Hello friends!

I’m not usually much of a seasonal decorator, but I’m extra excited about fall this year. So I’ve been enjoying adding cozy touches to my house to soak in these months. In this post I’ve collected fifteen simple and fun ideas to add autumnal beauty, warmth, or just plain joy to your home this season. Enjoy scrolling through the suggestions below, and feel free to leave your own ideas in the comments!

1. Make a clementine candle. I learned how to make these years ago from this tutorial and still love making them. You basically slice around the orange and peel off the top and bottom, keeping the center “stalk” intact for the wick. Then you fill the bottom half with oil and enjoy a cozy and long-lasting candle!

2. Fill a vase (or several) with fall foliage. It’s rewarding to walk through the woods, roadsides, or even just your backyard and come back with a few bits of nature to display inside. It can be a tree branch, some dogwood berries, dried grasses or seeds… Stop by a thrift store if you need something to display it in. 

3. Spray paint pumpkins. The idea comes from an old post of mine which you can see here for more fall decorating ideas. It works especially well with metallic spray paint and small pumpkins.

4. Bring out all the blankets. I added extra warm layers to my living room to combat the chill in the air. Draping soft blankets on armchairs, couches, or beds makes the room more comfortable to hang out in and also more inviting to walk into.

5. Do some fall baking. Autumn is a good season for whipping up all the baked goods – pumpkin bread, apple pie, cookies, cobblers, or a homemade loaf of sourdough. I use Jill Winger’s sourdough recipe which you can find here. Nothing like the smell and taste of fresh-baked bread with melted butter!

6. Listen to a fall playlist. Create your own or listen to my most recent autumn playlist here. This is especially good for listening to on drives through colorful woods or while reading a book and drinking tea on a rainy day.

7. Make an orange peel garland. This brought me so much joy! First, peel some oranges in large pieces (I used clementines). Lay the peels on a cutting board and cut out stars or other shapes with a paring knife. Let them dry on a windowsill for several days until they become leathery, then string them onto embroidery thread with a large needle, tying knots as you go so they stay put. Hang over a window and enjoy!

8. Make leaf art. See the tutorial in this post (which oof, has bad-quality photos apparently, sorry). This is a fun way to “participate” in the beauty of nature, so to speak. 🙂

9. Carve a pumpkin. Another fun and classic way to create with nature. My sister Megan carved this super simple face and it might be the cutest jack-o-lantern I’ve ever seen. I love the idea of using specialty pumpkins rather than the ordinary plain orange ones.

10. Make a leaf garland. I used these printables from my Etsy shop, but you can create your own leaf artwork to hang, cut them out of colored paper, or use real pressed autumn leaves.

11. Decorate with string lights. String lights or fairy lights immediately make things feel more cozy. My family hung bistro lights around the porches and I have a strand of fairy lights over the dresser in our bedroom. I also have these specialty lights on the TV stand.

12. Hang fall photos or art. Find a printable version of these watercolor acorns on my Etsy shop here –  or make your own. Swapping out wall art can really change the mood of a space.

13. Make a simmer pot. I did this today; it smelled so good, ah. Add the orange peels left over from your clementine candle and star garland to a pot of water. Sprinkle in some classic fall spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Simmer on stove over low heat to fill your house with the delicious scent of fall. 

14. Make leaf placecards. See this post for more table decorating ideas as well as where to find leaf printables. I’ve also written on actual leaves before – magnolia leaves work especially well for this.

15. Decorate with gourds. Everyone uses pumpkins to decorate outdoors, but gourds are a fun and colorful way to decorate tabletops, counters, and other spaces indoors in particular. I found these in one of Dad’s fields – volunteer plants from the year we harvested tons of gourds.

I had a blast coming up with these ideas and making this post for you guys. I hope you found the ideas inspiring or at least fun to scroll through. 🙂 If you enjoyed them, feel free to save this post to Pinterest for future reference. 

What is your favorite way to make your house or room feel like fall? Would you be interested in more homemaking/crafty-type posts like these in the future? 

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. Get in the mood for autumn with another fall post of mine below.