10 Ways to Spruce Up Our Home This Fall

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I don’t know about you but as I grow older, I’ve noticed I start loving fall and winter more and more (although ask me again in a month or two and I may give you a different answer). We’re wrapping up the last of the garden work these weeks (we still need to add compost and manure, and mulch the last of the fallen leaves) but all of a sudden there’s that bit of extra time indoors that we can use to relax, dream and plan next year’s garden, and it’s around this time that I most want my home to feel like a warm hug, be comfortable for all of us and our guests. I also LOVE making lists so I thought I’d share with you my list of 10 ways to prepare our home for the cold season, starting with the big jobs, like cleaning, and decluttering.

1. At the beginning of fall I have a good seasonal cleaning to give our home a fresh start and prepare for the holiday season. Playing some groovy tunes makes cleaning faster and more fun. If the job is too big or I get distracted with different tasks, I split the bigger tasks between several days & afternoons, over the course of a week. I generally like to do this alone as it helps me relax and clear my thoughts. 

2. While I’m at it, I take a moment to evaluate our belongings and declutter. Purging (recycling and donating to charities) items we no longer love or have use for makes space for new and better things to come into our homes, and into your lives. Decluttering as a way of getting unstuck from an unpleasant life situation is a topic I’m truly passionate about and I’ve mentioned it here many times before. It doesn’t help that I come from a long line of pack rats –  holding on to things and collecting is part of my DNA, but Karen Kingston’s book Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui has been life-changing in that regard. Although I’m nowhere near the levels Karen teaches about, living a life free of clutter is a lofty goal worth working for and I try to practice her teachings daily. 

3. Once the house is clean and fresh, it’s the best moment to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and make a list of all the things we love about our homes. And like many others before me, I have found that the practice of gratitude is key to happiness at home. Pure, heartfelt gratitude for the things we already have melts away any negative emotions we may have and recalibrate our perspective.  A while back I decided to start a gratitude journal and begin each day by making a list of five things I am most thankful for. Some days my list consists of silly things like puppies, apple pie, or a comfortable pair of shoes, but invariably there are the big, important ones like family, friends, a roof over our heads, food on the table… I can’t tell you what a difference it’s made in my life. 

4. Now that we’ve said a warm thank you for all the great things we DO have, it’s also time to refresh a bit our decor and pay attention to any gaps in the furniture / lighting / accessories department. After all, this is a decorating blog 🙂 I try to keep a running list of things we still need to fill in the decorating plan for our home and I try to work on it a little bit each month. I know it’s going to take us years before our home is finished (if there’s ever such a thing in decorating), but it’s also what keeps things interesting and fun for me. There’s always something I’m shopping for our home (not too mention my client’s) but because space is at a premium in a Cape Cod cottage, I like to 1) get rid of something before buying something else 2) invest in pieces that are versatile and can be moved around from room to room. Multi-tasking is a great plus in a furniture item and I am particularly fond of items that can do double duty. For example, a stool that’s also a storage cubby can also become an extra seat at a family dinner table. A sofa table can be an impromptu homework station or a buffet table when you’re entertaining casually. The goal is to make our home feel pretty and more comfortable, without having too much clutter.

5. No home is ready for the cold season before a nice boot tray or two so consider investing in a pretty boot tray (if you haven’t already). I got ours last year and it made a bit difference in how clean and pulled together our entryway looks/feels like. I can’t believe our hardwood floors (and my back) have survived without one for so long. 

6. Have warm throw blankets near your family’s favorite  seats in the house. If you, like me, are blessed with an old house with equally old (& drafty) windows, than you too understand the power of a soft blanket on a chilly evening. I am one of those people who is always cold so a few strategically placed wool throws near my favorite perches feels luxuriously comfortable. 

7. Invest in some pretty & non-toxic candles. Less is more with candles and I have found that everyone has their favorite brand and scent. As a household in which several of us suffer from allergies and asthma, the type of candles we use makes all the difference. We try to opt for candles that burn clean and do not release toxic fumes & too much scent into our house. The quality of the essential oils used plays an important role in how subtle or strong a scent. In the fall I replace fresh floral and citrusy scents with warmer ones like cinnamon, orange peel and nutmeg, and my neighbors think I’ve finally taken up baking, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.  

8. Pillow refresh. Although a bit of an investment, switching out your sofa decor with the seasons is a great way to fall in love with your home all over again. Around this time of year, perhaps a bit sooner, at our house the fresh blues and greens of summer make way for raspberry reds, pinks, browns and gold. I personally don’t like orange  (with one notable exception – in Jane Adler’s Santa Barbara home on the set of Nancy Meyers’ wonderful movie It’s Complicated) but I do LOVE red and pink, especially when mixed with blue, which makes my Christmas decorating a bit less painful. (Halloween decorating is a different story.)

9. Fill your rooms with flowers, preferably fresh ones. Although they work their magic throughout the seasons, in the late fall and winter time is when I crave fresh flowers the most in my surroundings. They elevate even the bleakest of days, and of rooms. This is the time to plan and purchase your bulbs and start the process of forcing them indoors. Timed right, you’ll have narcissus and cyclamen blooming in your home, from Thanksgiving ’til New Year. I have yet to master the art of forcing bulbs successfully, had a few hits and misses along the way, but am not one to give up. 

10. And last, if you have a fireplace, find a log basket at an antiques shop or flea market and bring in some clean firewood (Whole Foods and Big Y sell them in small, sterilized packages – no nasty bugs that could infest your home). Even if you don’t have a wood burning fireplace, or your climate doesn’t really require you to light a fire, a stack of clean, raw firewood instantly warms up a space and makes any room feel more inviting.  

That’s it, that’s my list for cozying up our home for fall. It was a bit of a wordy post, I know, and perhaps some of these images had nothing to do with the points I was trying to make, but they nevertheless are all lovely, colorful, cozy spaces that I’m sure many of us wouldn’t mind cozying into this fall. If you made it ’til the end, I hope some of these ideas sparked some inspiration in you. As always, I’m grateful for your stopping by!