This season is full of hustle and bustle around houses and custom built homes, and there’s little time to devote to decorating or undertaking large projects amidst the chaos of getting everyone into the Back–to–School routine. And while professionally, I’m often in the midst of multiple ongoing renovations in September and October, I discourage clients from beginning such an undertaking this time of year, as it’s too tight a timeline to guarantee finished spaces before Thanksgiving and Winter Holidays are upon us.
But that doesn’t mean we all can’t take on a few mini-updates to give our eye something new and fun to land on at home! Here are 15 relatively easy and inexpensive ideas to add a new spin to your home décor this fall…
- Cover your mantle with as many vases and urns as you can and fill them all with the last of summer’s blooms and green branches.
- Add a decorative and decadent tassel to an unadorned doorknob, the top knobs on a dresser, or the handle of a wardrobe.
- Purchase some colored glassware in a favorite accent color. If you have any glass front cabinets in your kitchen or dining room, incorporate them into your display. One set of glasses will instantly update your cabinet and your dinner table!
- Pull out a china, silver, or cut crystal dish that you rarely use – like a soup tureen or punch bowl – and plop a pre-potted plant in it. Cover any gaps between the plastic pot and your dish with moss from the local craft store or nursery. Then display your new centerpiece someplace where you’ll admire it every day.
- Swap out the handles on a bathroom vanity or a nightstand. It’s super-easy if you have knobs. If you have handles, take a current handle with you when you look for new hardware to ensure your new handles have the same distance center-to-center so they will slide right into the original holes.
- Display a small treasured item in a glass box. Be it a clay pot molded by your seven–year–old, a handcrafted sea life bottle art you bought online, or even a stack of beloved old photos you’ve never gotten around to framing, placing your “treasure” in a display case of sorts will give it immediate prominence.
- Monogram your hand towels.
- Introduce a new signature scent to your home by purchasing a coordinating dish soap, hand soap, multi-purpose spray cleaner, or beeswax candles. Many crisp, fresh scents are available in eco-friendly products.
- Swap a plain white lampshade for a patterned or black one.
- Ask your favorite tailor to add decorative trim to a pair of solid colored accent pillows for a custom look.
- Place a small green plant on the vanity of any sink that doesn’t already have one. If your space lacks natural light, try a faux succulent.
- Bring back the candy dish! Why did we ever give up this grandmother standby? Fill a covered crystal dish with your favorite individually wrapped treats and place it wherever you serve coffee to visitors or enjoy an afternoon read.
- Order a strand of hefty, decorative glass beads and drape them over a stack of coffee table books, loop around a lamp, or have them “spill” over the edge of a decorative bowl for an instant magazine-worthy accent. Etsy.com is a wonderful source for these decorator favorites.
- Hang a tiny piece of artwork somewhere unexpected. Whether it’s between your upper kitchen cabinets and your countertop, on the front of a bookcase, or over the washing machine in the mudroom, add something fine to an otherwise overlooked spot.
- Recover a pull up chair with a drop–in seat. If you have a chair like this at a desk, in a bedroom, or filling a corner of your living room, recovering a drop–in seat requires little fabric or labor, making it an inexpensive and low-commitment way to introduce a bold color or pattern to a room.
Decorating is in the details, and luckily, the details don’t always require an extreme amount of effort or time. Try incorporating a few of these styling tips into your home this fall and enjoy their lasting effects!