower centerpieces or consider lengthier pieces of garland, eucalyptus, or even a mixture of plants, flowers and pinecones for long tables. 

For something more out-of-the box, try decorating with fall fruits!

Depending on the mood of the occasion, we recommend adding sprigs, leaves and/or other fresh or dried plants on top of plates instead of decorating with huge centerpieces.

6. Use items of varying heights

Tip number six is one of our favorite decorating tips—and it’s especially helpful when decorating your table or other smaller spaces. Choosing decor items with varying heights helps move your eye, adds interest, and most importantly, makes your table look and feel less busy. In other words, you can fit more on your table without compromising your design style. 

Picking candles and glassware with varying heights is not your only option. In fact, one of our favorite ways of adding height variety is through floral arrangements! An airy arrangement can add the verticality you’re looking for without blocking the view of the person across the table.

7. Choose your glassware

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's important to remember to always set out a water goblet and a wine glass for your guests. If you are planning a dinner party, you may even want to consider a third glass or cup for cocktails, mocktails or coffee. The glassware can really add a little glamor to the table. Personally, we love pairing glassware with copper cups in the fall (moscow mule anyone?) and mixing and matching the style of glassware itself. 

8. Incorporate candles

Nothing creates that fall feeling as much as a cinnamon-scented or pumpkin-scented candle—at least for me! And candles on a fall tablescape can completely change the mood of the room. Decorative candles create ambiance and warmth, relieve stress, and signify a celebration or romance. Bonus: candles also help add layers, depth and varying heights to your table!

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Interior Design: Best Tips to Decorate Your Living Room

Interior design is all about layering and mixing things you love—colors, patterns, furniture, and decor pieces—in a cohesive way and if done well, it will draw you into the space. As one of the most multifunctional spaces in your home (a spot for friends and family to gather, a place to relax, etc.), the living room should be designed to draw you in. Our best design tips for decorating your living room can help make that happen! 

When you’re finished reading these interior design tips, don’t forget to check out our Best Tips to Decorate Your Bathroom and 7 Best Tips to Decorate Your Bedroom to pull your whole house together. 

Be mindful of the use of space.

Before you get started, think about what you’d like to use your living room for—Entertaining? Lounging? Define its functionality. Then you can start to think about what type of furniture you need to make that happen. 

In the picture above, we needed to create a place for the whole family to hang out, so a large sectional sofa was the perfect choice. But with a three-piece chaise sectional like this, there was very little space left for a coffee table. We paired the sofa with a round coffee table, so the family is not bumping into corners as they walk around it. We also took note of the furry family member and opted for carpet tiles that can be easily replaced if the dog ruins any of them instead of replacing a large area rug.

Decorate for comfort.

Our next interior design tip for decorating your living room is this: decorate in a way that feels comfortable to you! At the end of the day, you want to come home to a space that feels good to you, not just what is popular or trendy. The colors and the design style you choose set the mood for your living room, and the furniture you pick determines your physical level of comfort. For this living room, we intentionally picked chairs that not only look great and set a nice casual vibe, but that also feel wonderful to sink into at the end of the day.

Design around the fireplace. 

Brace yourself, we have some surprising news: the living room furniture does not always have to point toward a TV... You might find that your living room can be all the more relaxing without one. For the living room space shown above, we made the fireplace instead of the TV our focal point. We hung beautiful artwork above it and incorporated an amazing ottoman coffee table (found at a consignment store) to pull out the darker blues in the artwork and bring in just the right amount of pattern into an otherwise simple space. We also added some classy barrel swivel chairs to give our clients a cozy conversational place to hang out around the fireplace that could also be turned to watch TV when desired.

Get creative with your storage spaces.

One way to make your home look more spacious and sophisticated is to get creative with your storage spaces. For example, we absolutely love the way this custom floating cabinet turned out in our client’s living room! We felt it was the perfect modern touch to contrast with more traditional trim throughout the home. Here are a few other furniture pieces to consider selecting for additional storage space: 

• Multi-use bench with drawers or a seat that opens up

• A storage ottoman for extra blankets or pillows

• A coffee table with storage below for reading material or otherwise

• An end table with a drawer for remotes or pens, etc.

Mix up and balance your finishes.

