Adding Fall Color to the Living Room
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This is the first fall season ever that I don’t have a fireplace mantel to create a decorative focal point for my living room or a coffee table to decorate for fall.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make when decorating our homes for any season is spending too much time looking at what everyone else has or is doing, and not giving enough time to figure out what is most important, relevant for our space, our wants and unique needs for our circumstances. It feels safer to do what everyone else is doing.

I had to keep this advice in mind after thinking I wasn’t even going to share how I decorated my living room this year for fall since the room is in a state of limbo. Along with this there are no large surfaces to decorate since there is no longer a mantel or a coffee table in the room.
When we removed the stone fireplace from the brick wall in the living room earlier in the year, I thought by now I would have come up with something new to place above the firebox on the brick wall. (If you missed why we had to remove it, it wasn’t up to code, so instead of worrying about it, we removed it.)
I have considered many ideas for the fireplace, but none have gotten me excited enough to do yet, so I haven’t done a thing since painting the bricks and adding the decorative paneled screen I glaze painted.
I have found that I am beginning to like the white painted brick wall without a mantel. It makes the room feel more spacious.

I do however like to decorate the room for fall, so instead of a mantel being the focal point, I created a new focal point where I placed the paneled green screen against the wall.

I really like the way the screen looks placed to the left on the wall. It hides the firewood storage area and acts as a nice colorful background for the floor lamp I transformed with sisal cord along with the big wicker basket I made into a side table.
Colorful Fall Decor Using What I Already Had

When considering how to decorate the living room, I like to use as many items from nature that I can find to bring inside and items I already own. This year, I also didn’t want to purchase anything new.
I was happy to find a skein of purple raffia left over when I made rustic fall tassels a few years ago. I hung the tassel from the knob on the bulb socket of the floor lamp.

Raffia or yarn tassels are very easy to make, you can find out just how easy in my post about How To Make Tassels 3 Different Ways to Accent Home Decor.

Over the years I have added more and more battery-operated white pillar candles, not only to my living room, but all around the house.
This candle is from Pottery Barn. It is pricy, but worth it as I use it and others every night. It looks so real and I have not had to replace a battery yet after two years. :-)
I like using these so I don’t have to worry about leaving a candle lit unattended. I bought the hyacinth glass hurricane on the table over the summer at Walmart. The faux fall leaves I bought at the craft store years ago.

I also have a few battery-operated candles from Amazon in a dough bowl on the console table. Two of these stopped working a few months ago. They are less expensive, but don’t seem to last as long.

I have a large real white unscented candle from Walmart on the two-tier thrift store table I made over recently. The cylinder glass vase is from Pottery Barn.
The table looks perfect decorated for fall. In keeping the decor simple, I placed a few fall items that I have always loved. One is a small ceramic pumpkin that is very special to me.

My mom made it back in 1973 when she was taking ceramic classes. That was a popular thing to do back then. She loved decorating the house for fall, so bringing it out every fall reminds me of her.

I also like to display Susan Branch’s book entitled, Autumn. Paging through all the colorful illustrations always makes me smile and want to “cozy up” the house.

When the winter comes and we want to use the fireplace, I will move the sofa back over to the mirrored wall. I really like it placed here though so I may hesitant doing it until absolutely necessary.

The pillow covers on the sofa pillows are a few years old. I found them on clearance at Pottery Barn.

I decided to use the purple and white Buffalo Check cover for the ottoman I made a few years ago. You can see it and its twin in this post, Quick & Easy Cozy Fall Decorating Tips.
Instead of raffia tassels for the ottoman covers, I made yarn tassels with wood bead tops.

On the console, I added branches from the yard mixed in with faux fall florals that I used to decorate my foyer for fall in past years.
All during the season I will bring in and add more natural fall elements as I find them outside.

I wasn’t going to hang the throw blanket holder back up that I made last winter. Without the stone fireplace, it is just hanging out in no-man’s land. But it is such a functional item I put it back up for the time being.
So as you can see even with the room in a state of change, plus no mantel or coffee table, I still made changes using what I already owned to bring a little bit of fall to the room.
How about you? How are you going to decorate your living room for the season.
Do you have any special decorations or items you like to display?
More Fall Decorating Ideas You May Like:
- Low-Budget, But Cozy Living Room Decor Ideas for Fall
- Autumn Decorating Inspiration Home Tour
- Fall Mantel Decorated With Pumpkins
- Fall Home Decorating Ideas

Your living room came out beautiful. Love the tassels. The greens, purples and oranges work so well together. I am glad you took a step back and thought about your space and what it needed. It is very good advice because it is so easy to get caught up in what you think you should be doing.
Thanks Meagan – :-)
I love how you cozied up your living room for fall with items you already own. I like the pops of purple with the green screen. And the keepsake pumpkin that your mom made is a wonderful piece. I’m simplifying my fall decor too with more natural elements mixed with some vintage amber bottles and a few old brass figurines that I’ve collected over the years. I am going to look into the Pottery Barn Candles. And I really like that Walmart candle in the hyacinth basket.
Hi Deanna – I would love to find some vintage amber bottles at an antique or thrift store. I have been looking, but so far have only found new ones. Old ones are hard to find. Mixing them with brass as you described sounds fall perfect! I went to a friend’s home for dinner last night and she had about 10 or more battery operated candles in various sizes in a dough bowl like mine. It looked amazing. I may have to buy some more to copy that look. :-)
Super great ideas, Diane! Decorating your home with what YOU love, not anyone else, is so important!! That’s what makes your home feel special!
Thanks Rachel :-)
I love all the things you’ve made for your living room. So many great finds and transformations. It’s so special that you have your mom’s handmade ceramic pumpkin. Looks like she was really good at making pottery.
You could always hang a wreath on the room divider.
I think the room looks lovely! I like all the small touches of fall! I’m intrigued with the floor lamp! Did you do it? If so, I must have missed that post! Please share! Thank you!
Love what you have done and especially like your green screen – wonderful colour. Always enjoy your posts – very creative, full of ideas.
Your room looks great — love the green screen behind the lamp and fall foliage — beautiful! Thanks for your ideas and the encouragement to use what we have!
It always looks lovely. You are fortunate to have Acevedo to a variety of shrubs etc in your yard. They
Hake a big impact.
Enjoy your fall.
Sue Verbaan
Really like your throw blanket holder – those particular throws really give a pop of color to the room.
I also agree, it is nice to see someone use what they have on hand.
Personally, I think the room looks cozy and not designerish (my new word) like a room I would be comfortable going into and enjoying.
Diane, I think your room is lovely. I love seeing you used what you have. So many of the blogs show you what they have bought from Amazon, etc. so you will buy and they receive a commission. Tired of it. I enjoy seeing creativity.