Autumn is the time of year when our homes become sanctuaries, providing respite from the cooler weather, and marking the shift into a slower season. Find out how you can capture the feel of fall with my autumn home décor inspiration
There’s something about autumn that makes me feel cosy just thinking about it. When the weather cools, the nights start drawing in, and we retreat indoors, there’s nothing I love more than spending time at home with my family. It’s the season when home becomes our sanctuary, a place to escape the changeable weather and relax after an active summer.
It’s easy to tell when our home starts to shift into autumn; the log pile will start getting higher as we prepare for evening fires and the muddy welly boots start stacking up in the porch. When it comes to autumn home décor inspiration, I tend to follow my cold weather nesting instincts while also paying attention to the colours and textures naturally emerging outside.
Layer up
One of the first things that happens in our home when the evenings start getting shorter is layering up. I like to swap out my lightweight bed linens for a more substantial option like heavy cotton or fleece. I’ll also cover my sofas with warm blankets that are ideal for cuddling up with a hot cup of cocoa and a good book in front of the fire. Switching out the curtains can make even more of a difference; choose weighty, textured fabrics in earth tones to create a cosy space that feels separate from the rest of the world.
Choose seasonal scents
Fragrances can have a transformative effect, whether it’s the scent of freshly baked biscuits that reminds you of your childhood home or freshly washed linen on a breezy spring day. For autumn, I like to replace my vibrant summer scented candles with fall fragrances that evoke the spirit of the season. Warming musk, rich amber, and sweet pear are just a few of my favourites. There’s no need to feel restricted to one size or shape of candle either, I like to mix things up when it comes to my fall home décor ideas and often place larger candles on top of a stack of books on my coffee table while adding smaller tea lights to accent side tables.
Invest in planters
A family trip to the garden centre is always a popular autumn activity. Not only do our girls, Orla and Florence, love any excuse to play hide and seek amongst the plants, but I also find a wealth of fall ideas, inspiration, and trends while touring the seasonal flowers and exploring the intriguing textures on offer.
Autumn gifts us a stunning colour palette: rich mahogany, vibrant reds, deep burgundy, and golden yellows. I like to showcase the full spectrum by investing in planters of different sizes to create a mixed level display in our front porch. It’s a great excuse to get messy and let my creativity run wild. Getting to experiment with different flowers and materials always excites me, but some of my go-to autumnal plants include brassicas with their large leaves, cyclamen in shades of pink and white, warm yellow heather, red berry stems, and grasses that provide height, texture, and movement to my arrangements.
Build a wreath
Wreaths are a year-round part of my home décor – there’s no time that you’ll find our front door unadorned. I love the feeling I get when coming back from a wet autumn walk with the girls and see that the wreath is on my door, ready to welcome us home. I also like to use wreaths to mark the changing of the season. Our autumn wreath kits are always built on texture and colour and no two have ever been the same. I might be a little biased, but I think this year’s wreath is one of the most striking we’ve ever created at The Suffolk Nest thanks to its rich tones of burgundy and golden yellow interspersed with vibrant red berries.
Add pumpkins
As soon as we enter October, I like to welcome in the start of spooky season with a to a trip to the shops to get the girls some cute Halloween costumes and an array of pumpkins. Happily, that doesn’t mean our home gets overtaken with bright orange and black, personally I prefer the more muted tones of grey, white, and soft green ceramic pumpkins. These can look fantastic in any room, whether you choose to display them on your mantle, sideboard or as a dining table centrepiece or set them among your porch planters to greet your guests.