A great way to make your home feel like it came straight out of a magazine is to decorate with a mix of finishes. Hold on, hold on—before you start mixing and matching furniture with abandon (which we do recommend over purchasing a matching set of furniture), consider the balance of the finishes around the space. For example, if you introduce a light wood like the dining table in the room above, use that finish again somewhere across the room like we did in the TV console doors. You can’t see it in the photo, but our client has a white console with a black top in their entryway, so we balanced that with the white frame of the TV console. We also added touches of black with the dark coffee table and the dining chairs to balance the black of the TV and the dark wood on the floors.

Make bold statements.

The living room is a great place to make a bold design statement and there are so many ways you can do this! 

Take our first photo for example. High contrast of the black brick fireplace in this beautiful white living room makes a bold modern statement which is softened by some pretty muted blues and punctuated with modern angular art.

Here we chose to hang very bold artwork and opted for a bold blue velvet sofa to match. 

If you’re looking to make a statement without going too bold, try giving your living room a little pizzazz by painting an accent wall. Here we chose to paint the back of the bookshelves to match the fireplace tile. Then we tied the rug in by adding some custom pillows that pull all the colors together. Which brings us to our next tip…

Use pillows to tie in other decor elements. 

Pillows have another important function beyond comfort.  Throw pillows can be used to tie other decor elements (like paintings and photographs) in your living room together. Incorporating throw pillows is one of the easiest ways to add style to your living room and can make a dramatic difference in creating a cohesive and complete look. Pro tip: let your throw pillows have their own personality, but make sure to coordinate the colors in the pillows with the colors around the room and vary the scale in the patterns you use.  Here we used a large striped mused with a solid as well as a small block print blue pillow.

Complete the look with accessories.

It’s amazing how adding accessories can make your living room feel complete. Here’s a snippet of a family room where we layered the coffee table with a tray, box to hide remotes, books and a few decorative objects that tied together the natural finishes and golden shimmer, all in the same spot. We topped it off with a little greenery to bring the home to life!

At Viève Interiors, it is our mission to help homeowners love where they live because happy homes are the most beautiful homes! If you need help creating a living room that you absolutely love to come home to, contact us! 

Save this blog post for later on your Pinterest Living Room Ideas Board!

Turn Your Orange County Living Room into a Winter Wonderland

[Insert instrumentals] “Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'? In the lane, snow is glistenin', a beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland...” (If singing in your head is not enough, here’s a link to Michael Bublé’s version of “Winter Wonderland” 😉)

A lot of people dream of having a white winter—but living in Orange County, California, means a white winter is next to impossible. Unless...you bring your winter wonderland inside your home...

With the help of our interior design tips, you can easily turn your Orange County living room into an elegant winter wonderland this season! 

Here are our 5 tips to turn your Orange County living room into a winter wonderland:

1. Change your Colors for the Season

If you want to achieve that classy look of a winter wonderland, add as much white as possible into your living room. To accent, add splashes of cream, gold and silver. These colors help to and depth and dimension and elevate the interior design of your living room for the entire winter season. You can also opt for clear, shiny and/or sparkly accent pieces. 

Start by giving your sofa a makeover. Throw on a slipcover, change your throw pillows, and add a new cozy blanket. In fact, we found beautiful white throws and pillows at west elm. We also recommend warming up cold toes by adding a furry white rug this winter season. For more tips on how to make your home feel cozy this season, check out or blog. 

2. Make Use of Your Fireplace & Furniture

There is nothing like a roaring fire to help bring the outdoors inside, so be sure to make good use of your fireplace this winter. Display extra wood by the fireplace for both functionality and style. Decorate your mantle with frosted greenery or snow-dusted pine cones, or a collection of white candles on light wood, silver or gold candlestick holders and fake white trees. 

Bottom line: have fun! Decorate your coffee table, side tables, and entertainment units with pieces that you really love. This time of year, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding decorations that fit within the winter wonderland color palette. So, shop around. We love to incorporate winter animal figurines in gold or silver like these cute but classy 9" Silver Reindeer from Crate & Barrel to help bring the feeling of a winter wonderland inside.

3. Create a Snowy Space

To make your home feel like a true winter wonderland, create a snowy space. Use cotton batting or other artificial snow products for your tables, mantels and other areas in your living room. For a shimmering effect, spray your fake snow with a glitter spray. You can also frost your windows with spray snow for an extra wintery touch. 

