Incorporating Fall Colors Into Your Decor
The fall season has arrived and it's time to think about your home decor. As much as I love Summer, Autumn brings the chilly evenings when it is nice to curl up with cozy blankets and throw pillows. Fall brings a different color palette with colors such as orange, red, winter white, and yellow, just to name a few. Metallic colors such as gold and copper can be used along with the pumpkins, gourds and fall leaves that are now so prevalent in stores.
When you have neutral colored furnishings, changing out throw pillows, throw blankets and area rugs is an inexpensive way to keep your home from feeling like the same old thing season after season, year after year. As a Home Stager, neutral furnishings are a must. It allows freedom to incorporate so many looks to best suit each property and season.
Throw Pillows
Decorative pillows in fall colors are an excellent way to add warmth to your room. The rules to throw pillows have definitely lightened over the past several years. Gone are the days where two matching pillows in each corner of a sofa is the expectation. Now it is far more interesting and creative to match a 20" pillow with a 16" pillow and finished off with a lumbar pillow clustered together in a variety of sizes, shapes and patterns. And now you can put pillows to one side of the sofa and not feel the need to have a duplicate for the opposite side. I like to add a coordinating throw blanket to the opposite side for balance as well as a cozy thing to grab when curled up with a book or good television show. If you have a patterned sofa, stick with solid color pillows or fabrics that have at least one color from the sofa in it. Solid color pillows are always a safe bet but look best when mixed and matched with a variety of floral, striped or abstract fabrics, especially when on a solid color sofa or chair. And don't be afraid to mix faux fur with other fabrics. Faux fur is an inviting texture to most rooms in the fall and winter.
Other Decor Suggestions
One of my favorite fall materials to use is burlap. I like to cut an 18" wide strip and use it as a runner. It is inexpensive and is a great starting point for so many different table top looks. I like to use two or three Mercury Glass hurricanes or vases and place them on the burlap. Burlap also looks great draped over upholstered dining chairs in the same width as the runner. Make it long enough to touch the seat and drape over the chair back so that it falls at least 18".
Burlap can also be used in other areas such as sofa tables and coffee tables. Just add a strip in the same way you would for a dining table. Adding a few gourds and pumpkins makes it festive and is an inexpensive way to show the world you are embracing the changing season
Gathering acorns and adding them around candles inside clear glass hurricanes brings in a touch of the outdoors, but you can use all sorts of items such as colored glass pebbles, leaves or anything else that catches your eye. It is a great time to hit the craft stores!
All you need to do is look outside for inspiration. You may hate to see summer end but fall can be a fun decorating diversion until the sun comes around again.