Thinking Ahead to Fall Decorating

Notice the title of this post is… thinking ahead to fall decorating, as I am not quite ready to actually decorate my house for fall yet. It has been on my mind now that summer is slowly winding down.

I have been reflecting on past fall seasons and how I decorated the house. This year, I want to make the fall season feel even more extra comfy-cozy… as if placing an extra blanket of calm and comfort throughout the house.

Remember the catch phrase from the 90’s… Cocooning?

Hunkering down in place, but with all your cozy comforts around you to make sure that you had everything you need to live a comfortable life right in your own home. This is what I am planning on doing.

We have no trips abroad planned or party invites like we did last fall. Life this fall will be about sticking close to home.

This fall, with uncertainty about the pandemic and more still looming, I want more than just decor to create a comfy fall home.

I want the “whole lifestyle package” that fits my life, wants, needs, and budget. Life is too short not to make the best of every second of every single day, even if they are mostly spent at home.

I am finding that this is what I am seeking more than buying new “stuff” to simply decorate the house.

Decorating for fall this year is going to be more about making sure the decor feels just right for how I want to “be” at home.

Being at home for you could mean setting up a desk in the least used room for your 9-5 job or a place where your children can learn at home.

As fall arrives and the weather gets cooler we will find ourselves back inside more. Time for our inner homebody to shine instead of feeling stuck inside like many of us did back in the early spring 6 months ago. In the spring, we were in shock and not mentally prepared to be homebound.

Now we have time to plan ahead to make sure we have everything we need to make the most of our time spent more at home this fall.

My youngest makes the best sourdough bread and guided me to Alexandra Cooks’ website to learn how to make it. She gave me a portion of her sourdough starter to get me started on my own bread baking journey.

The smell of fresh bread baking brings back fond memories of simpler times that I want to embrace in my life.

Good smells add to the ambiance of a home.Remember, creating a beautiful home is not just about the decorating.

When Decorating for Fall I Am Going to Make Sure That:

• There are the softest coziest throws on the best loved seats in the house.

• I have cozy comforts in reach – good books, good internet, favorite music, as well as good food and wine stocked in the pantry.

• That I find the best stuff to decorate the house using what is right in my own decorating stash.

• Use natural elements from my yard to decorate the house.

• I add candles on the coffee table and in the kitchen.

• I don’t worry that my house isn’t autumn decor magazine photo worthy, just perfect for me and my family.

• I find time to paint and update items found in my decorating stash or from the thrift store.

Since Ed and I are not going out to the movies and dinner every week like we used to pre-pandemic. I want to make sure we can create some “special evenings” in our weekly schedule. For us, this is movies and good food. For you it might mean something entirely different.

We are saving money by not going out to eat, which in turn gives us more money to splurge a little on better wines and better cuts of meats and fish for Ed and plant based for me to make at home to enjoy. We also order dinner from our favorite local restaurants to pick up every Friday night.

TV shows this fall will mostly be reruns as TV show production was put on hold like everything else. So for me Netflix, Prime Video and streaming new release movies will be key for movie watching.

I also upgraded my Spotify account so I could listen to music anywhere in the house that makes me feel good all day while both working and just hanging out.

Making sure I have all that I need to do these pursuits in the style I want on a daily basis is what is important to me.

My Fall Decorating Plans

Decorating for fall this year has me thinking that it doesn’t necessarily mean using lots of pumpkins, gourds, and plaid blankets, but maybe something not so contrived.

I did buy a velvet pillow back in June to use on my sofa come September. It has great texture and is perfect for my white and woodsy decorating scheme that I am trying to build upon.

I made up a list of fall decorating projects that I plan to do around the house and post about. The first one you will be seeing involves this…

Last summer, one of the patio umbrellas on my deck broke. We fixed it the best we could. This summer “our fix” broke and the umbrella is a goner.

Instead of throwing the whole thing in the trash, I threw away the mechanical frame and kept the Sunbrella fabric cover you see in the photo above. Next week I will share with you what I am doing with it.

Come September, I will start removing the warm weather touches around the house and will slowly begin to add items that will give a subtle ‘nod’ to fall since Fall doesn’t officially arrive until the end of September.

I hope that I will inspire you to make the best home life you can for yourself in your own style this fall…

Whatever this means for you, try to plan and make sure you add it to your home and life as the weather begins to transition into the Fall season of 2020… the year most of us will never forget.

Let’s make the fall of 2020 unforgettable, not because of the pandemic, but by the ways we make the most of how we choose to live in our homes in the best way we can within our style and means.

Staying home in your own style is the new lifestyle to embrace.