When it’s time to say goodbye to summer, it’s time to say hello to fall and all its cozy charm. Fall is my favorite season, for several reasons. One reason is the awesome vibe fall décor brings to any space. Rich colors, textural materials, and iconic flowers define the season, but I will outline the three items, in particular, that are my go-to for fall décor.
BLOG POST BY:
Carla Gentle with Design Realign, Inc.
Quite frankly, Fall is the season that provides the most organic vibe; and if you’ve been reading my blog posts, you know I am all about organic. I LOVE the warm, rustic colors and elements including dried corn stalks, hay, mums, pumpkins, gourds, and fall leaves outside and inside your home through fall picks.
Before I get into my three go-to items for fall décor, let’s talk about color. Afterall, if you don’t get the color right, your whole design is off.
HOW TO WORK THE COLORS
Rust and copper are by far my favorite fall colors. The orange tone is bold yet toned down by incorporating brown into the mix to get to rust.
My centerpiece, table runner, stand-alone large floral pick, and blue backdrop are the perfect example of how to mix these colors to create a stunning fall look. Let’s take a deeper look: 1) the orange, cream, and mustard floral picks in the brown vase; 2) a rust, cream, gray, and plum runner; 3) a large rust floral pick; 4) Walnut table; 5) Blue wall color.
If you like this look, it’s because I am using the right colors. And, yes, it helps that I know how to custom-design arrangements. 😊
Here is how to work fall colors:
You can’t go wrong with warm, deep, and rich colors. Think of warm colors from the color wheel such as red, orange, and yellow.
Stay away from pastel colors.
A beautiful pop of color to throw into the mix is purple, or better yet, plum.
Go gold or go home! Use metal finishes that are gold or copper. Gold has yellow in it and copper has orange.
Throw in neutrals to calm down and essentially ‘neutralize’ any warm colors you are using. This would be your cream, tan, brown, gray, and black tones. Why is this important? Red is the most dominating color out of 3,000+ colors in the color system (and orange and yellow are in the same family), and one way you create a cozy feel for fall is by incorporating those neutral colors in the right places. By doing so, it creates balance.
MY 3 GO-TO FALL DÉCOR ITEMS
Leaves (Cut Them Off Garland) and Fall Filler (Picks, Sunflowers, or Filler Package)
I combined leaves and fall filler into one category because they are both used to ‘fill in’ space and leaves are part of most seasonal picks and fillers. The best item to get your leaves from is garland. You can get a lot of ‘meat’ from garland, and I tend to cut off a lot of the ‘pretty stuff’ and ‘repurpose’ those elements throughout the house.
I spread (fake) fall leaves all over the house including shelves, coffee table, buffet, part of the dining room table centerpiece, and so on. It’s so pretty to see beautiful fall leaves outside, so why not spread fake (or real) leaves all over inside. It is a great (and instant) way to bring an organic vibe of fall into your home!
You know it’s autumn when you’re driving around your neighborhood and notice, house after house, the front steps are decorated with big pots of mums or sunflowers. Mums are an especially voluptuous flower that comes in a myriad of colors.
Bring many more mums into your home by decorating your vases, tins, or jugs with artificial mums. How about filling your containers, or in my case copper kettle (as shown in 2nd pic below), with wood chips? Or how about my client’s lantern I filled with an organic filler mix? If you go to the floral section of the Dollar Store, you can find a slew of seasonal picks to fill just about anything you want. To get the large filler packages, try Home Goods or Burlington Coat Factory! The filler in the lantern below is from Home Goods.
Pumpkins, Gourds, and Indian Corn
What is fall without pumpkins and gourds? This holds especially true for me. I grew up with three gardens in my yard and one of them was a dedicated garden just for pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. I also grew up on a dead end (with cornfields on the north and west sides of my home) and we even planted a row of sunflowers going across the end of the road right in front of our house. So, for me, these items are a must. And, I particularly love those cute, super tiny pumpkins. You can put them all around the house and make a statement without taking up too much space.
Pillows – Think WOOL and VELVET
Pillows can go in just about any room in your home (except the bathroom and kitchen, for some) and add an instant facelift to your furniture. With fall comes cozier textures like wool, velvet, and corduroy; and they add loads of warmth to a room. So, introduce these textures into your home through your pillow selection!
Display pillows in the mud room or on a bench when you first walk in the front entrance to your home. A sofa is not a sofa without at least a couple pillows, and, adding them to your bed shifts the vibe into super cozy mode ... or romantic, depending on the material, pattern, and message (if any).
CHECK OUT THE DOLLAR STORE
That’s right, the dollar store. I should know, I go there all the time. They’re everywhere … big cities, small towns … and LOADED with potential home décor elements. Dollar Tree is where I get all my floral and plant picks. You will be shocked at what you will find in this store in the way of décor. You have to see it to believe it.
Shop in Your Backyard
If you don’t have a garden with pumpkins and gourds, you can still use some fall items from your yard in a display. Get creative with some leaves, twigs, branches, acorns, and pinecones.
Keep the Focus on Fall
This may seem obvious, but don’t just add on fall decor to what was already there on display … you’ll want to remove any signs of summer so your fall décor will stand out, not compete.
IN CONCLUSION
Decorating with fall décor brings me instant joy because it means adding organic elements that create a cozy vibe. It makes me want to curl up in a blanket, drink my hot tea, and read a good book. And, of course, I look up from reading my good book from time to time to enjoy the pretty decorations. 😊
It doesn’t have to take much to create this vibe if you incorporate what I feel are the top 3 items in fall décor. You, too, can create a home so cozy you won’t want to leave.
Design Realign Blog ... A Blog About All Things Home
Comments