As the days grow shorter and the air turns crisper, it's time to embrace the cozy and inviting atmosphere that autumn brings. One of the best ways to do this is by decorating your apartment for the fall season. Throughout this article, we'll explore some creative and budget-friendly fall decor ideas to transform your living space into a cozy haven for the season.
Budget Friendly Décor
Buying seasonal décor for your apartment can be costly, especially when there are many options. DIYing your seasonal décor is easy and a great way to cut costs on items that you only use for one season!
DIY Wreath
Tell your guests and everyone in your apartment you're fall-ready with your DIY skills on your front door! Finding affordable wreaths can be hard and frustrating, especially when you will only be using the wreath for a certain season. This is when your DIY skills could come in handy. Even if you aren't skilled in DIY, this wreath is easy to do! All you need is an empty wreath, a hot glue gun, and forager skills! You can buy an empty wreath online or at any craft store. Once you have secured your wreath and your hot glue gun, it's time to start foraging. You can forage for leaves, flowers, pinecones, and gumballs from gumball trees. Any of these items you can find on a walk with your dog or a hike. If you live in more of an urban area, you can slice pieces of fruit, such as oranges, and dry them out using your oven. Once you have collected all your fall material, it's time to start putting your wreath together. Begin by gluing and weaving in different leaves and slices of oranges on your wreath. Use your best fall spirit to determine whether your wreath is full enough. Once it's complete, hang the wreath on your door and let your autumn spirit grow!
Pressed Leaves
If you still feel like your home lacks the fall spirit, it's either time to go foraging again or head to the craft store to complete this DIY! Pressing leaves is one of the easiest DIYs to help spruce up your home and give it that fall feel. All you need are leaves (real or fake), picture frames, plain copy paper, glue, and heavy books. Start by placing a leaf between a folded piece of copy paper and placing the leaf inside the book. You can place multiple leaves inside each book, and after a week or less, start removing your leaves. Glue them on blank sheets of copy paper that fit the size of frames you have. Once you have glued the leaves and they've dried, place them into each frame and hang them wherever your heart desires. Putting leaves on your wall will add to your cozy space and make the inside reflect the outside, truly bringing the fall spirit in.
Light the Way with Candlesticks
Candlesticks are cheap and can increase your space's cozy factor. Purchase fall colors like orange, dark red, and yellow to match the color of autumn. Style the candlesticks at different heights so they don't look too uniform. If you're concerned about the candle sticks being a fire hazard, consider picking up some battery-powered candles or some string lights to keep the fall vibe with no worries.
DIY Doormat
Doormats can be expensive, especially when you need to buy them for each season. But an easy way to save money on a fall doormat is by making your own. Start by purchasing a plain coir doormat and purchasing some paint. The paint can be something you have lying around or from the dollar store. You may also need some cardboard, a permanent marker, and some scissors if you need to make stencils. Once you have collected your supplies, determine if you would like to free-hand a fall design on your mat, or cut out some ghosts or pumpkins with the cardboard and trace them onto your doormat. Once your design is finished, turn on your favorite fall movie and start painting. Before you know it, you will have a completed spooky season doormat. Be sure to leave the door mat inside until it's fully dry, and then place it on your doorstep to let all your guests know that you are in the fall spirit.
Multipurpose Décor
Suppose you're not a DIY person or have room in your budget for a few extra pieces of fall décor; adding fall to your home is as easy as going to your local home décor store and picking up a few pillows and candles. But this can be costly and could take up too much of your storage space. The solution: Buy multipurpose décor items that can be used for multiple seasons.
Creating Your Cozy Space
To begin your cozy fall wonderland, purchase blankets in warm tones such as red, tan, and yellow. These are the perfect fall colors and can be used year-round to keep you warm and cozy. Next, it's time to pick out some décor pillows. You can help brighten the space by buying light-colored pillows, such as white or off-white. These pillows will work with your blankets, and you can use them for all seasons. If you're still looking for a spooky theme in your cozy space, consider picking up a small but affordable fall-themed pillow or adding a candy jar to your coffee table to indulge in a treat while binge-watching your favorite Halloween films.
Fall Scents
Nothing puts anyone more in the fall spirit than the smell of spice and everything nice. Even if you cannot afford all the fancy candles, you can add the smell of the season by baking pumpkin bread, adding cinnamon to your coffee, or making a simple stovetop potpourri. To make a potpourri, you only need some cinnamon, lemons, apples, cloves, vanilla extract, and water. Once you have gathered all your items, put them in a pot, simmer on the lowest setting, and enjoy that fresh fall scent!
Adding Small Hints
If you're not looking to do any DIYs this season, you can still add small touches of fall by utilizing the seasonal harvest. For example, buy small pumpkins at the grocery store and seasonal flowers you can display throughout the comfiest places in your home. Buy a large bag of apples and leave them in a fruit bowl on your counter, creating the illusion that you just went apple picking. Once you have picked your fresh seasonal harvest, you can add even more hints by changing your dish and bathroom towels to autumnal colors and changing the soaps to fall scents. By making these small changes, you can put your apartment and your guests in the fall spirit!
Fall is the beginning of the coziest time of year. Entering this time with the perfect décor will put you in a good mood for the rest of the season and put you on the right path for the rest of the year!
