What does autumn mean to you? For many, it’s the season for balancing darkness with light, for letting go and for acknowledging impermanence. But what about when it comes to decorating ideas to match the autumnal mood?
Imagine translating these seasonal qualities into your interior design, particularly your everyday living space. It involves harmonising autumnal colours (both bright and soft), bringing out snuggly items ready for winter (think throws, cushions and firewood) and basically letting go of the old (farewell hot summer days!) and welcoming in the new.
Ready for a good snuggle? Be inspired with these transeasonal decorating ideas.
1. Add warmth with timber furniture
There’s something about natural timbers that provide a sense of warmth that white veneer, plastic and steel just can’t match. If you’re keen to create a new autumn inspired living nook at home, add timber furniture or wooden ornaments.
WARMTH: Aspen Trees In Fall is the perfect accompaniment to natural timber furniture.
2. Balance colours and neutrals
Autumn hues don’t have to sit on their own to create the best effect. In fact, mixing seasonal colours with neutrals can make an aesthetically pleasing impact, bringing out those rich, toasty tones. The key is to find the right neutrals (think soft greys and creams) to balance each shade of autumn (think earthy ochre, scarlet red and burnt orange).
HARMONY: The autumnal tones of Red Leaf Forest work perfectly against a backdrop of grey.
3. Bring in autumnal hues
The wonderful thing about interior decorating ideas is how moveable a feast they can be. Say goodbye to summer with love and welcome autumn into your heart and home. It can be as easy as swapping out the brights and bringing in the harvest hues. Think outside the ‘one colour’ palette and add stripes, spots and abstract designs throughout your home furnishings, including rugs, cushions and autumn art.
ADAPTABLE: Autumn Rain is a versatile abstract print you can clash or contrast with seasonal pillows and rugs.
4. Brighten with burnt orange
Burnt orange is a crowd pleaser; a bright shade that is easy to work with and doesn’t overwhelm. Forget the feature wall and instead consider scatterings of accessories like cushions, ornaments, lighting, rugs and art. Even small ornaments and vases add a pop of citrus that can lift a space as the weather starts to chill.
A DASH OF COLOUR: Embrace burnt orange with Autumn Lake Reflections.
5. Add vintage detailing
Prefer something a little outside the box? Stick with earthy tones and combine them with vintage detailing. Pick up those fallen leaves off the ground and throw them around your room, adding pops of colour with soft pinks, purples and yellows. To complement the vintage styling, select formal furniture and brass fixtures.
UNIQUE: Contrast autumn browns with pastel treats, creating an eclectic vintage look.
‘Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower,’ Albert Camus.
6. Make firewood a feature
Increase your home’s snuggle factor with some beautifully stowed firewood. The look and the smell will fill your senses with memories of autumn’s past – you’ll be wanting to light a fire in no time! What a way to fully embrace the seasonal change and warmly welcome winter as you hunker down and relax.
SNUGGLE IN: Turn stowed firewood into a feature for a welcoming and warm space.
7. Swap out flowers for sticks
Spring and summer are all about flowers, floral art and tropical themes but that doesn’t mean autumn is void of colour and creativity. Swap out baskets and vases of flowers (the real or the fake) with one of the following:
- decorative sticks
- willow sticks
- collections of cinnamon quills
- blossom branches
- or driftwood branches.
These small touches will make all the difference to your autumn-inspired interior; the perfect natural ornament that will never die. Bonus!
GET CREATIVE: Bring autumnal charm home with decorative touches inspired by nature.
8. Add a snuggle sofa
Scour your local op shops or check out new vintage revivals for that classic seventies browny-orange sofa. If retro isn’t your thing, pick any autumn leaf colour – red, orange, yellow – in your favourite sofa style. The plusher, the better.
Autumn leaf colour is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of red, yellow, purple, black, orange, pink, magenta, blue and brown, Wikipedia.
LET IT GO: Relax on an old but new sofa with the allure of Path Through The Conifers.
9. Throw around some colour
Make throws a feature in your home, just in time for winter. Choose colours from a more unusual autumn palette – think dusky pinks, mustards and violets – to add style and warmth to the space.
POPS OF COLOUR: This mustard throw is an elegant use of a colour that is making a huge comeback.
10. Don’t forget blue
Blue? Wait, what? What are we talking about? The sky and the sea don’t disappear in autumn and neither does the colour blue. For example, cobalt blue is inspired by the clear skies of autumn and makes a wonderful contrasting colour with other seasonal hues.
EVOKE: Cobalt blue can be an impressive contrast colour when styled with autumnal hues.
11. Talking about contrast
Love a bit of colour? Don’t want to wave goodbye to summer completely? While autumn is about shedding and preparing ourselves for the long winter months, the desire to hold on to those carefree summer days can be strong. If so, pluck up the courage and shock your interior into action with all the brilliance of the seasonal spectrum. Try mixing vivid orange and summer lime for retro summer feels.
A bit much? Find out more about the art of colour contrast first.
ENDLESS SUMMER: Never let summer get away from you with Autumnal Expressions 2.
