In this sophisticated homage to the harvest, Kathy Wright borrows from nature and the grocery store: squash, artichokes and persimmons chosen for their color and texture

Bountifall

The tourists have gone home. Beaches are almost bare. Nights turn cool and crisp. And there’s something in the air. It is fall in San Diego. Not the leaves-crackling-under-foot kind of fall you feel on the East Coast. No last burst of color before winter sets in. Here in the West, autumn is more muted and measured. But to many it’s the best time of year — and not just because of the weather. Fall is a respite before the mad holiday rush begins, a time to be thankful for family and friends. It’s also the season to make our homes welcoming and warm, comfortable, and bountiful.

We asked three designers to give us their take on fall decorating — and they took off. Bring the outside in, they advise — fabulous fall ideas are no farther than your own backyard or even the produce section at your grocery store. It’s piled high with fruits of the harvest — as well as ideas ripe for the picking. But first, feast on the next few pages as these inventive designers share decorating ideas you’re sure to fall for.

Leanne Michael, Owner And Creative Director Of Bella Fiore
Michael opened Bella Fiore — Italian for "beautiful flower" — in Rancho Santa Fe six years ago. This past June, she moved her business to the Cedros Design District (across from the train station), nearly quadrupling her space. Michael specializes in fine European florals, home and garden furnishings, design and event planning, and holiday décor.

What’s your inspiration for fall decorating?
"I’m completely, completely entranced by Napa harvest. That is my personal favorite and flavor. I am such a pumpkin girl! My grandmother calls me pumpkin so it’s always been in my life. It’s my favorite color. Everything that has to do with pumpkins is really the most fun for me. [In the fall,] the shadows are different, the air is different, everything is so different. And I just love it. It’s the best time of year in California, by far. I like to mix in the grapes and the old baskets, old wagons, and really amazing branches and nests, anything that comes from a natural state of decorating.

What hints do you have for the "do-it-yourselfer?"
"Pull things out of your own garden when you’re cutting back your trees. A lot of people have pomegranate trees in their own yard and very few people eat them. That’s an ornamental fruit that can stay from fall all the way into Christmas and look beautiful all that time. It’s nothing that’s going to spoil on your counter...you can use natural elements like that in your décor. People spray paint them, they do different, fun things to them, but I prefer them in their natural state. Dried hydrangea is breathtaking this time of year. And the way to get them to not shed as much is to spray them with hairspray. You just don’t want to have open flames." (858/481-5930, www.bellafioreinc.com)

Doug Dolezal, Partner, Miller/Dolezal Design Group
Dolezal heads up a full-service interior design business and is a sought-after lecturer on design topics. He just opened his new atelier between Mille Fleurs and Thyme in the Ranch, offering custom furnishings, decorative antiques, cool accessories, and gifts.

Give us your philosophy on fall decorating.
"I always think of fall as abundant...so whatever you do, do it kind of big, lots of scale, so it’s abundant looking. And it’s the harvest. So something I think would be really unusual and beautiful — I’ll probably do this Thanksgiving — a huge bowl with pineapples, big pineapples. Stack them up ten or 15 of them. They’re sculptural, they’re architectural, they look beautiful."

Dolezal suggests cutting pieces of palm from your yard and tucking them around the pineapple for a lush look. "It’s got a little bit of a tropical feel to it," he says, "but at the same [time] has this really handsome look."

He also loves big baskets filled with "pretty flowering things" in the living room and entryway. "Get a big basket, fill it full of acacia leaves and beautiful greenery, tuck in some pots and mums — put a couple of pumpkins around it. Those are things you can do by your front door that gives it a seasonal look without it being kitschy...But then, if you’re going to do the kitsch thing — go for it and make it really fun!" (858/759-1744, www.mddg.com)

Kathy Wright, Owner Of Kathy Wright & Company
Wright is a floral and event designer with more than 30 years of experience, specializing in parties, weddings, and corporate functions. She loves to create an entire look for her clients from table linens to lighting, lush foliage to florals.

Where do you draw your inspiration this time of year?
Absolutely nature...just in the things you see every single day. I think a lot of artists would answer that. I can’t draw a straight line without a ruler but I still consider myself an artist because the tools I use to paint the picture are pieces of art. I consider nature the highest form of art there ever was. So I look outside and I can see beauty in everything, from a cluster of pepper berries on a pepper berry tree to an interesting shape of weed on the side of Friars Road as I drive home. So it’s just really in what your eye sees and how you appreciate it."

What tips do you have for the home decorator?
"Look to the places you go every week. If you go to Henry’s, if you go to Costco, if you go to the grocery store, look in the produce section. What’s new and different that’s out there that hasn’t been there all summer long? That’s going to give you a clue.

Use the things that are around you. Don’t feel like you have to go to some big wholesale house or you have to go to a flower market. Use the things that are there within your reach. Think outside the box. And think in terms of ’Gosh, I’m looking into my backyard. What do I see? What can I clip? How can I make this work?'" (619/299-2520, www.kathywrightandco.com) — Andrea Naversen, photos by Alan Linn and Vincent Knakal