(MCT) — Did you have trouble letting go of summer? It happens to the best of us, especially in years when we never really seemed to have a summer.

But it's time to face facts and the calendar. It's October, and that means it's time to put away the pastels and primary colors and embrace the browns. But autumn is about transitions, and moving slowly into the cooler temperatures and warmer designs. You don't have to change everything at once, and Sunol-based interior designer and decorator Toni Berry says you don't even have to change everything.

"Keep the pillows, rugs, throws, draperies — they're too expensive," says Berry. "Look to your table tops, counter tops, coffee tables, bars, buffets, end tables, consoles; even your bathroom vanities can be turned into a fall display with fall colors. Those are the best places to switch out the season."

A good way to turn those flat spaces into autumn vignettes is with floral displays. Ria Sim, owner of Twigs Studio floral design in Danville, Calif., says a centerpiece or an accent display can set the tone for autumn without having to redecorate the entire house.

It doesn't have to be complicated, Sim says. There are ways, she says, of making your decor more seasonal just by adding some flowers with an autumn color palette.

"It's simple," Sim says. "Use what you like, but pay attention to the colors. That's the most important part."

Work roses into bouquets of orange, yellow, brown and red.

"The last thing you should have to do is to spend time and money on an arrangement using flowers you don't like just because someone told you that you needed to," Sim says.

Berry agrees with keeping costs down, especially in this economy. Last year she duplicated a fall centerpiece that she'd seen in a Pottery Barn catalog for about a tenth of the cost. Using an inexpensive vase from a discount store, she found artificial branches of bittersweet, persimmon and woody twigs at a craft store and created a stunning centerpiece that set an unmistakable tone of autumn.

The choice of companion flowers in those displays is important, Sim says. Consider flowers, fruits and plants that carry the autumn theme either through their colors (browns, yellows, oranges) or by their association (mini-pumpkins, mums, autumn leaves).

And finding the right vase is important, too. Sim believes in reusing and refining vases you already own, or reaching for something completely different. The basket that held a summer arrangement works equally as well for a fall display. Hollowing out a pumpkin is perfect for a centerpiece. And Sim has a plan for disguising what she calls "ugly vases."