Key to the Good Life: Falling Into Place

Ahhh, fall. When the heat finally subsides and the cooler weather brings out the colors of the season. In Arizona, it’s the perfect time for entertaining and reconnecting.

So, how can you make your autumn evenings a bit brighter? We asked Dennis Thompson, the floral maestro and co-owner of White House Design Studio in Phoenix, for some ideas on how to make dinner parties stand out with creative table settings.

Garden Fresh

Dennis Says: This is basically a concept that you can mix and match. I don’t need to do patterns on all tables because I think it gets to be too much in a room. So, I like to do solids and accent them with a pattern. I was trying to do interchangeable things, where you could switch out any item you wanted if you wanted more of a contemporary look or more of a traditional look. And green isn’t neutral — it goes with everything, any time of the year.

Here, I’m also trying to do a bit of a different shape. More of a bespoken or Flemish style, so it’s not such a three-sided, well-rounded European. It’s a little bit more loose and airy, because I think that gives you more showiness and shows off the flowers. It’s a little bit more relaxed, and it’s not always the same.

Use vegetables and flowers. Use a lot of greens that you can get out of your yard because, in Arizona, you can grow all kinds of greenery. And I think you always have to have a little bit of a bling on something.

Textured Triumph 

Dennis Says: This one has a bit more texture because of the berries. In the fall, you can get so many textures with berries. Fall is a great time for that. We use a lot of white, which should make it pop because purples tend to turn to brown in a room — if you squint your eyes, they look brown. I tried to do the opposite, to make it brighter using white and green.

Pattern Play

Dennis Says: Mixed metals go in anyone’s home, and you see it in a lot of hotels. We went with yellow as a fall color instead of orange. Also, mixing patterns keeps it from being boring. Be inspired by textiles. And don’t be afraid to throw in a pattern, because some people don’t want to do patterns or are afraid of them. 

For more information, visit whitehouseflowers.com.