Think Beyond the Pumpkin. Get your Home Ready for Fall.

Hello Fall sign with gray pumpkins - stylish fall decor

 

Halloween.  Back-to-school.  Apple cider doughnuts.  Sweater weather.  Football.  Summer is over and Fall is upon us, people!

At RHD we love to make small changes around the home to adapt to seasonal changes.  We draw inspiration from the beautiful fall colors, produce of the season, and all of the coziness that the drop in temperatures brings!

Here are some of our favorite ways to Autumn-ize (yes we made that one up, but go with it) your home decor.

 

Make your Outdoor Spaces Cozy

Create a way to enjoy your outdoor patio or porch even though temperatures have dipped.  Enjoy the fall colors around a fire, wrap up in a blanket, and grab yourself a hot cup of cider.  What could be more cozy than that?!  During this time of year we love keeping cozy blankets in a trunk outside to grab at a moments notice.  Swap out summer tables capes for candles and sprigs from the season.  A gourd or two never hurt anyone either.

Wicker furniture on terrace

 

Change up your Tablescape

Entertaining?  Not only should the cocktails and meals we prepare for our guests celebrate the season, but so should your tablescape!

Swap out your pastel table cloths for jewel tones and your linen placemats for wool or jute.  Create an arrangement for your table using seasonal materials from your local store.  This time of year we absolutely love pampas grass and eucalyptus.  Pile on the candles, employ fresh herbs, and have some fun with it!

 

Autumn dinner party

 

Textile Turnover

Perhaps the highest impact change you can make in your home to prepare it for the Fall weather, is to swap out your summery textiles for heavier weighted, darker fabrics for fall.  Change out your gauzy curtains that you love in July for a thicker silk blend for October’s cooler evenings; your pastel throw pillows for jewel tones and wools; and your cotton throw blankets for faux fur.  Just some suggestions.  The texture and color changes alone will have a huge impact on your home decor and will get you feeling cozy in no time.

 

Cozy blanket on couch

 

Get your Mudroom Ready

Oh yeah… coats.  It seems like from May through October we forget that coats ever existed.  They’re packed away in closets and trunks, in basements and attics, never to be seen again.  Fast forward to fall and we welcome our old friends back into our lives.  During this time, we also forget that we need a place to hang them!

No mudroom, no problem.  Find a space adjacent to your entryway and make a place to hang up jackets, scarves, and hats upon entry.  Think of this as defense against clutter.  If you don’t have a placed carved out to hang up your fall accouterments, they will inevitably wind up dumped on any other available surface.

 

54185,Jacket and umbrellas in foyer of home

 

Cozy Up Your Bedding

We’re harping on the whole textile thing here, but it’s important.  It’s also our blog so we can harp if we want to.

Not everyone owns both a winter AND a summer-weight comforter, we get it.  That’s your prerogative… even though we absolutely, totally recommend it.  ANYWAY, If you are one of those one-comforter-humans out there, we recommend opting for a top quilt.  Add some weight to your bedding and have fun with the color during cooler months.  Adding a thick, soft top quilt and shams not only will keep you warm and toasty but it gives your bedding a whole new look for minimal additional cost.

For extra nighttime coziness swap out your cotton sheets for flannel.  If you tend to sleep hot, we love recommend opting for sateen sheets, so you can stay cool even under the additional cozy layers.

Whatever your bedding preference, do yourself a favor and change it up!

 

Bed Setting

 

Fall Fragrance

Set the tone of your home via smell?  Stay with us.  Its a crisp cool day and you enter your front door and immediately smell a deep woodsy scent with a hint of cinnamon.  You already feel warm and cozy don’t you? At RHD we like to involve as many of the sense as possible in the way we take in the feel of a home.  Certainly sight is the obvious one, and feel via the textures, but smell is a very important one too.  We take in smell before we even realize we’re doing it.  Smell is also the sense that is most related to memory.  Thus, if you want to make a lasting impression on your guests, make sure you get this one right.

Candles are probably the most obvious choice.  Not only do they offer lovely fragrances, but they are visually appealing.  We like scents evoking woods, spices, and apples for fall.  Leave the citrus and florals for spring and summer.   If you’re worried about flames around children, we recommend opting for a diffusor.

Potpourri is a lovely and less flammable way to add fragrance to any room, as long as its not too over powering.

Entertaining?  20 minutes before guests come over, bring a large soup pot to a simmer and add orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.  Your home will smell blissful in no time.

Lastly, we love adding bouquets of eucalyptus around the home.  They provide a gorgeous relaxing fall scent and they mix well with other autumnal cut flowers of the season.  Pro Tip:  Hang a bouquet of dried eucalyptus in the shower for a spa like experience!

Eucalyptus essential oil

 

Entryway Decor

You don’t need to have mummies and ghouls hung up in your yard in order to celebrate the magic that is fall.  Nor do you need to have maize and bales of hay for that matter.  We’re all about getting into the Halloween spirit (especially if you have kids), don’t get us wrong.  For this purpose of this post however, we’re talking about welcoming people into your home instead of scaring them away.

We love entryway exterior decor because it welcomes people into your home before you even open the door. It sets the tone for what is inside, and honestly it just shows that you’ve gone the extra mile to celebrate the season.

A controversial opinion maybe, but we believe that wreaths aren’t only for winter time.  We love a fall harvest wreath.  Available in modern minimalist (think simple wicker or even metal) or full on rustic (seen below), this is an easy way to adorn your exterior for the season.

 

Beautiful Fall leaves on a wreath for the front door

 

The Pumpkin

We know we said think beyond the pumpkin, but fall decor wouldn’t be complete without her.  Big pumpkins, small pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, white pumpkins, green pumpkins, porch pumpkins, bowl pumpkins, centerpiece pumpkins, pie pumpkins, weird pumpkins, bumpy pumpkins, round pumpkins – we like them all.

We want to reiterate that there is so much more to autumnal decor than the pumpkin.  There is texture, and produce, the smells, and the coziness.  With that said, your fall decor is absolutely not complete without a hint of pumpkin.

So if you’re into modern pumpkins, country pumpkins, rustic pumpkins, scary pumpkins, kid pumpkins, or tasteful pumpkins… no matter which way you pumpkin… we support you.

Happy Fall!

 

Halloween pumpkins, carved jack-o-lantern in fall leaves

Fall layout with pumpkins, seasonal fruits, corn and leaves

Cozy autumnal Pumpkin latte scene by the window with autumn leaves, pumpkins, knits and hot drink

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