I hope all of you are having a wonderful month so far and that you have had a chance to enjoy the November issue of At Home. It is packed full of gorgeous homes, and I am so excited to see the feature we shot last year at my outdoor Thanksgiving gathering! I am so thankful to the At Home team for all their hard work and to my patient (and good-looking!) friends for joining me. It was a great evening, and I hope you will be able to take away some good decorating ideas and recipes for your own holiday soirees this season. I can still taste all the delicious dishes prepared by Chef Jen Lewis. Yum! If you haven’t already seen the full article, check it out here. And get bonus recipes from this menu tomorrow, right here on the At Home blog!
Around the Outside the Box House, we have been having fun decorating for fall and enjoying the transition of the garden and surrounding landscape. Most of the summer annuals finally succumbed to freezing temperatures, so those have been removed to make way for tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs which we will be planting soon. To celebrate the season, we set out piles of pumpkins and gourds at the front garden gate and front door. I decided to go with a mostly-white-and-green theme this year, as well as with smaller, asymmetrical groupings. Don’t get me wrong: I loved last year’s pumpkin explosion! I just felt like something simpler this year.
As usual, I carried the theme to the large urns in the front garden by placing squashes and gourds among the asparagus fern which is left over from spring planting and still looks great. I also couldn’t resist showing a little botanical support for the Arkansas Razorbacks by adding red and white cyclamen. They have been going like gangbusters for almost a month now and also coordinate perfectly with the shirt of a friend who was visiting recently for a home football game. [You can see him relaxing on a bench in the front garden in the reflection in the window!]
In the planter boxes near the front door, we replaced the ivy and succulents that were planted under the boxwoods with a ‘mulch’ of mini pumpkins. This is one place where I deviated from the green and white theme, and I think the orange stripes look really nice against the dark brick of the house.
In the fountain garden, we floated more of the same mini pumpkins in the fountain for an unexpected, whimsical touch.
In decorating the front entry, we trimmed the variegated maiden grasses that flank the stairs to make the new pumpkins and gourds more visible. Instead of tossing the trimmings, our dedicated employees decided to make a couple of beautiful arrangements for tables inside and out. Recycling garden clippings like this is an easy way to get free material for decorating during any season, and who doesn’t like the sound of free?!!
We also recycled the ivy and succulents we removed from the front planter boxes to create this fun centerpiece for another table. The gilded skull was found by a friend at a local flea market and makes this a great conversation piece!
And that is just about it around here. Before I go, though, I thought I would share a couple more gates I saw recently on my travels. As I said last month, I love garden gates and entryways; for me, they add such a sense of intrigue! This grand gate marks the entrance to a historic horse farm near Lexington, KY.
And these much simpler portals lead to private courtyard gardens in Rosemary Beach, FL. Don’t you just want to go in and see what is behind them?
Thanks so much and Happy Thanksgiving. See you next month!
Exterior designer Daniel Keeley is an Arkansas native and founder/principal of DK Design. His work has won numerous awards and accolades and is featured regularly in various publications. For more information visit dkdesignoutdoor.com.
To see the progress at the “Out of the Box House,” read Daniel Keeley’s past updates!
