Saturday, October 06, 2007

Cheap Fall Decorating Ideas




I love the season changes. After living in Florida for 7 years, I truly savor each and every seasonal change in our mountain area. I also enjoy seasonal decorations. I have often thought that if we ever became rich I would decorate our home and farm for every season. Well, since we aren't rich in money terms, I have to be a bit more creative. I still want to decorate, but I just have to do it keeping cost in mind. I have learned over the years to rearrange my "pretty" things throughout our house as the seasons change. For example, during the fall and winter season, I choose pieces that have a darker look about them for our living room. I change candles out to fall colors. This is one of the cheapest decorating tips with the greatest rewards. I use my candles as accent colors, and beautiful fall colored candles really add a special touch for the fall season. I also burn different smelling candles to help set a fall mood. This time of the year I am looking for cinnamon, pumpkin, apple pie, or hazelnut smelling candles. I put all of my spring/summer candles away for next season. Just make sure you put the lid tightly on these candles, and they should smell brand new next season.
My dad was a hobby photographer. I have several of his outdoor photos and change them out to the proper season. Someday I want to frame and mat them all, but for now I get to enjoy them each displayed on my fireplace mantle during the appropriate time. I also found some pretty potpourri. It had such a fall look about it with nuts and dried pine cones. I put that out for display during this time as well. For the spring, I will put that back in a Ziploc bag and store it until the next fall. Since I took the picture of our fireplace, I have added some real pumpkins on the hearth of the fireplace. It looks nice, and I pray the English Mastiff doesn't think they are balls for her playtime enjoyment.
The basket picture is something that you have seen before if you have read my blog for any length of time. This basket is a wire egg basket, and I use it for decorating every season. In the spring I display our colored eggs, and in the summer I always have a cut flower arrangement from our garden displayed in it. For fall, I bought a bag of cheap little pumpkins and gourds. I added a fall ribbon, and I have a quick fall display for around $6. I found the ribbon in our local Dollar Tree store...it was a dollar! I also started collecting seasonal table cloths over the past few years. This is the first year I have ever bought a fall table cloth. It made everything come together perfectly. I didn't think my husband or kids would really pay attention, but I was wrong. My husband really likes the fall table cloth. He has commented on it several different times. I bought the table cloth at Walmart for $12. I actually bought another one yesterday because we do eat on our table cloths and wash them after almost every dinner meal.
During last year clearance sell at Big Lots, I found a cheap little grape vine wreath with a scarecrow. It says Happy Harvest, and I use that for our front door. We do not celebrate Halloween so I wanted something that was for harvest time instead of halloween. I bought 3 pots of mums for our front porch and I completed that with a beautiful pumpkin. It isn't elaborate or too expensive, but it is nice none the less. I enjoy sitting in my rocker on the front porch and seeing the mums.
Another great way to add fall color to your home is by changing our your flower arrangements. I took apart a summer arrangement, and replaced it with an arrangement with fall colors. This can get expensive depending on the grade of dried/silk flowers that you use.
I hope these ideas get your own creative juices flowing. Keep your eyes open, and ask the Lord to help you find your own creative look to your fall season. Enjoy!!!!
grace and peace,
julie

2 comments:

Paula said...

Great idea to rearrange what you already have. Very thrifty and quite resourceful. The basket really takes on a new look when you change out the contents!

TnFullQuiver said...

Paula,
Thanks! By the way, I like the looks of your patio!!
grace and peace,
julie