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Easy fall decorating ideas for your home that are budget-friendly, quick, and that add small pops of beautiful autumn color.
As the leaves start to change color and the air turns crisp, it’s time to transform your home into a cozy and inviting place for your family to dwell. Early fall is a great time to welcome the season by decorating your home in warm hues, adding natural elements, and sprinkling fall vignettes around your living spaces. What follows are stylish and budget-friendly ideas that will help you create cozy and welcoming rooms…the kind that draw you in, and make you feel like you’re wrapped in a warm hug.
Embracing Autumn Colors
Upon opening our front door, and passing through the small entryway, the first thing you see is our main living space. Everything is neutral in color, so an easy way to add a touch of autumn is to incorporate a color palette of warm russet, golden honey, and rich chocolate brown. These tones lend themselves naturally to autumn decor, and they perfectly reflect the time of year. Even if your home isn’t neutral-based, adding the colors of autumn is still possible, and very lovely. Simply choose autumnal tones that coordinate or accent your existing decorating color palette.
The Coffee Table
One of the easiest ways to welcome the fall season is to design a simple coffee table arrangement that is functional and beautiful. My favorite place to begin is with a tray. Choose a tray with texture and interest, then use fall decor elements to build a vignette. Create height with books, and definitely include fresh flowers, or some other natural element.
End Tables
One of my favorite fall decor ideas is to pull out my vintage mason jars, and fill them with fresh flowers. These flower-filled jars are the perfect way to accessorize your end tables. Choose the size of jar that best fits your tables, and make arrangements with sunflowers, mums, eucalyptus, hydrangeas, hypericum berries, gerbera daisies, or roses in warm tones. Adding one or two pumpkins or gourds turns the simple jar of flowers into an interesting vignette.
Pumpkin Tip
To make your fresh pumpkins and gourds last longer, make sure to give them a bath! This very easy process will prolong the life of your pumpkins, and prevent mold and rotting.
The Fall Mantel
Autumn is the ideal time to transform your mantel. Welcome the harvest season by making a beautiful focal point complete with warm colors and texture. With a little creativity, you can take this simple idea, and make it your own.
- Mentally divide your mantel into three sections. The left side, the middle, and the right side.
- To add symmetry and balance, design the left and right sides as mirror images of each other. Incorporate candlesticks, seasonal accents, miniature pumpkins + gourds, books, urns, vases, or lanterns.
- Create height by stacking and layering, or by varying the height of your decor elements.
- It’s perfectly fine to leave the middle section empty, but if you want a full and lush design, add tree branches, seasonal garland, berries, or trailing greenery. If desired, begin with a long and narrow bowl or tray as a base.
- Bonus idea: Hang a banner of wooden beads embellished with tiny stained gourds, pine cones, and cinnamon sticks.
Cozy and Warm Textiles
A great way to add a touch of fall is to swap out your summer throw pillows for ones in warm autumn colors. Look for pillows in velvet or faux fur, mix up textures and patterns to create an inviting look.
Layer cozy blankets in fall hues over a blanket ladder, chair arms, spilling out of baskets, and on the back of the sofa. Textural pillows and plaid blankets are one of my favorite ways to bring in fall colors. Pillows and throw blankets will not only add comfort, but they will also serve as colorful accents that tie the room together.
Fall Decorating With Natural Elements
When it comes to autumn decor, natural elements are key. To keep things simple but festive, I picked up some russet mums at the grocery and paired them with my limelight hydrangeas. I love the way they look in the vintage mason jars! Welcome the season by incorporating items such as real pumpkins, gourds, pine cones, Indian corn, seasonal flowers, and dried leaves into your home.
- Stack pumpkins in a large wooden bowl.
- Fill a glass vase with pine cones.
- Add mini pumpkins to a lantern.
- Sprinkle mason jars filled with fresh flowers on end tables.
