19 October 2011

10 Things to Do to Cozy up your House for Fall

When the seasons change, I get a little excited (ok, sometimes a lot excited) & have the urge to bring that feeling into my home.  I think most of us who really love our homes do.   And if you think about it, when we're little kids, we pretty much start doing this right away in preschool.  Every year I remember doing crafts with leaves in the fall and making cheesy things out of pinecones at Christmastime & so on. 

 This year has been particularly crazy for our family with work & time (& the lack of it) and I haven't gotten the chance to really do much around the house, so I thought a little refresher list of 10 easy things to do might get me in gear to make some small changes around the house for Fall.  


{a tree in our neighborhood, last year}

So here they are:
1.  Switch out throw pillows to ones with warmer tones & cozier-feeling materials


{Image via pinterest & I couldn't find the original cource}

2. Add more throw blankets around the house or switch out existing summer throws to thicker, cozier ones.  I really love my faux fur throws, especially for napping and bringing outside onto the back patio at night. 


{image from homedecorators.com}

3. Even if you don't have time to bake, you can fake that Heavenly smell with candles and/or diffusers.  I have pumpkin pie-scented candles & diffusers all over the house (and vanilla cake too!) and I want to eat them!!!

{image from Country Living}


4.  Have healthy seasonal food around for the munching.  (so you don't eat your candles}  Bowls of walnuts or apples in the family room and/ or kitchen invite everyone to enjoy seasonal goodies.  I'm always more likely to eat something when it's within reaching distance.



{my vintage peanut stocked with almonds}

{little bowl of walnuts}

5.  Art & Accessories:  There are certain places in my house where I'll switch paintings around or swap out accessories.  The mantle is one of the easiest places to do this because you can just prop artwork & don't have to put holes in the walls. 


{our mantle for Fall}


Bookshelves are another good place for this.  Before I had two kids, I used to really rearrange our books by color seasonally. 

{Some of my old "fall"-colored books...  My English teacher husband doesn't approve of my seasonal genres.}

(I know it sounds like I must have been on crack, but I really kind of miss the book rearranging. ) In the Fall, I'd make the orange & browns & golden books stand out more by placing them most prominently and in the Spring & Summer, I'd pull out the blues & aquas.  Now I'm lucky if the books are even on the shelves. 

{our super-crammed living room bookshelf...  not much rearranging happening here these days...  I've now realized that by the time I have the time to do that again, I'll probably be missing my kids.}
 

6.  Bring in leaves & branches from your yard.  (or your neighbors' yards! ;) ;) hee hee.  I found these cool orange-needled branches last Fall:  (I told you I hadn't gotten much done this year ;)  I love going on walks with the family & collecting things from outside.



7.  Pumkins & gourds:  They usually last a really long time & I pretty much always have pumpkins & gourds leftover from Halloween on the Thanksgiving table.  Piling them on your porch and around the house makes it really feel like Fall.  Kids love them too.


{Last year's Thanksgiving Table}



8.  Have fires when you can.  With a toddler in our house, our fires are a little few & far between but when we do have them, I'm in Heaven.  It just seems to lead to good family hang-out time.  On Fall nights, we love doing fires outside & roasting marshmallows.


{mmm mmm I loooooove s'mores!!}
 

9. Bedding:  In the Fall we add extra blankets to our bed including a down comforter & a throw blanket for napping at the foot of the bed.  It's been a fairly warm Fall so I do end up kicking them off a lot of the time at night.. maybe I made the switch too early this year?? 

{I love the faux fur blanket on Tia Zoldan's bed in this pic}


10. And finally... (you know I'd have to include some real eating in here)- Soup!  We try to make weekly batches of soup or pasta sauce in the Fall & Winter.  It feels so good on a cool day to be warm & toasty inside eating soup.  My mom makes an amazing pumpkin curry soup in the Fall:


{I'll have to get the actual recipe from my mom but the amazing-looking pumpkin soup pictured above is from Sweet Peas Kitchen and you can view the recipe here:  http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/09/16/harvest-pumpkin-soup/ }

Anyway, would love to hear about the changes you've been making in your house for Fall.  I'll keep you posted on my progress!!


xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

34 comments:

  1. Gah! I love the brass peanut! Did you get it from High Street Market? I found one (sold) on her store.


    Veruca style - I want a brass peanut!!!

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  2. Some beautiful ideas. Be careful with scented candles; many create a toxic environment.

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  3. Hi Lauren, I hope you found a nanny, for home day care. It makes crazy kid life more manageable. And don't worry. You'll have plenty of time for book arranging in your later years. Then you'll realize it wasn't "all that"!

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  4. Pumpkin curry soup sounds so great! I love all the tips; fall is my favorite!

