Make Fall a Special Time at Home with these Fall Decorating Tips

Fall is the season of nesting, celebrating the summer’s harvest and getting ready to embrace colder, darker days of winter. One of the many joys of owning a house is being able to decorate your living space in the Fall. 

The use of warm textures, cozy colours and rustic décor can instantly make a home inviting. Whether you’re looking to make big changes or tiny touch-ups, we’re certain you will find a lot of joy in decorating for the Fall. 

Wrap your home in coziness

This season, bring on the cushions, blankets and throws! As your own Fall sweaters and scarves are coming out, why not extend those textures to your home as well? Indoors and outside on your outdoor furniture, these touches will be very pleasing to the eye and will keep you and your guests warm as well.

From adding an extra throw at the foot of the bed to draped over a favourite reading chair or sofa, this will be a visual signal to stay a while and get comfortable. 

This bedroom design makes use of the Fall throw as well as dried grasses and a warm coloured rug, which we’ll get into below! 

Warm colours

While summer was all about staying fresh and cool in the heat, Fall brings back a lot more warm colours to interior décor. Think leaves, pumpkins and gourds! For a more sophisticated, subtle colour palette, soften those oranges to a cinnamon or terracotta and add lots of natural wood textures. Complete the look with a dusty olive green, emerald, or navy blue to really make those colours shine.

Nothing is more cozy than having warm feet. If you had light-coloured or cool grey rugs in the summer, try switching them out to warm-coloured and darker rugs to instantly ground the room and echo the other accents you’ve added. 

Bring the outside in

Fall offers a ton of natural textures and colours to explore. So, why not immerse yourself in nature’s transformation by bringing in the beautiful fruits, seed pods, pinecones, pumpkins, and dried plants that are so abundant this season?

When at the grocery store, look at some of the items through the eyes of the decorator and pick up pumpkins, gourds, chestnuts, walnuts, or cinnamon sticks to use in your house and table decor. Craft stores will sell lots of dried grasses and other items as well and you can always forage some of these items in your neighbourhood. 

The trick to keeping your natural Fall accents looking modern (and not like a school project) is massing together many of the same item and keeping to a strict colour palette. 

Twinkle in the twilight

As Fall gets underway, the days get shorter and overcast skies contribute to a darker day overall. But decorators know that a longer twilight gives them a great opportunity to play with lighting in the home!

If you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace (and many of our builds include a feature gas fireplace just for this reason), then this will become the heart of the home. The fireplace was probably a bit neglected over the summer in favour of the outdoor patio and now it’s time to make it the star of the show! 

Bring new attention to the mantelpiece by adding Fall decor touches from above as well as candles. Just make sure no open flames are anywhere near your dry branches and leaves.

Turn your furniture towards the fire and make sure side tables are stocked with books and coasters to encourage people to linger. Introduce some family traditions that will get everyone around the fire as well! Try lighting the fire first thing on a Saturday and watch everyone gravitate there with their morning coffee. Whether it’s sitting by the fire to enjoy a hot chocolate after a Fall hike, or gathering with guests for after-dinner drinks, the traditional warmth of a lit fireplace cannot be topped!

If you don’t have a fireplace, then a well-curated group of candles on the coffee table will do the trick. You can add warmth and light to other areas of your home as well with well-placed candles. 

For a little more whimsy, we also love a few strings of fairy lights to add magic to a table centrepiece and other Fall accents you’ve placed around the house!

There is nothing better on a crisp Fall evening than coming home to a warm glowing home. Phoenix Homes builds beautiful new homes in and around Ottawa. We invite you to take a look at our builds and visit our model homes for more inspiration!