Fall Decorating With Hydrangeas: Easy Ideas for Your Home

Simple ideas for fall decorating with hydrangeas, plus tips for using fresh and dried blooms to create cozy decor throughout your home.

There are a lot of things I love about our hydrangeas, but probably at the very top of the list is the fact that they become even prettier as summer comes to an end.

The bright white/lime green blooms slowly fade into gorgeous shades of creamy white, muted green, dusty pink, and rusty brown.

Basically, they become all of the colors I want to decorate with, once fall rolls around.

And since we have hydrangeas growing in our yard, decorating with them is as easy as grabbing my clippers and heading outside.

Over the years, I’ve filled pitchers and baskets with them, tucked dried blooms into unexpected places, and even turned them into a wreath.

So, I’m gathering some of my favorite hydrangea fall decorating ideas along with a few tips I’ve learned along the way.

If you’ve got hydrangeas growing in your yard, I want this to be your reminder that some of the best fall decor is growing right outside your door.

You just have to remember to look for it.

Why Fall Decorating With Hydrangeas is Simple and Easy

Hydrangeas are one of those flowers that does most of the decorating work for you.

Their big, full blooms mean you don’t need a lot of stems to make an impact, and as the flowers fade in fall, they naturally take on beautiful shades of green, blush, dusty pink, and brown.

Fill a pitcher with a handful of stems and call it done.

Or you can clip a single bloom and tuck it into a small bud vase or vintage vessel.

They also pair beautifully with the things you might already be using to decorate for fall like pumpkins, candles, baskets, and warm wood tones.

Plus, if you have hydrangeas growing in your yard, decorating with them doesn’t cost a thing.

Heidi’s Tips and Tricks for Decorating With Hydrangeas in Autumn

There’s literally no right or wrong way to decorate with hydrangeas which makes them the perfect flower for us inexperienced “flower arrangers”.

Here are a few of the simple ways I’ve used both fresh and dried hydrangeas around our home through the years.

Think Outside the Box, Look Beyond the Traditional Vase

You don’t need a traditional flower vase to make a pretty hydrangea arrangement.

In fact, I think using something that wasn’t necessarily meant for flowers makes an arrangement so much more interesting.

Look around your home for pitchers, crocks, soup tureens, vintage vessels, or baskets.

For fresh hydrangeas, whatever you use just needs to hold water or be large enough to hide a smaller container that does.

Let Hydrangeas be Your Fall Color Scheme

You don’t have to pair hydrangeas with orange flowers to make them feel appropriate for fall.

As the season changes, hydrangeas start to change along with it.

Bright summer blooms fade into muted shades of green, blush, dusty pink, rust, and eventually brown.

Basically, Mother Nature has already done the hard work of choosing your fall color palette for you.

Take a cue from those colors when you’re decorating the rest of your home.

A bowl of apples, a few white pumpkins, vintage transferware pieces, or a cozy plaid or gingham pattern can pull out the different shades in the hydrangea flowers.

Don’t Overthink Your Hydrangea Arrangements

I am no expert when it comes to creating flower arrangements, so the good news is that when it comes to hydrangeas, you don’t have to be!

Their large, fluffy blooms take up so much space that you really don’t need to do much to make an arrangement look full.

I typically clip a handful of stems from the yard, bring them inside, remove a few leaves, and put them in whatever vessel I’m using.

Then I move the stems around until I think they look good.

That’s about as complicated as it gets.

Leave a Few Leaves on Fresh Hydrangeas

I don’t always remove every leaf from my hydrangea stems.

Leaving a few toward the top gives an arrangement that loose, freshly clipped-from-the-garden look.

You do however, want to remove any leaves that would be submerged in the water.

And don’t worry if a stem sticks out farther than the others or a leaf goes off in a funny direction.

A little imperfection makes an arrangement feel more natural.

Pair Hydrangeas With Simple Fall Favorites

Another reason hydrangeas work so well in fall decor is that they go with just about everything else I decorate with this time of year.

A basket of red apples.

White pumpkins.

