"To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven."
- The Byrds' song, Turn! Turn! Turn! inspired by Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
I don't know how you feel, but I am so ready for a change of season. I look forward to the fall every year. It is my favorite season, but this year I am especially ready.
To me the fall represents a time of renewal. While the leaves turn colors and release from the trees and many plants turn dormant other things are just getting started. Mums start blooming. Schools go back into session with students eager to learn. The excitement of post-season baseball and the beginning of football season. Cooler temperatures, without being cold. Bon fires, s'mores, cider and hot cocoa. Cozy sweaters to layer and boots. Pumpkin everything! Why isn't it everyone's favorite season?
Fall is also the perfect excuse for redecorating the house. Labor Day to me marks the end of the summer. I realize the first day of autumn isn't for a couple more weeks, but decorating for me begins after Labor Day. Just like we put on more layers to dress for the cooler weather, that is how I look at decorating for the fall as well. After all, Mother Nature is also decorating with layers as the colorful leaves blanket the ground.
Some people go all out with their decorations. Personally, I am a little more subtle. The more you put out the more work you have to do to put them away later. So, I choose decorations that will span the full season. I add a few jack-o-lanterns in October and then remove them after Halloween while the rest of the decorations are fine until December when I switch them out for winter and Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving.
I love the yellows, oranges, deep reds, browns and muted greens of fall, basically the autumn rainbow. They are such warm and homey colors. Here are six of my tips for decorating for fall.
Create vignettes. Rather than making the house look like a craft store exploded, disperse smaller displays around your home. I love walking into a room and being greeted with that rooms display.
Stick to a color scheme. It’s much more cohesive and visually pleasing if you repeat the same colors. It also allows you to move items around from one display to another until you have them just right.
Play with height. No need to have flat displays. Create movement for the eye by varying the height.
Use odd numbers. This is a designers trick. It goes against logic to me as I like symmetry but odd numbered groupings 3, 5, 7 just look better.
Layer, both horizontally and vertically.
Don’t be afraid to use items differently than they were originally designed.
Here are some of my decorations this year with pictures of how I put them together.
To create a centerpiece for my dining table I started with a footed wood cutting. I picked this one up at TJMaxx a few years ago. They are pretty easy to find.
Then I added a fall swag that I purchased last year. It hung outside on the front porch last year. This year it is coming inside. Don't be afraid to move your decorations around this way.
I used a small metal bowl and a detergent lid turned upside down to give two of the candles more height. Just nestle them in the swag or wrap the ribbon around them to conceal.
Here is the finished centerpiece. I used LED candles so there isn’t any danger of setting the house on fire. That would put a damper on the season.
Notice I stuck to the odd number rule with three candles and it looks very balanced.
Here is the vignette I created in the living room. Again I stuck to the odd number rule with five items: a lamp, metal box, acorn salt shaker, sign and basket of fall foliage.
It is just enough to give a punch of color to the corner of the living room.
I couldn’t forget the fireplace mantel In the family room.
I gathered up the brass candlesticks that I have received as gifts and inherited over the years for this one.
Don't those taper candles look amazing? They are also LED and come with a remote and timer, so you don't have to remember to turn them off.
I hope these tips and ideas have inspired you to add some spicy colors to your home this fall. What are your decorating tricks for the fall season?