Simplified Fall Decorating

If you read my post about holiday planning, you know that I believe in making my holiday decorating simple so that it doesn’t become a time burden. I’ve had a lot of questions about exactly how I do that so I decided to give you an overview of my fall decorating this year.

The first thing that I do with any seasonal decorating project is limit the actual decorating to areas that will get the most notice and not worry about having decorations everywhere. l have also been adding 1 or 2 pieces per year over the last 5 or so years to keep decorating from costing a fortune at any one time.

Front Porch

In my current home, that means some sort of decorations outside, usually near the front door. As well as a wreath on the front door. Here’s what my porch fall decorating looked like this year. Please note, the photo was taken before I purchased my mums for the planters. I ended up with yellow and burgundy mums this year.

As you can see, it’s super simple. Just a few plastic pumpkins, a lantern, a bale of hay, some planters, and a large glass jar full of stems of leaves. This is one of the first areas that I decorated and I don’t have any idea now where everything came from. These are all things you can usually find in the Halloween decorations area of your favorite store.

I don’t try to save the hay from year to year, it’s just not expensive enough for the extra work. I also buy potted mums each year. Once Christmas decorations go up, the mums go to the back deck until they die, then I just throw them away. If I owned my home I would probably plant them in another area of the yard each year but considering my illnesses and the fact that we’re renting it’s not worth that effort.

Entry Table

The next area I concentrate on is the table just inside the front door. Since we have a glass front door, this is visible on the opposite side as the porch decorations so it helps to balance everything out. The two frames stay pretty much all year long, as well as the basket, throw and books on the bottom shelf. Again, I’ve gone for simple things that don’t take too much effort to put up each year.

The stacked pumpkins are from Longaberger a few years ago (unfortunately, they aren’t still available). The bundle of wheat can be gotten at any craft store or even online. The antique baby blocks are the blocks that used to be at my grandmother’s house. My mom, myself, and my kids all played with them there. They make an easy way for us to have a special memory in our décor. You can buy new ones in the toy section of any department store or online. The mercury glass candlestick came from Pottery Barn (link). Sorry, I don’t remember where the small pumpkins or the leaves garland came from but if I were guessing I would say probably JoAnns.

Dining Room Table

In our home, you enter into the combined living room/dining room so the dining room table centerpiece area seemed like a logical place to decorate. Plus, it looks great during meals.

Both sets of candlesticks, along with the one mercury glass center candle holder, came from Pottery Barn (are we noticing a pattern?) (mercury pillar, mercury tapers, I couldn’t find the silver & clear tapers so they may be a retired product), and these pumpkins were bought with the others but I don’t remember where. The candle also came from Pottery Barn. The assorted leaves and acorns can be bought in any store that sells Halloween decorations.

Here’s a photo of the table set for family dinner this past weekend. The pumpkin-shaped soup tureens came from Pier 1 but I don’t think they’re still available and the plates are from Pottery Barn (Erma dinnerware collection). The glasses were handed down from family.

Final Thoughts

To bring some holiday cheer to other rooms, I simply switch a few key pieces. In the kitchen and bathroom, I switch out the towels with seasonal ones. In the family room, I switch out the throw pillows. These take very little effort but make sure that every public room has a touch of the holiday.

Seasonal decorating doesn’t have to be challenging. Pick the areas that will get the most attention and add a little bit each year. You don’t have to be the fanciest decorator in the neighborhood. Just set a little ambiance.

I would love to see some of your fall decorating ideas. Comment below or send me an email at janet@alifeofbalance.com.