Faux Pumpkins, Berries, + Flowers
When it comes to decorating for fall, you can add a personal touch to your fall color scheme with faux elements. Incorporate faux flowers and berries in autumn colors. Include faux fall leaves, faux bittersweet, silk mums, faux pumpkins and gourds, and any other flower or berry you love.
Printable Wall Art
To truly embrace the autumn theme, consider adding some seasonal artwork or prints to your walls. Look for paintings or photographs that showcase the beauty of fall foliage or harvest scenes. These pieces will not only add a touch of rustic charm to your space, but also serve as a visual reminder of the beauty of the season.
Incorporating Seasonal Scents
One of the best ways to create an inviting and cozy atmosphere is through the use of seasonal scents and candles. Autumn has very specific and distinctive scents. The most popular are cinnamon, apple, and pumpkin spice. Begin by choosing candles in your favorite fall-inspired scent. Place them around your rooms, and light them whenever you feel the need for some comfort and serenity. Other easy ideas are essential oil infusers, room sprays, or simmering potpourri.
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tufted chairs | living room rug | navy striped lumbar pillows | round glass top table | mantel candlestick set | mantel pillar candleholders | pillar candles | 6 in. candles | long dough bowl | faux hops stems | blanket ladder | wire basket | faux eucalyptus | stained dried gourds | faux russet stems | russet throw blanket (top) | russet and ivory throw blanket (middle) | brown throw blanket (bottom) | end tables | table lamp (similar) | coffee table | round tray | linen books | navy cream polka dot pillow covers | small blue marbled lamp | sofa no longer available | Embroidered flower pillow covers are sold out. HERE and HERE (affordable) and HERE (pricey but beautiful) are similar designs.
With these tips and tricks, you’ll be able to enjoy the cozy season at home and let your space reflect the beauty of autumn. So grab a cup of hot apple cider or a pumpkin spice latte, curl up in front of the TV, or with a good book, and embrace the magic of fall in your own cozy, ready-for-fall living space.
The Ultimate Guide To
Celebrating Fall
A collection of 100 autumn decor ideas, fun crafts, fall wreaths, and yummy recipes all in one place. It’s the ultimate guide to fall, and provides easy links to find exactly what you are looking for!
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Your room is too beautiful to have a TV above the fireplace. I appreciate the info on preserving pumpkins.
Well…maybe so, but it has to be functional as well as beautiful. It’s our only gathering space, so we definitely need a TV. Thanks for your comment!
Ann, as usual, your Fall decor is just beautiful! Your blanket ladder is so pretty with all those throws in fall colors! Enjoy your week!
Your rooms always look so inviting. I remember autumn weather like you have when we lived in Ohio and Maryland. In Florida we can make the inside look like Fall but outside it’s still 90*.😀
Love your fall colors this year . Amazing how blue can be a neutral with orange and honey. This summer I got a new neutral sectional and the seasonal change is so easy. Just love fall and if our weather would cool off a bit I’d go pumpkin and gourd shopping so I could decorate our front porch.
Ann, please tell me where you got the white beaded tray on your coffee table. Thank you
Linda
All lovely ideas for sure. I have a couple of decorating thoughts. First is to search your home for interesting pieces that you could use in a different way or put in a different location to create a nice grouping. Secondly, we just did something that I never even considered before. We are a couple of retirees, and I am determined to keep us moving and do at least one interesting and fun thing a week. This week we did 3!! Anyway, we paid a visit to our local Goodwill. That is definitely a first. Not only did I see several designer blazers, I also looked in their housewares department. I saw many interesting things that would bring a different look to our home. I only made one purchase though. I have a beloved Mikasa dinnerware set that needed 2 new dinner plates that had broken. I was going to order them from Replacements at a price of about $45-$50. I was stunned to see a grouping of my exact dinner ware! It consisted of 6 dinner plates, 3 soup bowls, and a large vegetable bowl all in perfect condition. All for $5.99! I never thought I would even enter a thrift store but after following several home design and clothing sites we decided to take a look. I plan on using the large vegetable bowl in a centerpiece today! That day also included a lunch at our favorite restaurant! A win win!