For this tip, we’ve included a couple specific ideas. Lay down a sheet of fake snow and create a snowy village by placing white, ceramic homes down. You can put your village in the entryway of your home or across the mantel. Handmade Ceramic Christmas Village Houses from Pottery Barn could be exactly what your winter wonderland is missing. 

We got our next suggestion from eHow: “An option for centerpieces or vases is to use floral gel crystals. Look for them in the floral section of a craft store. Water mixed with the crystals turns it into a snowlike texture. Place it in a shallow bowl and arrange candles or glass Christmas ornaments in it for a festive centerpiece.” 

4. Dress Up a Fake Tree 

While we love the smell of a real douglas fir, our next tip for turning your Orange County living room into a winter wonderland is this: consider purchasing a fake tree that is white or snow-dusted.

Then, dress your tree to the nines! Remember, to keep with the winter wonderland theme, choose white, cream, gold and/or silver ornaments. You can also decorate with clear glass, shiny or sparkly ornaments to make your tree the real star of the show! Ornaments can also be snow-themed such as snowmen, snowballs, or snowflakes. We recommend these beautiful Hammond Ornaments from Anthropology. For your tree topper, consider either a silver or gold star.

Lastly, swap out your traditional-colored tree skirt for a solid cream or white, or consider one with gold or silver accents.

5. Add Twinkly Lights Everywhere

For the final touch, add twinkly lights anywhere and everywhere in your living room during the winter season. This will bring your winter wonderland to life and light up decorations so they really stand out. Sprinkle some glittering lights on the mantle in between your decorations, throughout your holiday tree, and inside the snow you have placed throughout your home. The Electric LED String Lights from West Elm will work perfectly to enhance your winter wonderland, especially if used throughout the snow.

If you’re looking to stage your home for the winter season, or a special occasion, we’d love to help! To get started, set up a consultation with Viève Interiors today. 

Interior Design: Best Tips to Update Your Bathroom

A quick Google search for the best bathroom interior design tips will return ideas and suggestions to make your bathroom appear bigger (‘opt for larger mirrors’ and ‘let in a lot of natural light’ being a couple of our favorites), to tips for designing a bathroom that is both stylish and functional (we find that the best spaces are both beautiful and practical, would you agree?), and, of course, everything in between.

We’ve put together our best interior design tips to decorate your bathroom, whether you want to spruce it up a bit, or change the look all together. 

SWAP OUT YOUR PLUMBING FIXTURES & CABINET HARDWARE

Changing up your cabinet knobs, faucets, towel racks, and toilet paper holders will make a world of difference for the aesthetics of your bathroom as it’s one of the quickest ways to change the overall look of your bathroom.

We suggest taking photos of the space and each fixture before taking everything off.  This way you can reference your photos to know if you need a single hole, widespread, or center-set faucet.  To switch out your shower head or on/off valve you’ll need to note the brand and type (or better yet, bring the old one with you) to make sure your new faucet fits the rough plumbing in the wall.  If you're replacing the tile and rough plumbing, you don’t need to worry about this and can select a whole new brand and type throughout.  We also highly suggest bringing old cabinet hardware (one of each) with you when shopping so you know what size pulls you need.  But feel free to select a completely different finish and style to really change things up!  You can choose a brand new set in brass, gold, copper, bronze, nickel, chrome, or stainless steel.

Pro tip

Use a good mix of metal finishes in the bathroom.  Just keep all plumbing fixtures the same while selecting a different finish for cabinet hardware or light fixtures.  Here we used glossy chrome plumbing fixtures and hardware, coupled with a matte black metal shower frame and matte black metal fixtures on the towel rack.

Upgrading your tub, shower and sink can also change the entire look of your bathroom, if you’re up for a little more work. You may need to replace countertops or tile, but this update can give you a really relaxing, peaceful place for you to unwind when you need it most.

Choose a freestanding tub

with wall-mounted fixtures to create a luxurious spa feeling while providing a modern and classy look like we did in this bathroom remodel.

