In this paper, we present a new approach to derive series expansions for some Gaussian processes based on harmonic analysis of their covariance function. In particular, we propose a new simple rate-optimal series expansion for fractional Brownian motion. The convergence of the latter series holds in mean square and uniformly almost surely, with a rate-optimal decay of the remainder of the series. We also develop a general framework of convergent series expansions for certain classes of Gaussian processes with stationarity. Finally, an application to optimal functional quantization is described.