By Nancy Mattia, CTW Features
When it’s time to say goodbye to summer, it’s time to say hello to fall and all its cozy charm. Rich colors, textural materials and iconic flowers define the season and set the stage for a lovely home that incorporates fall’s bounty. Here, a few key ways to add some fall flavor to your home:
Pick classic fall colors
The well-loved shades of autumn are a gorgeous group that features bright, saturated colors: red, rust, orange, yellow, brown, cream, and purple. Each of these colors has a strong personality, so if you want a more subtle look, choose muted shades of them.
Use seasonal flowers outdoors
You know it’s autumn when you’re driving around your neighborhood and notice, at house after house, the front steps are decorated with big pots of chrysanthemums or sunflowers. Mums are an especially voluptuous flower that comes in myriad colors including lavender and hot pink.
Go with a garland
An alternative to a traditional wreath, a garland can be hung around the frame of a door for a festive look. Decorate it with faux flowers, leaves, berries and acorns.
Think wool and velvet
When lightweight pieces of cotton just won’t do, usher in cozier textures like wool, velvet, and even cashmere and corduroy. These textural touches add loads of warmth to a room: Consider a wool throw stylishly placed on the back of a sofa, velvet drapes, or a wool-blend area rug.
Check out the dollar store
That’s right, the dollar store. They’re everywhere—big cities, small towns—and loaded with potential home décor elements. A sampling of what’s available: artificial flowers and leaves, maple-leaf-shaped string lights, plaid tablecloths, tiny buckets to fill with seasonal flowers, gourds, moss, and candles in fall colors. Faux pumpkins are a hot item, of course, and come in different materials like foam, ceramic, burlap, and wood. The color choices will make you realize a pumpkin doesn’t have to be orange.
Shop for free in your backyard
If you’re using leaves in a fall display, before hitting the stores, check out the piles in your backyard. Can you use them and avoid buying something similar? The best part of shopping in your own yard is that you can take as much as you want and never pay a penny. Besides leaves, keep your eye out for twigs, branches, acorns, and pinecones that could work in your decorating scheme.
Keep the focus on fall
This may seem obvious but don’t just add on to what’s already there—you’ll want to remove any signs of summer so your fall décor will stand out, not compete.