A flickering fall candle.

Vintage dishes.

You don’t need all of those things at once, either.

Start with your hydrangeas and add one or two seasonal elements nearby.

I always believe that the simplest vignette is the one that ends up feeling the coziest.

Go Big When You Have Lots of Hydrangea Blooms

Sometimes more really is, well, more.

When our hydrangea bushes are overflowing, I’ll clip an armful and fill a big pitcher, basket, or other oversized vessel.

Because the blooms are so large, it doesn’t take much arranging to create something that makes a statement.

I especially love doing this on a kitchen island or anywhere I have enough room to let the arrangement be a little wild and unruly.

And if some of the stems flop over the side because they’re heavy?

Even better in my opinion!

Use Fresh Hydrangeas Now and Dried Hydrangeas Later

Here’s where you really get your money’s worth.

Well, technically our hydrangeas are from our yard, but you know what I mean!

Hydrangeas are a flower that you can enjoy long after you’ve clipped them.

I love using freshly cut hydrangeas around our home first, and then allowing them to dry so I can continue decorating with them throughout the fall season and even into the holidays.

I have an entire post on how to dry hydrangea stems that walks you through exactly how I do it….the lazy girl way.

Once they’re dried, you have even more decorating possibilities because you no longer have to worry about keeping them in water.

Tuck Dried Hydrangeas Into Unexpected Places Around Your Home

Once you don’t need a vase filled with water, just about anything can become a place to display them.

Tuck a few blooms into a basket on a shelf.

Fill a pretty bowl or vintage vessel.

Add a small dried bloom to a piece you already have displayed in your kitchen.

You don’t even need an entire stem.

I save smaller pieces because they’re perfect for filling those little empty spots where a full flower arrangement might be too much.

Make a DIY Dried Hydrangea Wreath

An easy way to use those dried hydrangea stems that might be too ugly for an arrangement or display is to turn them into a wreath.

A few brown petals, wonky blooms, or broken pieces aren’t nearly as noticeable once everything is tucked together on a wreath form.

Those imperfections give the wreath more texture, character, and personality.

How to Keep Fresh Cut Hydrangeas From Wilting

Hydrangeas can be a little finicky once they’re cut.

One minute they’re big and beautiful, and the next you notice they’re looking sad and droopy.

To help them last longer, bring your hydrangeas inside and get them into water as soon as you can after cutting.

Sometimes, I’ll even have a bucket of water outside with me to get them into water ASAP.

Remove any leaves that will be below the water line, give the stems a fresh cut at an angle, and place them in a clean vase filled with fresh water.

Hydrangeas are very thirsty flowers, so check the water level every day and refill the vase as needed.

What to do if You Don’t Have Hydrangeas Growing in Your Yard

If you don’t have hydrangea bushes growing in your yard, don’t worry, you can still use all of these ideas.

Check your local farmers’ market, farm stand, Trader Joe’s, or the floral department at your grocery store for fresh hydrangea stems.

Also, don’t overlook friends, family, or neighbors who might have a bush overflowing with blooms that may be more than happy to let you clip a few (just make sure you ask first).

Fake hydrangeas are another option.

Look for stems with natural color variation and slightly imperfect petals to get that same clipped from the garden look.

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Hydrangeas Aren’t Just for Fall Decorating

Even though we’re talking about decorating for fall, hydrangeas are most definitely not a one-season flower.

Fresh flowers are beautiful throughout the summer, and once dried, those same flowers can continue making their way around your home long after fall is over.

• Spring: Mix hydrangeas with fresh greenery and other spring flowers like tulips, daffodils, or peonies.
• Summer: Clip fresh hydrangeas straight from the bush for pitchers, baskets, and simple arrangements around your home.
• Fall: Embrace the faded greens, pinks, rusts, and browns in arrangements, wreaths, and fall displays.
• Christmas: Tuck dried flowers into your Christmas tree, garlands, or wreaths for extra texture.
• Winter: Display dried hydrangeas on their own in a pitcher, crock, or basket.

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xoxo, Heidi