Four easy decor updates for fall
Stay ahead of trends with timeless tweaks to refresh your home
Cool weather and shorter days herald our autumn migration back indoors. It’s that time of year when we notice the artwork we still haven’t hung, the faded pillows and the outdated rug.
This is why designers wisely advise us against trends. Chicago designers Summer Thornton and Amy Kartheiser instead weigh in with some of the fresh ideas:
1. Try a mellow yellow. Terra cotta is poised to take over from millennial pink as top colour. But soft yellow might be a better bet for an accent that looks cool and has staying power.
“I don’t like bright, sunny yellow,” Kartheiser says, “but I love golden yellow. It’s very warm and cosy, and it also gets into that brass colour that you see everywhere.” 2. Get into (postmodern) shape. The abstract art of the 1980s is influencing everything from fabric and wallpaper prints, to metal wall sculptures, to sofas with curved backs.
“I’m pulling elements and inspiration from the late 1800s up through the 1980s and everything in between,” Thornton says.
3. Go wallpaper-crazy. “The wallpapers of the ’80s are coming back,” says Kartheiser. “We had wallpaper in every single room growing up.” The design world, she says, has been bringing that idea back, and it’s catching fire.
“People are feeling bolder and more confident in their choices, and I always tell clients that it’s the thing you’re the most afraid of that you end up loving the most once it’s installed. That’s what wallpaper and big bold prints do,” Kartheiser says.
4. Hang a portrait. “I think there’s something about people’s faces that engages you or draws you in,” Kartheiser says. “Think about Mona Lisa — how many people have talked about that portrait of this woman?”
“We have our foyer filled with a mixture of antique and modern portraits from around the world,” adds Thornton. “They bring a sense of history and character to a home.”
Portraits don’t need to be family members — in fact, it’s more fun if they’re not.