When you hear the word “fall” are you inundated with visions of pumpkin spice, apple pie, and changing leaves, or are you depressed at the thought of the days being shorter and the cooler temperatures forcing you inside?
If you’re in the second group, there’s good news—summer will come again in a few months, and you can find respite this season by refreshing your home and making it cozier for the season.
Although most home improvement projects can seem daunting, time-consuming, and expensive, there are actually some super fun, easy, and budget-friendly updates you can make to your home this season.
Mother Nature really shows off during the fall, and you can take advantage of her beauty by clipping some branches and putting them in a vase or even just a basic mason jar. If you want to bring Christmas to your home a little earlier, you can also add some fairy lights for an enchanting vibe.
Or, add brightly colored leaves to your mantle or a bowl of acorns or pine cones to the coffee table. You can likely find these items for free in the backyard or in a local park. This is the ultimate in cheap fall home projects because most items can be found while on a nature walk on your local trails or in your park system. You can even bring your child and have them make a leaf collage!
Note: Always bake branches, pine cones, and acorns in the oven at a lower temperature (200 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least an hour to prevent mold. For leaves, you’ll want to dry them off by hanging them upside down in a dry, dark location. You could also dip them in resin or beeswax, but that will be more time-consuming.
Many people are leaning into a minimalist home décor style. But if you’re not careful, these styles can come off as a bit cold and uninviting, which is exactly the opposite of what most of us want in our homes for the cooler months. Textured throws can add warmth by inviting accents to minimalist styles. Add a nubby fleece throw to your chairs next to the fireplace or a chunky knit blanket to the sofa to invite people to sit down and cozy up with a cup of hot cider or coffee. You can find these items for just a few dollars at thrift stores, or you can buy them new for about $25 at a department store.
Home updates can involve more than just aesthetics. You can make your home even more welcoming by using scented candles, fragrance oils, or wax melts to add the scents of fall to your home.
Whether you prefer a cinnamon, apple, or pumpkin spice scent, all of these fragrances will make you and your family happy to be home from the moment you open the front door. Candles can add a lot of fragrance to your home for less than $5. You can even make your own candles with soy wax and your preferred fragrance oil. You can also heat a cinnamon-water mix in a saucepan and keep it on low for as long as you’d like, and in just 30 minutes, your house will smell like a cinnamon roll!
When you’re looking for fall decorating on a budget, you should lean into using things that you may already own. Baskets made from natural materials like bark, grasses, and rushes can be adapted for every season simply by switching out the contents. Fill a basket with apples, nuts, acorns, or gourds. Larger baskets can be also used to hold artfully folded throws and blankets for cozy fall evenings.
If you don’t own a basket, you can definitely find one (or more!) at second-hand shops or garage sales in your neighborhood. Smaller baskets are available for just a few dollars at the dollar store, but you might need to spend upwards of $30 for a larger one, if you’re buying it new.
Fall is a cozy time of year, perfect for an open fire. If you don’t have a fireplace, you can get a similar ambience by using lavish displays of candles. You can get a lush display for less than $25 at any discount store. If you have children or pets, choose battery-powered candles for safety.
You can use spray paint on acorns, pine cones, baskets, bowls, and vases, and transform them into lovely bronze or gold décor. A can of spray paint costs less than $10 and can be used on about any item you can think of.
Banners are an excellent way to add fall cheer to your mantel and welcome the season. These are fairly inexpensive to purchase ready-made (less than $20 on Amazon). However, if you are crafty and want to make your own, they’re easy to create with just a few inexpensive items. All you need is some ribbon, felt or silk leaves, needle, and thread, and you’ll have a fall banner in no time.
Nothing says fall like a collection of pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. Gourds and pumpkins come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and are a relatively inexpensive way to make your home look refreshed for the fall. You can find them in the garden center, farmers market, and often in the grocery store’s produce department for less than $30. They’ll look perfect on your doorstep or even scattered around your house in baskets or bowls.
Houseplants are always perfect home décor accents, adding freshness and natural beauty to the home. If you want to dress them up for the fall, you can place the pots in a basket or seasonal pot to keep with the fall theme in your house.
Because repotting typically isn’t recommended in the fall/winter, primarily for plants that experience a dormant period, you may want to set your plastic or ceramic pots into a bigger terra-cotta (or other fall-colored) pot to avoid re-potting. Terra-cotta pots are available for just a few dollars in the garden center of your local hardware store. We do not recommend purchasing terra cotta pots online just because there is always a risk of them breaking in the mail.
You could also place decorative, fall-themed plates under smaller houseplants to serve as a festive drip tray. And, if you have larger, well-established plants, you could even add mini-pumpkins and gourds into the pot—just be sure to watch out for mold.
Fall means apples and nuts are in season. Yes, both are delicious snacks, but have you thought of using them as décor? A large basket of apples and a small bowl of nuts in the shell can add a fall touch to your living room coffee table and can be tasty and nutritious snacks for the family. This idea can cost less than $25 to implement in your home.
Do you enjoy getting the best deals on everyday items as well as seasonal/holiday décor? Are you the kind of person who needs gift ideas for your loved ones? If so, Simply Sales is the right community for you. You can visit our blog for more ideas, product tips, reviews, and gift guides. You can also join our Facebook community for real-time tips on the hottest shopping deals.
