Autumn is a great time of year to start thinking about decorating your home.
The days start getting shorter, we’re less likely to want to spend lots of time outdoors, and as it gets colder giving your home a warm and cosy makeover becomes increasingly appealing.
If you’re thinking about adding some seasonal accents to your home, or just using autumn as inspiration for a more general makeover, here are some Autumn decorating ideas and tips to get you started.
Take Inspiration from Autumn Colours
Orange is the colour predominantly associated with autumn, but you’d have to be brave to use a lot of it in your home.
Orange will add warmth to your home and will certainly create a striking feature, but it is best used sparingly.
Look for paper for a feature wall, or orange soft furnishings to add a splash of colour and warmth to a neutral colour scheme.
Autumn doesn’t have to just mean orange though; think about using other autumnal shades like reds, browns and golds to complete the design.
All of these colours are fashionable at the moment and you will have a huge range of fabrics, papers and paint to choose from.
Particularly on trend is a brown/red shade called Marsala.
Once you've decided on your Autumnal colour scheme you can get quotes from local decorating contractors.
Make Your Own Autumn Artwork and Accessories
There are thousands of ideas online which can inspire you to get creative at autumn using objects which are readily available.
Grab a couple of simple picture frames from the local DIY store (or reuse come you already have) to frame some colourful autumn leaves you’ve collected in the garden or local park. Collect pine cones, conkers and acorns to display in a bowl on a coffee table.
Use branches, twigs and other foliage to make a wreath to hang on your front door or in the hallway.
Get the kids involved using leaves to print shapes onto a plain tablecloth with acrylic paint – the possibilities are endless and many ideas can be put into action with a very limited budget.
Go All Out for Halloween
We’ve really embraced the concept of Halloween in the last decade and as soon as the schools go back in September the shelves of retailers start to fill with everything pumpkin related.
If you’re planning a Halloween party, or even if you just want to create an autumn theme in your home, check out the supermarkets, discount warehouses and homewares stores for Halloween candles, ornaments and soft furnishings for your home.
Halloween doesn’t have to mean scary; look for pumpkin lantern themed items rather than scary skeletons or ghosts.
Once Halloween is over many of the accessories are discounted heavily, so if you’re planning ahead for future autumns, early November can be a great time to pick up some fantastic bargains.
Floral Displays for Autumn
Growing season for flowers is well over by the time autumn starts to bite, and although the supermarkets will stock flowers year round, isn’t it nicer to tie floral arrangements in the house in with the seasonal theme?
Bare twigs will look great displayed in a tall, glass vase, and you can even spray them gold or silver for a designer touch.
Pumpkins of any size can be dried out to allow you to use them year after year in a low oven or airing cupboard, and once dried you can fill them with oasis and use them to display flowers, or put them in a large bowl along with apples and fallen leaves to create a centrepiece for a dining table.
If you do want to have fresh flowers in the house, consider them as part of the overall design scheme and go for shades of yellow, orange and red.
Installing a Wood Burner or Real Fire
If you’ve been considering installing a wood burner or solid fuel stove for a few years, then autumn is the ideal time to do it.
Nothing is more cheerful and comforting through the winter months than the glow of a real fire, and installing a wood burner will not only give you a focal point for your living room, it will save money on your heating bills too.
Remember though that there are lots of rules and regulations regarding where in the house you can install this type of heating and who should do the installation work, so look around for a local heating firm which has the HETAS accreditation and can advise on what sort of stove or burner would best suit your needs.
Autumn Interior Design in the Bedroom
Most of us change the bedding when autumn approaches, either by adding extra blankets or swapping the duvet for a thicker one.
Use this opportunity to throw out duvet covers, sheets and pillowcases which are looking past their best, and seek out new bedding which fits in with your autumn feel.
A great way of achieving this with minimum outlay is to buy a cheerful red or orange throw which can be neatly placed along the bottom of the bed or across a chair.
This idea works well with plain, neutral bedlinen and as the seasons or fashions change you can just change the colour of the throw, or discard it completely in the warmer months.
Wall Stickers
Another great way of injecting some seasonal spirit into your home is by using wall stickers.
There are many different companies selling wall stickers, decals and murals online, and these can often be bought for less than £50.
Many companies will custom make you stickers to order, allowing you to choose font, colour and layout, and as these items are just stuck over existing paint, they can be removed after autumn is over and replaced with something else.
For an autumn theme, look for stickers or large panels featuring designs of trees, branches, apples or harvest related animals such as foxes or owls.
If you are clever with your purchasing, you could find a sticker which will work with your autumn decorating ideas theme, but will do at other times of the year too.
