Decorating Essentials

The Project Heidi: Decorating 101 lesson today features our first Decorating Essential. When you are just getting started or space is tight, what are the essentials you need to have on hand for easy, inexpensive focal points?

My first choice is a pedestal bowl. It, literally and figuratively, elevates a simple bowl of fruit into a centerpiece.

Easy to change with the seasons, holidays, or color focus, a pedestal bowl can hold a variety of things. Probably the most simple way to fill the bowl is to browse the produce aisle at the grocery store. What is in season? What color jumps out at you?
After you've tried oranges, lemons, limes, tangerines, apples (red, green, a blush of pink), pomegranates, cranberries, mini pumpkins or gourds, and nuts, it is time to get creative.
Do you have a collection of small items in your home that has been begging to be displayed? Old door knobs, antique white buttons, vintage silver Christmas ornaments, a rock collection or souvenirs from a nature hike, your baby's wooden blocks (now that he is a teenager), a few abandoned birds' nests filled with hand-painted eggs...

Visit a flea market, junk shop, garage sale, or antique store. See what you can come up with! Old marbles or dice?

Don't have a pedestal bowl? I love this one. Or this one. Look on ebay or at a local flea market. I would start by purchasing a simple design. Depending on the style of your home try white, silver, wooden, or glass. If a new bowl isn't in the budget, look in your cupboards for a large, white serving bowl and begin with that.

Here is your assignment: I want you all to come up with items that could be displayed in a pedestal bowl. Anything that is not already mentioned in this post is fair game, and I know that all of you are more than capable of coming up with some creative ideas! Leave your suggestion(s) in the comments, and I will post our list in a few days.

For extra credit: A picture, of course! You know how much I appreciate my readers sharing pictures! If you email it to me, I will post it. Or give me a link to the picture on your blog, and I will share the link.