Follow Mother Nature's lead and use subtle changes to update and refresh your home as fall approaches.
It's hard to admit, even harder to accept but summer is slipping by and pretty soon it will be fall. The days are getting shorter and nature's palette is shifting. This means your home's interior should undergo a bit of a change as well.
It's time to put away the summer touches and freshen your home with some rich fall colors and some earthy depth. It may also be a time to review the lighting situation in your home.
First, let's briefly talk about lighting. As the amount of sunshine you get each day slips to almost nothing you may want to compensate for this in your home. If you have light bulbs with different watt settings try using a brighter setting in the fall and winter. Or consider adding a couple of lamps. If you really feel like making a change, have an electrician come and wire your house for recessed lighting or adding some spotlighting features. An adjustment in your home lighting can brighten rooms and lift spirits during those winter blahs. And adding spotlighting to a few favorite pieces of artwork can refresh and revitalize your perspective.
Now we'll discuss the color shifts of fall. My mother once pointed out nature's color palette to me and I've taken that observation and pulled it into interior decorating.
Watch as the flowers from the end of summer turn from pinks and blues to yellows and oranges and then even deeper shades of orange, maroon and gold. Let nature be your guide as you decorate and accessorize your home. Of course not every color goes with every decorating scheme but you can mix and match and bring swatches and paint chips with you as you scour the stores for just the right accessory.
To bring in the season think about getting a flowering plant or a floral arrangement which has some of your favorite fall colors. If these colors go well in your home then this can be your starting point. There are several small ways to change the little accents of your home, which are inexpensive and really change the mood.
New pots for your plants can really bring life back to old standbys. They will love the fresh soil and darker, earthy colored pots can help bring out the foliage.
Candles and candleholders can accent the season and the accompanying fragrance can create and entire mood altering experience.
Change your photo frames to natural wood or gold frames to increase the warmth and provide a nice accent. And of course change those family photos. Update old photos and summer themed shots with family fall activities, pumpkin carving, and glorious leaf shots.
If you want to go a step further and make a dramatic change look for throw pillows, a lap blanket and perhaps a small area rug that really carry your new colors through the main living area.
The dining room should also reflect the change in season, as your menu is likely to shift. You'll no longer have the fresh strawberries but might now enjoy a pumpkin pie. And summer grilling will give way to oven-roasted delicacies. Dressing your dining table with new linens and a centerpiece goes a long way to bringing a fall feeling inside and increasing the enjoyment of your family meals.
And as a family fun tip, consider making the centerpiece yourself and if you have little ones let them be a part of the project. Collect fall leaves, nuts, corn, twigs and other natural cast offs on a hike and create your own artwork. If you're not much for wreaths and swags, which I'm not, take a design tip from me and get some great vases of varying sizes and fill them with your collected goodies. Experiment with rich smooth acorns and other nuts, layers of colored Indian corn, branches of crispy, jagged leaves. Not only is this a fun-decorating project but it's a great way to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors before the snow flies.
