11 Fabulous Fall Decorating Ideas for Your Home

Who says autumn means earth tones? A fall wreath with a Day of the Dead skull (calavera) over a mantle strung with Mexican paper flags (papel picado) brings vibrant colors to a living room. Those delicate paper banners are a form of Mexican folk art that dates back more than 1,200 years. They’re used in all sorts of celebrations and placed on Day of the Dead altars to represent the fragile union between life and death. Día de los Muertos décor is a great way to celebrate a spiritual reunion between the living and the departed while bringing color and style to your home.

Get your living room ready for fall by setting up a seasonal vignette on your coffee table. Pumpkin decorations are to fall what Christmas trees are to winter and they can get predictable, fast. This arrangement delivers some unexpected color with white and tan pumpkins along with one painted to look like a fox. You can set up a small arrangement like this for less than $35, so you can decorate for fall, affordably. Adding fall-hued throw pillows to the nearby sofa extends the autumnal vibe into the rest of the space.

Fall is a season for visitors, whether it’s trick- or- treaters or Thanksgiving dinner guests. Welcome them by dressing up your entry way with seasonal décor in autumnal tones. Use natural accents like these bare branches in a vase, put down a room-warming area rug and create a fall-themed arrangement on an entry table. Bonus points for thinking outside the orange and yellow box and using items like these blue pumpkins that are the hue of a crisp fall sky.

Counteract the chilly air outside by upping the cozy level inside. Put a throw on the couch so you’re always ready to snuggle by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. Add an area rug with warm hues that will complement the texture of the throw and make the space inviting. Drape a fall garland over windows or the hearth. Hang a fall wreath, place some fall-themed accessories in warm hues around the room, and your space is dressed for sweater season.

Classic fall décor demands the use of leaves in russet, gold and brown. Even those of us who live in places with palm trees or cactus crave fall-colored foliage. The fireplace, the center of your indoor life when it’s cold, is the natural place to bring the leaves into your home. Don’t have a fireplace? A wall will work. Hang a fall wreath bedecked with artificial leaves, mini pumpkins, winter squash and pinecones. You can buy one ready to hang, or DIY it by gluing fall-themed objects onto a wreath base. Arrange leaves on the mantle, add a textured container full of firewood and you’re ready to cocoon.

Fall table décor is a fixture of the season, but a creepy-fun Halloween tablescape puts a spin on traditional centerpieces. Put resin animal skeletons under glass and arrange a grouping of candles arranged on a textured runner to give a lush, eerie Victorian science lab vibe to a dining room. You can put out this décor in early October and take it down once Halloween has passed, replacing it with Thanksgiving-themed decor. Or you can leave it out through November and give your turkey day guests something to talk about.

Shelf styling is an easy and fast way to change a room for the season. Add decorative items to your shelves to bring in seasonal vibe for a few months. Put Day of the Dead-themed pumpkins and skulls sit on a bookshelf along with spiky plants and black ceramics, bringing a folk Mexican aesthetic to the space. You can buy new items for your seasonal shelves or shop your space for pieces to feature. Let your creativity fly.

The days are shorter in the fall, and conventional wisdom says to compensate for the lack of natural light by replacing the bulbs in light fixtures with higher watt ones. But there’s another option. Lean into the darkness that comes with the season and go for a haunted-mansion-at-Halloween vibe. Here, a shelf has been styled with Halloween décor that radiates moody light, from the electric candles to the torch-bearing skeleton to the glowing cauldron. Add a Halloween wreath on the wall, dim the overhead lights, and you’ve got Instagram-worthy seasonal style.

Halloween and Thanksgiving aren’t the only themes for fall décor. Think about events you associate with autumn and decorate with items inspired by them. Does cooler weather make you want to go for a bike ride or drive to a you-pick apple orchard? Then build a seasonal tabletop around a bicycle-themed item, like this metal sculpture, or fill a basket with apples and other seasonal goodness. Think about what fall means to you and choose décor that expresses your feelings about the season.

You can bring a fall vibe into any place in the house, including your child’s room. Kids love Halloween, so get them excited for the holiday with decorations just for them. Put the décor out in late September so they can spend weeks anticipating the big night. Here, a scarecrow doll sits on a bedside nightstand along with a chevron-print pumpkin. A string of Halloween lights draped on the wall ups the festive vibe and doubles as a nightlight. Keep the décor cute and non-threatening. Despite the name, scarecrows aren't scary, so scarecrow decorations are a good choice. Leave the glowing electric skulls and realistic Chuckie doll in the living or dining room because, nightmares.

Nothing says fall like a dining room table decorated with fall table décor classics like pumpkins, flint corn and russet candles. The mix of natural textures and earthy hues make this setting work. This tablescape is Norman Rockwell meets urban loft, thanks to the blue-and-white dishes, crystal goblets and exposed brick walls. Bring on the roasted turkey and cranberry sauce.