Welcoming Autumn into the Home
Making the transition to autumn with simple beauty and traditions that reflects what we love most about the fall season—even in Texas.
Autumn really is a season that focuses on the home. Spring and Summer take us outside– into our yards, our gardens, our pools and parks. Maybe to vacation destinations: exploring new places, enjoying sea sides, mountains, and lakes. Longer days allow us to enjoy the sun late into the evening.
And then the seasons change. Our relaxed out-of-the-house break from routine is replaced in September by back-to-school nights, increasingly shorter days, and eventually bunkering down for winter.
Simple black taper candles and mini pumpkins nestled on a tray make an elegant and rustic dining table centerpiece.
During this time, we like to prepare for comfort indoors with candles and throw blankets. We plan hearty meals that need all afternoon to cook. We embrace domesticity in a way that summertime may not have allowed, and turn our focus towards a more intimate setting.
I like to bring out antique quilts to soften and cozy up the house in the fall and winter. Both decorative and useful for snuggling up when the cold comes.
Now for a bit of honesty: here in Texas, we crave the colorful and classic autumns of our friends and relatives up North. Whereas Ann Shirley of Green Gables famously exclaimed “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!”, we are more likely to exclaim that we are glad to live in a world of Trader Joe’s– where we can supplement the on-time arrival of Autumn with pumpkin flavored things and chrysanthemums.
A decorative toadstool adds a pop to a seasonal doorstep planter of ferns and chrysanthemums.
All the more reason to embrace the changing season with a bit of beauty in the home. We still crave a change of pace, a time of interior warmth and comfort. And so fall decorating and rituals that welcome the arrival of autumn play an important role as we wait for the weather to catch up.
Here are a few ways that I like to prepare our home for autumn, even when we’re still running the AC .
Natural things
Mini gourds and a dried bouquet of statice and spray roses from Trader Joe’s.
The real heroes of fall decorating are mini pumpkins and gourds. They are inexpensive, textural and colorful, and non breakable. The kids inevitably take them to play with, which is fine. I can pick them up off the floor at the end of the day and find a way to style them in whatever room they’ve been left in.
Statice is a papery flower that dries beautifully. I like to get a couple of bunches from time to time to add to a vase for some visual texture. Here, the mini orange spray roses that I intended to discard ended up drying perfectly so I kept them all together.
Toys and Books
I have an accumulating box of children’s toys and books for each season. It’s so fun for the kids to be reunited with old friends when it’s time to bring the box down from the shelf.
I absolutely take advantage of the novelty of newly unpacked toys and books to get a bit of decorating done while the kids are occupied.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything is a Halloween classic.
Home Made Treats
Jane-approved pumpkin cookies.
I’ve been making these pumpkin glazed pumpkin cookies since I was a girl. I’m not a big fan of pumpkin spiced lattes, so these are my fall flavor fix for the season. If you live in a warmer autumn climate, I also highly recommend making your own pumpkin ice cream. It is divine.
A few thrifted things (of course)
A vintage iron horse and cart pulling a harvest of freshly picked acorns. Similar ones can be found on Etsy.
I’m on the hunt year-round for tasteful and unique holiday decorations. I recently found this vintage iron horse and cart, which I thought could be perfectly redecorated from now through Christmas. My first thought was to fill it up with pumpkin candies, but acorns are a more realistic cargo with a four year old in the house.
I also thrifted this metal leaf platter. I’m excited to experiment with it further in the years to come, but for now a simple pumpkin and candle ensemble works very well.
I generally like to keep with simple and elegant fall decor, and focus on giving the house a good house cleaning and refresh before the holidays arrive. Incorporating other rituals such as cooking, baking and seasonal books for the kids help to bring autumn into the home and create the atmosphere of seasonal warmth that we all look forward to year after year.
