Video: Triathlete Helps Us Plan Ahead with Fall Garden Design

Irwin Weiner ASID - I admit that I'm an interiors kind of guy, but I love a beautiful garden. It's more than curb appeal - those lush outdoor rooms add so much charm and extended living and entertaining space to a home. Now that autumn is officially here, it's time to start planning your fall garden design process, using these optimum weeks to plant new specimens, flesh out beds, and make those key transplants. My gardening goals are always to have a "swath" of color and texture and to try to have plants that add color and interest throughout the growing season - not just a burst of springtime hues and then washed-out greens throughout the rest of the summer and early fall. This video features an interview with Tracy DiSabato-Aust, triathlete/gardener and author of the book The Well-Designed Mixed Garden, and her tips for how to best plan your garden around this time of year.

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Quick-and-Easy Entertaining Basics

Irwin Weiner ASID - You can never have too many accessories on hand to pull off last-minute home entertaining stunts. A spur-of-the-moment dinner for 10? Unexpected call from the new neighbors? Don't be caught with your hospitality pants down! This fun video from Curbly/Get Nested's host Meg Allan Cole and her article on Quick Tips for Easy Entertaining should help you pull it all together - when an entertainment emergency arises - and come across like the gracious host I know you are. Like the Boy Scouts, homeowners need to Be Prepared ... and it's time to bring gracious, generous, good-spirited home entertainment back into vogue.

FOR MORE ADVICE: Design2Share also has some quick entertaining and tabletop decor tips. Watch the video that Nicola and I put together called How Do I Set a Great Table?

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How Many Ways Can You Decorate with Gourds and Pumpkins?

Irwin Weiner ASID - This time of year there's a plethora of pumpkins and an engorged supply of gourds ... and precious little imagination when it comes to decorating with them. Plop a few here and there, line them up on windowsills, put a grouping of three by the front door. <yawn> It's what I call Fall (Asleep) Decorating. 

Well, if you'd like to escape from the boring same-old seasonal decor traps, I came across a Gorgeous Gourds and Pumpkins photo series and how-to guide with a good many novel ideals - praise be! - for putting these underutilized seasonal goodies to work in your home. Put a beautiful and original fall centerpiece on your breakfast or dinner table to put your family and friends in a more festive mood. Brighten up

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Fall Food - and Halloween Spider Treats

Irwin Weiner ASID - Happy Halloween, all you gremlins, ghosts, and ghouls out there in the blogosphere! We wanted to give a nod to everyone who's feverishly planning their party costumes (I just dropped a bundle on accessories to go with my 1980s-themed costume - and they're pretty hideous, if I do say so myself).

But "not hideous" is the concept of eating seasonally - eating what's grown locally and deliciously natural to celebrate the season. (No fair splurging on out-of-season food that's been jetted-in from Timbuktu, with a carbon footprint the size of Manhattan.) Carpe Season is a food blog that celebrates seasonal food, like the delicious Corn Chowder with Chilies (see top photo) ... and Minnesota blogger Liz has a way of photographing and writing about favorite recipes that she discovers in cookbooks. Check out her Fall Menus to enjoy some seasonally-appropriate food with a twist - I also loved her My Fall Cooking Playlist (music she likes to play while cooking during this gloriously crisp season) - and enjoy the following video with the Carpe Season duo of Liz and her husband Eric creating some spookily delicious (and totally junk food) Halloween Spider Treats!

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