Decorating Tips for Fall

HGTV star and interior design guru Blanche Garcia sat down with Home Portfolio to give her take on how to transition our decor to reflect the warmth of the fall season.

Now that the days are getting shorter and the nights chillier, what can homeowners do to transition their decor to reflect the change of season?

Blanche: It is easy to change the mood of a home to one that’s more in keeping with the fall season. Here are a few inexpensive, easy-to-execute ideas that will have a big impact:

• Switch out your bedspread for a poufy down comforter, and change your sheets to ones with a heavier weight/higher thread count.

• Protect your outdoor furniture with fitted covers. Several online retailers sell great covers that fit all sizes of outdoor furniture.

• Change out your pillows, throws, smaller rugs, and even your bath towels to ones with warmer colors, such as aubergine and burnt orange.

• Create a mudroom area. Most of us don’t have the luxury of a dedicated mudroom, but you can create one by dedicating a space right next to the front door for boots and coats. The last thing you want in fall and winter is to track damp and debris throughout the house. It’s messy, not to mention unsanitary. This is one instance where it is worthwhile making an investment in a piece of furniture such as a wooden coat rack, a bench, or an antique storage chest that can act as an instant mudroom.

• Bring the outdoors inside with branches, seasonal produce such as apples and gourds, and beautiful fall flowers. Go for simple arrangements, such as a wooden bowl filled with apples as a table centerpiece or a vase filled with interesting branches on the mantelpiece. A concentrated arrangement in one place makes more of a visual impact than several smaller, scattered arrangements. Think 20 oranges in a bowl, versus one on a mantelpiece.

Any words of caution for homeowners eager to decorate for fall?

Blanche: Be careful not to get too “stagy.” Shy away from draping fake garlands of leaves above the window frames. It comes off as inauthentic. When you think of your grandmother’s house in fall, what likely comes to mind are the brilliant colors of the trees and the smell of cinnamon and baked apples and pine cones.

Each season offers an abundance of natural products just waiting to be used. Pull out the crystal bowl you received as a wedding gift and load it up with pinecones. Fill the vitrine with gourds and pottery in colors of the season. It’s almost unlimited what you can do with what you already have and with what’s right outside your front door.