TILES, TILES AND MORE TILES

Our next interior design tip to renovate your bathroom is to upgrade your tile.  Select coordinating tiles for the floor, your shower walls, shower pan, and an accent wall or detail.  Pro Tip: one way to add simple, yet effective detail that will tie your design together is to use your accent tile or shower-pan tile on the back of your shower niche. 

Cut costs

by using an Ikea vanity with a sink/countertop combo like we did here, we were able to splurge on this beautiful blue tile floor. Choosing a patterned tile floor is one way to add some fun pizzazz in a small space.

Make a bold statement

by tiling one of your bathroom walls. Here we chose a neutral-colored, matte tile to go with glossy fixtures to add interest and draw you into this spa-feeling dream space.

Create a unique pattern

using untraditional tiles or mix up the direction of a simple subway tile like we did in this shower. Instead of laying tile in straight rows, mixing up the orientation will give you a fresh take.

GO MINIMALIST

If you’re eager to change the look of your bathroom but not quite ready to commit to a full upgrade, go for a white, clean, minimalist style. Clean white lines and a few organic touches to your bathroom can change the entire look. First step: declutter your space. Decluttering is especially helpful if you have a small bathroom—minimal decor can make any space look larger, sleeker, and cleaner.

Next: Create a place for everything. 

Hide any toiletries and items that you want unseen in cabinets and decorative baskets, or on shelves. In this modern bathroom we designed, custom cabinets create a storage space for everything you need.  You can also shop for baskets at places like Target and HomeGoods to corral your products and keep things feeling tidy. 

ADD A POP OF COLOR

The ways in which you can add a pop of color to your bathroom are endless. You can easily, and cost effectively, add some color to your bathroom by changing out your towels and bath mat (try draping a modern, colorful bath mat over a white standalone tub), or incorporating a few succulents or houseplants.

If you love a white or neutral bathroom

try adding a little color with sheer drapes like this design by Kate Walker. We appreciate what a difference the drapes make while still feeling subtle and cohesive with the warmth of the wood tone.

To change the look of your bathroom décor,

consider a bold ceiling paint, creating an accent wall, or changing the color of your current vanity.  In fact, a simple coat in a fresh shade can make the bathroom feel new. We selected this cabinetry in a soft blue-grey to accentuate the cool relaxing vibe.

Play with color

by painting your bathroom door like this Oakland bath by Katie Martinez. With plenty of white to go around, the door adds welcome contrast.

Another way to add a pop of color

to your bathroom is to opt for a stained glass window. While this is not usually our go-to interior design style, we love the way it ties this bathroom all together.

DETAILS, PATTERS & TEXTURES

Sometimes a fresh bathroom design can come from paying close attention to the small details. For example, incorporating a variety of textures into your bathroom can be all you need to see a drastic change. 

We used fluted white cabinetry

and a distinctly-shaped mirror to create that ‘wow factor’ in this clean space.

Add texture to an all-white bathroom

by covering the walls in classic shiplap. 

Here we tied together various details

when we designed a powder room with a simple black and white color palate. We used intricate detail, patterns and different textures like the arched backsplash with unique curves, wallpaper for an accent wall, and gold wall-mounted fixtures and lighting. 

Interested in giving your bathroom a full makeover, minor facelift, or just a little extra pizzazz? We’d love to help. Set up a free consultation with Viève Interiors today. 

Save this blog post for later on your Pinterest Bathroom Ideas Board!

Interior Design: Best Tips to Decorate Your Home

Living room designed by Viève Interiors

There are thousands millions of interior design tips that circle the web and fill design magazines all over the world—all aiming to help give your home a full makeover, minor facelift, or just a little extra pizzazz. 

We’ve pulled together our favorite designs and best tips (yes from other designers, but also from our very own collection of interior designs) to create our new blog series, Interior Design: Best Tips to Decorate Your Home. We will go room by room, starting with Interior Design: The Best Tips to Decorate Your Bathroom! 

Once you’ve got your bathrooms in tip top shape, don’t forget to read Interior Design: 7 Best Tips to Decorate Your Bedroom and Interior Design: Best Tips to Decorate Your Child’s Room so you can create the perfect cozy sleeping spaces for your whole family.

Next we’ve got Interior Design: Best Tips to Decorate Your Living Room so you can nail down your living room design to create a comfortable space that draws you in.

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Save this blog post for later on your Pinterest Home Decor Ideas Board!