Getting Your Home Decorated for Fall

Fall decor and decoration is especially important during the autumnal holidays. There are plenty of tweaks you can make to your entertaining spaces to reflect the theme of fall and even of Halloween or Thanksgiving.

Patti Harrell Hoech of Patrican Design notes that “even if you say, ‘I don’t have anything, I don’t want to get supplies, I don’t want to spend any money on decorations’, it’s as simple as going out into your yard. This goes for every season.”

“In the springtime, you can snip some not-yet-flowered branches and force them into warm water, so you get an early bloom. And for fall, I suggest using not just leaves from your yard, but bulb-y plants,” she said.

“For fall, Locust pods are perfect. They have a leather-like, dark finish. They have so much character and spiral out elegantly like a bouquet from a vase,” Harrell Hoech continues. “There is no water needed, too — I just put them in square glass vases and they stay dry.”

Other plant elements Harrell Hoech suggests are aumtunal Bradford pear leaves. She says, “These leaves’ colors range from dark mahogany to bright yellow — and everything in between, like burnt orange and a beautiful, bright coral, or a screaming golden yellow. You can sprinkle these leaves like confetti for a spectacular effect.” Or you can use something even more native to and common in New Mexico — grasses.

For Halloween, of course, you can emphasize it with pumpkins, especially miniature pumpkins. For a more thanksgiving feel, you can add gourds to this, nearly resembling a cornucopia. “If you want to use real gourds and pumpkins, you can. But to cheat, you can buy a wreath at a hobby store that has fake fruit or fake gourds on it, drop that on your table, and then drop something in the middle of it," Hoech said. These decorations can also serve you for months.

“Fall or Thanksgiving decorations can easily become Christmastime decor. Chuck the mini pumpkins and gourds, and throw in pine-cones and evergreen sprigs, or Holly if you have it. And add some Christmas ornaments. One time, I even spray-painted the locust seed pods gold for a more wintery, Christmastime feel, as opposed to natural and autumnal,” she said. Maybe decorating your home’s interior is as simple as poking around your home’s exterior.

Don’t forget to get creative, too. Whatever you think will look good from your yard, probably will.