Fantastic Autumn Decorating Day!

Alright, fellow fall lovers! Now for the big wrap-up of our fantastic autumn decorating day. Are you ready? Let’s do it.

To finish up the rest of the house, we used:

1. leftover paper leaves from the Dollar Tree
2. those awesome pinecones, pumpkins, and gourds from Vons
3. a saved wreath, an old scare crow, and a couple little fall items from the fall box
4. a few larger pumpkins from Vons for our front porch
5. about 5 or 6 candles we bought on sale in the summer & saved for this time of year

Now that we’ve got our centerpieces done, we moved on to some other areas of the house that we love to draw attention to. One good tip is to always start with a clean canvas, so this is a great excuse to quickly clean all of these areas before you start! One of our very favorite focus points is a great lamp we received as a gift from an old friend. You saw the before photo in phase one! The key to being able to leave some core, year-round pieces on your tables and counters (which grounds the holiday décor) is to wrap an old wreath around them. This way, it adds color and a festive feel as well as giving you a “base” to add some smaller items to freshen it up. It took minutes to arrange, and yet look at the difference!

Another focus point is the island counter in our kitchen. We keep a tray with a large candle & seasonal décor there throughout the year. We removed the summer themed items, and replaced them with a new fall colored candle from last year. You can simply use some tealights or even a flameless candle so the candle stays fresh all year long. We also added some carefully placed pumpkins, gourds, mini indian corn, and leaves left over from our large centerpiece to “fill the holes”. Setting it up was less than 5 minutes and the results were gorgeous AND portable, making it a great centerpiece whenever the need arises. We took this piece to a ladies event later in the week that we’ll feature shortly!

We also added a few simple touches to a few other areas like our dining room. These leaves were the cute ones on sticks we found at the Dollar Store, and helped transition this existing display into Fall. The candle holders were bought 5 years ago for ONE BUCK a piece at an art show, score! The wicker pumpkin is a favorite that we picked up for $2 a few years ago at a garage sale:

Our coffee table was super simple to arrange; all we did was add pumpkins and pinecones to this permanent display:

And we even added a Fall feel to our front porch! The yellow bowl was already there, and all we had to do was add some Dollar Tree items from our Fall Box + a few real pumpkins we got on sale. :

At the end of the afternoon, we had spent about 2.5 hours and got everything done, AND had fun doing it…including a shopping trip & full photo shoot. What may work better for readers with busy schedules is to space out each focus point, so that you’re doing a little decorating over the course of a few days. No stress, just enjoy the beauty you’re creating for yourself and everyone that visits! With one shopping trip, décor from the past years, and these simple tips you can put the joy back into holiday traditions.

We’d love to know…what are some focus points in your home? Do you have a favorite bowl or lamp or candle you love to use every year? What are some of your favorite stores to grab inexpensive decorating pieces? Or do you have a Fall family tradition that you look forward to?