How To Decorate For Fall Tastefully

Are you looking for fall decor ideas that are tasteful and not cutesy? Then you’ve come to the right place!

No matter when you decorate for fall, by following these few guidelines, you’ll know how to decorate for fall while still keeping the look in your home refined.

Let me start out by saying that no matter what kind of tips for decorating your home that you might run across, THE most important thing of all is for you to do YOU!

Your home needs to be a reflection of you and your family’s likes and needs – not what some magazine, Instagrammer or even some blogger says.

BUT – it’s my belief that one of the reasons that you visit me here is not only for inspiration, but to also get decorating advice.

If you’ll look my archives, you’ll see that I have oodles and oodles of blog posts about the various aspects of decorating your home.

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Most of that advice has to do with general everyday decorating, but today let’s get a little more specific. Let’s go over some tips and ideas that you can use to tastefully decorate your home for fall.

In other words, let’s talk about how you can decorate your home so that your home doesn’t scream “it’s fall y’all!”, but is still a reflection of the warmth and beauty of this cozy season.

TIP: Tastefully decorating your home for fall means turning your living space into a warm, inviting, and seasonally-inspired haven without overwhelming it. It involves selecting carefully curated decor elements that capture the essence of the season.

TASTEFUL FALL DECORATING DO’S:

Using these fall decorating “do’s” will not only give you a home that’s tastefully decorated for fall, but will give you a home that is sophisticated, relaxed and cozy.

Celebrate the arrival of fall right on your front porch where you can welcome guests with a beautiful wreath on your front door. 

Fall wreaths don’t have to be filled with fall elements such as acorns, pinecone. gourds, or pumpkins.

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Instead, fill your wreath with leaves, berries, and foliage in seasonal colors. 

Whether you’re a maximallist or prefer minimalist fall decor, a simple wreath is very tasteful, will take center stage, and will set the tone for the rest of your home.

TIP: For a super simple wreath, attach a garland to a grapevine wreath with floral wire.

But do exercise restraint. Seasonal decor items don’t have to be fall-specific. Tasteful decorating for fall is all about being intentional with the accents you use. For example:

• Keep the same decorative bowl and planter on your coffee table, but fill it with a fabulous mum instead of the greenery that was in place during the summer.
• Side tables make a good spot to replace summer greenery or florals in a vase with fall foliage.
• Display decorative plates that are a seasonal color in a bookcase.
• Add natural elements to a bowl or tray in your living room.
• Just about any type of dried stems are also good for adding seasonal touches to a room.

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There is a variety of color palettes that you could use for your fall decorating that can all be tastefully done. I’ve even decorated with a non-traditional fall color palette myself a few of times.

But most of the time, you’ll want a color scheme of warm tones that are found in nature. And it doesn’t have to include orange, if you aren’t a fan of that color.

Look for fall florals that are in more muted, warm hues of green, cream, gold and brown. 

Layering decor is everything. Layering throw pillows, throw blankets and decor items is a decorating secret that interior designers use, no matter the season.

In my farmhouse decorating style era, the hooks on my gallery wall worked perfectly for layering a curated selection of fall decor items.

If you’re unsure, start with a base of neutral pillows, then add pillows or throw blankets in fall colors to the mix.

Pattern always plays an important role in home decor. Add a few pillows with a small pattern instead of only using solid colored pillows.

Plaids, stripes and small prints are all good. The pattern can also be subtle, like the weave of the fabric, such as a cable-knit sweater look that’s woven into the fabric.

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Remember to incorporate plenty of texture to add tactile interest and to exude a feeling of coziness. Think baskets, snuggly knit throw blankets, soft furs, and velvets.

A fall centerpiece, containing seasonal flowers, placed on a dining room table would be a beautiful focal point.

In the spirit of decorating tastefully, it’s likely to be the only seasonal touch that you’ll need in that entire room. 

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TASTEFUL FALL DECORATING DON’TS:

There are lots of “do’s” when it comes to seasonal decorating, but there are also some things that you should avoid. 

Styles change over the years and many of the things that gave a cozy vibe a few years ago just don’t work well today.

Don’t get carried away with a fall theme, too many owls, crows, pumpkins, fall signs, etc. Decorating for a season with a theme can take it from charming to kitschy very quickly if you aren’t careful.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use any of these items – rather that you should use them sparingly. 

The below mantel that I decorated several years ago is a prime example of a fall mantel gone bad. This is an example of what NOT to do.

As tempting as it may be to purchase that adorable owl in a pilgrim hat holding a welcome fall sign, you need to practice restraint and avoid what I call cutesy decor.

Don’t fill shelves or surfaces with lots of small items such as figurines, a plethora of pumpkins, or signs with quotes.

Too much of a good thing just looks like clutter instead of beautiful decor and will not look sophisticated.

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By all means, use a fall colors that appeal to you, but avoid super bright colors. For example, most pumpkins are orange, but if you’ll think about it, it’s a saturated orange, not a bright neon orange.

TIP: Bright orange pumpkins can be toned down by applying dark wax to them.

Avoid multiple throw pillows that have specific fall images on them, such as pumpkins, pickup trucks filled with pumpkins, etc. Just one is enough. 

No matter what you choose to decorate your home with, remember that indulging in subtle expressions of fall will give the maximum, tastefully decorated effect!

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