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  5. I feel cozier already! I love Fall and you have inspired me to get a little Fall in my home right away. Thanks Lauren!

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  6. all great ideas, but i esp. love what you wrote about the books by color. i cant totally relate ;)

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  7. what a great post to catch autumn fever. you have me looking around now, i have to bring the inside to outdoor standards
    xo
    debra

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  8. I love Fall...so warm and cozy. Great post.

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  9. What fantastic inspirations and images to spruce up a home for fall! I wish I had more time and energy to do more but I do switch out my bedding from a summer quilt to a winter duvet. And being in the faux flower business, I always have plethera of bouquets and stems to choose from to place in the front fall.

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  10. * How pretty, pretty, pretty!
    Linda in AZ *
    bellesmom1234@comcast.net

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  11. Love these simple changes!! I think I am going to steal the pillow idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. i'm loving fall this year! all your ideas are fab! i'm in the spirit!

    ashley over @
    {hookedonhickory}

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  13. So many gorgeous ideas!! I really love the first image with the leaves-so pretty!

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  15. Hi Lauren!

    I LOVE your blog and have been following for years now! ;-D I couldn't agree more with your suggestion about the pumpkin spice fragrance being so warm and cozy this time of year.

    I have a small home-based soy candle business and I would to offer you some of my seasonal candles to give away through your blog if you are interested. "It's Fall Y'all" is my Pumpkin & Spices soy candle...it's so yummy, totally toxin-free and all-natural! ;-D

    Just let me know if you would like some to give away (and to keep for yourself of course!)...here's my website...www.carolina-chic.com

    By the way, LOVING your new fabrics! Best of luck!

    ~ Ronnetta

    (sorry I deleted above...forgot to use my correct sign in!)

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  16. great write up!:)
    i really love the fall season, everything will look peaceful in our place

    parenting articles

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  17. You make me feel like going through the winter season all over again! x

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  18. I love fall and since it's already cooler up here, northeast, we've already done most of these things right down to painting our front door that middle leaf color in the first image...love it!

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  20. I love your blog, and all the fall ideas are simple, achievable and inspiring. I just have one question - I tried to make some branches with leaves be my centerpiece like you, but within 2 days the leaves all turned brown and fell off - any suggestions for making them last? Do I need to preserve them somehow?

    Thanks!

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  21. Lauren, wonderful reminders. Interesting I love one of your easiest the best. The pretty fall foliage gathered and put in a vase on the table.

    I must get out my faux fur throw and I have one of the cozy Pottery Barn ones as well!

    Do come and enter my Designer Pillow Giveaway!!

    xoxo
    Karena

    Art by Karena

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  22. oh my gosh, I really did laugh about "so you don't eat your candles" part! great ideas. your home is the perfect example of that cozy feeling we all crave in the fall.

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  23. I love Autumn, Hot Mulled Cider, fires, cozy warm blankets, fur, hot soups, bowls of nuts and having friends come share dinner!
    pve

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  24. Lovely ideas Lauren. I laughed about you being lucky to have books in shelves! My son used to pull every book out of my shelves...my house sometimes looked like there had been a break in....

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  25. Lauren, I just found your blog and I love it! Thank you for sharing the beauty of your design, I can see that you put your soul into it. I am your newest follower!

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  26. Nice article, colours fall are so beautiful!
    xx

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  29. Great 10 things to cozy up the home for fall,I really enjoyed your post,Actually I am searching about How to refinish hardwood floors yourself and this post really help me to do more decor in house.Thanks alot.

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  30. Lauren,
    I love all these ideas. The branches of leaves really brings that fall feeling indoors and I love heavier throws for cooler days and nights.

    S'mores = a family obsession!

    But, you would love the real change at our house. I got walled off today to begin our renovation (not the whole house but the workhorse areas: mudroom, laundry, garage, side entrance, upstairs playroom/bathroom for my kids)....so we're going to be cozy in our house for a while!!!

    Happy Fall to you!!
    xo Elizabeth

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  31. Fabulous! Fall colors are just amazing! Enjoy the beautiful day, Kellie xx

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  32. Boy I hear ya on the "before I had two kids" part...hehe. Great blog. I'm following!

    ♥Linsey
    http://farmhouseporch.blogspot.com/

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  33. I keep waiting for our Fall weather to hit, but it is more like Spring here in Calif. You and I share some of the same ideas to bring Fall into our homes. I am so with you on Smores, love love them!! Kathysue

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I love hearing from you- thank you for taking the time to write!! :)

*If you have a specific question, I'll try to answer it in the comments section so be sure to check back! If you're looking at an older post, email me directly. Thanks!
~Lauren