Fall officially began September 23, and the transition welcomes a chance to redecorate rooms from top to bottom. The new season means it’s time to take down your bright and flashy summer decor in exchange for more warm and cozy accessories. In fact, if you don’t already have a few pumpkins and jars of candy around the house, it’s time to start decorating now. Anna Bennett, junior designer at House Dressing Interior Design in Gainesville, said homeowners should start preparing the house for fall around the beginning of September. “You can start making your transition as the kids go back to school,” she said. “The things of summer are kind of worn out and tired.”
If you haven’t officially revamped your house for fall yet, you can start by first deciding the color schemes you want to use. Madison Haynes, design specialist at The Great Cover-Up in Gainesville, said warm colors are always a great decision.
“Burnt orange is a good one (and) maybe a boldish yellow,” she said. “Those would be my top two picks. You could probably put in some rusty reds, too.” In addition to those traditional colors, Bennett said jewel tones have been popular the last few seasons. “What we’ve seen at market is a lot of deep jewel tones,” she said, mentioning colors like mustard, eggplant, emerald green and deep turquoise. “Going more saturated with really any tone gives you more of a fall feeling. Just think richer, deeper colors.”
As for patterns, plaids and checks are always popular, but Bennett recommen-ded paying more attention to textures. “I think getting texture in whatever fabric you’re using is maybe more important if you’re trying to go for some warmth in a fall look,” she said. “Sometimes pattern can get a little crazy. Plaids obviously are great for fall, but especially if you can find something that’s a little chunkier, has a softer hand to it, a thicker hand. That will give you more depth in your fall look.” After picking colors and fabrics, homeowners can start decorating by putting out accessories around the house. Haynes recommended using simple items. “My top would be pillows,” she said. “Throw blankets are definitely a good seasonal transition, and then you can change out your placemats on your tables. A lot of people like to put out little things like jars with candy and stuff like that.”
According to Bennett, this season is also a great time to include natural decor and pumpkins. “Anything from nature is a favorite of mine,” she said. “I love to just go cut some branches with changing leaves and put them in vases on (the) dining table or coffee table. That’s a quick, easy, inexpensive fix. I also love if you can find some neutral-colored pumpkins or something in those deeper colors, maybe a navy or just something fun to pop in. Other items might be leather-bound books.”
If you’re planning to decorate for Halloween, now is the time to start adding in those holiday accessories to your seasonal decor, too. “You can start putting your fall things out at the beginning of September and then build your way up,” Bennett said. “Maybe the first week of October, get your more specific items out for Halloween.” Haynes said homeowners shouldn’t go “over the top” with their decorations, though. “I’ve seen where people will switch their pillows out and they’ll say something like ‘boo,’” she said. “It’s just a little something they’ll put out on their sofa. A lot of people put towels on their ovens. Even doormats would be a good one. I would definitely say a wreath, too.” And of course, you can’t forget to add in some bright orange pumpkins and candy throughout the house. “If you have a pretty bowl or a classy bowl and put candy corn in, that can be cute,” Bennett said. “If your container is good, then that looks classier to me. The pumpkins still qualify as Halloween, so mix in some more oranges with your white pumpkins instead of just going all neutral.”
If you don’t have enough time in the next few days and weeks to put all these tips to practice when styling your house, consider bringing in an interior decorator or designer to help prepare your home for the season. Bennett said professionals are used more around Christmas, but hiring one can help give your home a “cohesive look” no matter the time of the year. “Sometimes when you have seasonal decor, it’s kind of like a hodgepodge of everything that you’ve gathered over the years,” she said. “If you bring in someone, then it’s someone with fresh eyes looking at the things you’ve stared at for years and maybe using them in a different way than you have before or mixing in new things and just freshening it up.”