6 Tips for Dynamic Indoor Fall Decor

Autumn is a beautiful time of year that lends itself well to fun decorating ideas.  You may already have a stash of red, gold and orange with numerous gourds and pumpkins that you pull out each September.  But if you have a hard time knowing where to start when it comes to dressing your home for the fall season, your decor can miss the mark and end up feeling flat and drab.  Need some help?  Don’t despair!  The ideas and inspiration are everywhere this time of year, and we’ve got six useful tips for indoor fall decor that you can use for any room.

 

1.  Draw inspiration from color.  

Fall is an incredibly colorful time of year, so bring the outdoor colors inside!  Reds, oranges and yellows in every warm-toned variation are obvious choices.  Also abundant this time of year: greens with gray or muted yellow undertones – hunter, olive, moss, fern, avocado.  Dark blues or blues with gray or green undertones – navy, blue sapphire, cadet, cambridge, silver lake, dark electric.  Fall neutrals include cream, warm grays, tans, beige, and taupe.  If you’re looking for ideas or exact matches to these color, try Find The Best/Colors.

2. Bring the outdoors in.  

Natural elements are extremely common in fall decor.  Branches, twigs, wood cross-sections and logs of all shapes, sizes and types are used for artwork, in place of flowers, for candlesticks or pedestals and much more.  Leaves are a great choice for vase filler or even sewn together in a natural garland.  There are colorful fall flowers in wonderful, deep jewel tones that are great for centerpieces.  Stones, pine-cones, grains, gourds, squash, hay, straw, and grapevine are all great choices for many different applications.  Almost all of these items are free or inexpensive and easy to find in your own backyard, the park or at farmers markets or nurseries.

3. Don’t overlook other natural elements.  

Other items that aren’t necessarily found in the great outdoors are still natural in construction or feel.  You can use these in a variety of ways.  For example, jute or cotton twine can wrap around glass vases, tie flowers together at the stems, wrap around a wreath form for a base, tie stacks of vintage books together or hang mason jars.  Raffia in natural, neutral colors like wheat, off-white or cream can be used in nearly all the same ways.  Burlap is another natural-type material that is common in fall decor.  Wrap strips around jars, like this arrangement, or create a whimsical wreath.  Other items you may want to consider: natural rope, raw wood pieces (candlesticks, platters, pedestals, plaques, monograms, etc.), moss, cinnamon sticks, wood chips or shavings and yarn.  Consider using faux or real antlers for bookends or mantel decor.

4. Bring in some metal.  

Whether your style is glamorous or more grunge than glitz, there’s a way to incorporate metal into your fall decor that will make it more interesting.  If you like glitter and glitz, try spray painting pumpkins gold, using gold leaf votive holders, or dip painting branches and twigs with gold paint.  You can also add gold or copper glitter to pine-cones, dress up pillar candles with gold glitter tape, or spray paint fake leaves and hang them!  If you prefer a more industrial look, use aged metal wire baskets to hold hay, straw or leaves, create pumpkins from mason jar lids, use vintage castors or wheels in interesting groupings and arrangements, incorporate DIY wooden orbs or metal spheres into your pumpkin vignette, even use golden thumbtacks to create gilded pumpkins!  However you decide to use metal in your fall decor, it will round out all of the natural elements.

5. Don’t forget layers and textures.  

This goes hand in hand with tip number four.  You want your decor to look dynamic and full.  It doesn’t matter if your style is subtle or bold, dynamic means energetic, interesting and much more pulled-together.  Make sure to use a variety of materials in your items – fabrics (in different textures), metals, natural elements, books, and glass are only a few material ideas.  Don’t forget to place things at different heights and depths, as with this fun fall vignette.  Stack books and place items on top, use candlesticks to hold things other than candles, place pedestals of different heights strategically, lay some things flat and hang some things up.

6. Try to take some risks.

Don’t just play it safe with your decor.  Use things in unexpected ways.  If you find an awesome vintage piece you love – say a kitchen scale or typewriter, incorporate them into your fall display by using them as a stand or draping other things over them.  Lay things horizontally that should be vertical and vice versa.  Use old or new fall-colored artwork as a tray instead of hanging as art.  Get creative and step outside the box.  It will guarantee a more aesthetically interesting experience.

 

Here’s a beautiful natural tablescape that will give you more ideas!  Or check out these fall decor ideas.  And if you’re a fan of metallics in your fall decor, don’t miss these gold home decor projects!

 

Kimberly Mueller is the “me” over at bugaboo, mini, mr & me, a blog that highlights her creative endeavors. She especially likes to share kid crafts, sewing attempts, recipes, upcycled projects, photography and free printable gift tags/cards. When she’s not enjoying being married to her best friend, chasing after the natives (AKA her three kids) and attempting to keep the house in one piece, you can find her with a glue gun in one hand and spray paint in the other. Aside from DIY pursuits, she also enjoys writing, reading, music, singing (mostly in the shower) and the color yellow. Kimberly recently published a craft book entitled Modern Mod Podge. You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin’ and Instagram. Email her at: bugabooblog(at)yahoo.com