Fall Decorating Tips

When summer ends, all of the patriotic or flowery accessories just seem a little stale. As September rolls around, I like to switch out these items for things in autumn colors. Since there are fall holidays coming up, I try to plan my September decorations so that they can be incorporated into Halloween and Thanksgiving displays. Here are a few fall decorating tips I use:

Photo: SXC

• Remove all the bright and cheery summer accents you’ve been using. If you want to use them again next year, clean them and pack them carefully into a labeled storage box. Otherwise, take them to the thrift store.
• Look around and take an inventory of areas that now look a little bare. This helps me avoid the “Oooh, look at that wreath!” syndrome while I’m shopping. If I know it won’t have a spot, I can easily leave it on the store shelf.
• Select a color scheme that will blend with Halloween and Thanksgiving colors. Brown, rust and green all look good with pumpkin colors and are perfect for Thanksgiving.
• Look for patterns that are generic enough to fit with all those pumpkin and turkey accessories. For example, I usually buy new throw pillows with leaves  on them. You could also try a pillow with crows or fall flowers like mums on it.
• Plan to use potted mums inside as accents for a few weeks before planting them in the garden. (This only works if you live in an area that stays pretty warm during the Autumn months. If you have two days of fall and then head into winter, you need to plant fall flowers right away.)

How do you decorate your house during the fall months?