Easy Fall Decor That Creates the Wow Factor

One of the easiest ways to decorate for Fall, is to gather all of your fall decor together and concentrate it in one area to create a stunning display.

Too often when decorating, people feel the need to spread holiday decor all around the house, making sure everything everywhere gets a bit of Christmas or a bit of well, any holiday. While this does indeed show a sampling of the decor everywhere you look, it might not give the desired effect that you were hoping to create.

Decor items, like collections, are best viewed when grouped together so that the feeling and expression can be experienced and enjoyed. Think of it like a Thanksgiving dinner or buffet. Imagine coming to Thanksgiving and seeing the beautiful table covered with all of your favorite foods, the turkey, the stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, rolls, the list goes on, but you get the picture right? It's a feast for the eyes and the appetite!

Now imagine instead if you walked into the room for Thanksgiving and the only thing on the table was the turkey. Looks nice, sure, let's have some turkey, but alone, it's kind of dry and you lose interest quickly.  Where's everything else you might ask the host at this dinner and imagine if she said, oh, well, if you head downstairs, there's a little bit of stuffing down there and later on the cranberries will make an appearance.... Ok, eventually you'll get there and eat the holiday dinner, but it won't feel the same or be as great.

It's the same with holiday decor. When it's spread over multiple rooms in sparse selections, it's nice but it doesn't have the wow factor --  the OMG this is incredible, would you look at that, let me take this in, wow the holidays are here factor!

Now I know when I say this, some people are thinking, hmm, that sounds expensive, but it doesn't have to be.  Many times it's all about taking what you already have and displaying it all together in a group, so that it really creates the season and feeling of the holiday.

Ok, so let's take a look at some groupings I've created in my home and some groupings that I helped one of my Intuitive Interior Decor clients create in her home.

First, I want to show you my Pumpkin Patch. This group grows every year with new additions.  Depending upon where I'm living, the theme varies as well.

For example, when I lived on the water, I would add a coastal theme to the fall decor, including these hand painted coastal theme pumpkins from artist Kate McCrostie.  The three black pedestal stands really enhance this look with their staggered heights, stands are from Grandin Road.

Other times, it's all about traditional Fall and the colors of orange, red, brown and yellow reflecting the leaves turning. Even with the traditional theme though, I still have to throw in some metallic color pumpkins from Pier One in to add some shine.

This year, I explored the blues and greens that are making their debut into Fall, creating a less traditional theme. I added the whimsical black and white check pumpkins from Mackenzie Childs to create a very modern take on Fall.

One of the best parts about gathering all of the Fall Decor together is that you can add and subtract throughout the season.  I pull out my Fall decor in late September around the Fall equinox, building on just a few items.

When October arrives, I then add my Halloween decor into the mix, with orange lights and lots of spooky items.

Once Halloween is complete and we roll into November, I remove the supernatural items and add more berries to bring us into a Thanksgiving look.

Let's take a look here at the Thanksgiving scapes that I've created for one of my Intuitive Interior Decor clients. 

Shown here is a garland table-scape that I created for her dining table. She entertains a huge number of guests every Thanksgiving and so it's important that the home really feel like the holiday is here!    She lives in Northern Virginia near DC and their style is traditional and family friendly. We used traditional pieces here for her garland in the colors of Fall. Her runner is one she's used for many years and all of the items that created this tablescape were gathered from around her home using her existing fall decor. Combined all together on the table runner they make a eye catching display!

After dinner everyone gathers in her family room to play games, talk and watch TV. In her family room, the fireplace is the focal point. With this in mind, I've added the word Gather, to touch upon the sentiment of this holiday and the joy of everyone spending time together.

The fireplace reflects the family's love of the season and the warmth with candlelight.  This decor went up at Fall Equinox and will stay through November.  Once December 1st, rolls around, my client will remove the garland and wreath, but we'll keep the gold candles and the Gather sign, all from Grandin Road. Green spruce or pine garland and a new wreath will go where the Fall garland was before and we'll add some red ribbon for a pop of color.

The gold candles work through the Christmas holidays as does the lantern with the candle inside that is set on a timer to turn on every evening at sunset.  A green velvet bow will be added on the lantern and after that, she won't have to do too much to decorate but again, she has that wow factor, a pulled together, yes I decorate for the holidays look!

One last touch in her kitchen, as so many people love to come help in the kitchen while she's preparing the holiday meal. We gathered berries, gourds and pine cones and arranged it in this gorgeous bread bowl to make an attractive display that is a focal point, which holds it all together so that there's plenty of room to work in the kitchen. Because of its size, it's also easy to pick up the bread dough bowl and move it elsewhere as needed.

When we combine the decor in groupings this way, it not only creates a wow factor that everyone enjoys, it's also long lasting as a display that takes us through the entire season of Fall. That's less work overall while creating more impact, who doesn't love that!

You can also do this for the Christmas holiday season. Gather and group your wintery items together, greenery, garland, berries, gold and silver candles and gold or silver metallic ribbon. Create a wintery looking scene and as Christmas grows near, add your Santas and reindeer and other decor including red ribbon, laying it over the silver or gold metallic ribbon.

Once Christmas is over, remove Santa and other items of this nature and keep the silver candlesticks and metallic ribbon and you've got a New Year's Eve glam winter look ready to go. This look works so great, you can keep it out through January if you like. Use white lights wrapped around the garland and decor and it adds a soft glow in the home through the darker winter months.

The joy of decorating is that it doesn't have to be a full time job. Take the time to look over all of your decor for a season and how you could pull it together and group it in one section of your home to create the most impactful scene of the season. Maybe it's your fireplace mantel, your coffee table or a console table in the room where you spend the most time.  Not only will everyone enjoy it, it also makes for easy clean up when the holiday is over.

If you'd like to work with me in a private session where we go over your holiday decor and create a plan to make a gorgeous impactful wow factor display in your home, Contact Me to Book Your Holiday Decor Consultation in my work as an Intuitive Interior Decorator.

Let's create something magical for the holidays that expresses to everyone how you celebrate the Spirit of the Season!

#grandinroad #mackenziechilds #pierone