Take Your Home From Summer to Fall

Bringing your home from summer to fall is simpler than you think. It all begins with taking inventory of your home to determine which nonessential items you can eliminate or switch and where you can add.

“Start with anything fabric,” says Maria Aguerri-Gomez, Academic Dean of The Art Institute of Michigan-Troy, a branch campus of The Art Institute of Michigan. “You can change your couch covers, pillows and your throw blankets, add a duvet to your bed, change your window treatment or bathroom towels; or simply add a table runner to bring fall into your home without breaking your budget.”

Take couch covers from creamy and off-white tones to fall tones and colors. Choose earth tones such as reds and browns to bring depth and warmth. Navy blue also can be a great color to add. Not completely committed to bringing that much color into your living room? Change your pillows or throw blankets to develop an accented atmospheric change. Take a look at your window treatments and consider a heavier fabric with possible prints.

“Paisley is coming back this fall,” Aguerri-Gomez says. “Use paisley prints on curtains or pillows, or venture out and buy a paisley arm chair that can nestle nicely into an unused corner in your bedroom or living room.”

Elizabeth Polish, an Interior Design Instructor at The Art Institute of New York City and owner of Elizabeth Polish Design, says bird prints are making their way into homes via lampshades and carpets this fall.

Aguerri-Gomez predicts that mustard will be a key color this fall. Add a mustard table runner and change up your dinnerware and placemats to bring your table from light and airy to warm and welcoming. Don’t want to part with the lemons and limes nestled inside your glass vase as table decor? Try compromising and replace the citrus with artichokes and pomegranates for a fall final touch.

For those that like to have feng shui elements in their home, you’ll be happy to know that gold is making a comeback. Try mercury or gold canisters, vases and accents. In the past, gold and mercury were reserved for the holidays or special celebrations, but now you can bring them out earlier to bring that shiny pop the room will need.

The last touch to bringing your home from summer to fall is mood lighting. Polish recommends utilizing energy-efficient LED lights and bulbs.