Autumn Decorating on a Budget
How to Avoid Making it Expensive
When I got my first apartment, the first thing I wanted to do was decorate it for every season just like I’d seen in different shows, Youtube videos, and Pintrest boards growing up. I had no idea the giant cost that it would entail and as a student I can tell you that I absolutely did not buy into it. In my mind, a few throw pillows and random pumpkin/leaf things would be easy and affordable. Nope, not at all the case. So we started to figure out how to get around the budgeting hump of seasonal decorating while having A) not very much storage and 2) not having a large budget.
Weirdly enough, some of the things that are going to keep it looking more expensive are the same things that’ll make it cheap to curate and reproduce for the different seasons. The basics of this are focusing on colour pallet and several small pieces, that way you can keep integrating it into your home after the season is over instead of having to store it away in huge boxes that’ll you only use once a year.
Keep in mind: we’ve managed to get some affiliate links for some of these products, so we get a small kickback for the purchases made on those sites denoted by an ‘*’.
Importance of Colour Scheme
The number one easiest way to make your place feel more seasonal is just to rearrange what you already have. Taking out or putting more on display more autumnal items is great, but if you don’t have a giant pumpkin pillow just kicking around (like I didn’t) you can just go out of your way to coordinate your things with a seasonal colour pallet. Luckily, it seems like fall colours are some of the easiest to find in every day home decor. Books, candles, pillows, blankets, and vases are easy to find in most homes, so you just have to learn how to display them to maximize your fall effect!
Not sure how to pull a cohesive colour pallet? I recommend going on Pintrest and making a moodboard. Take a look at all the colours your board has in common and try to lean that way with your decorating. If you want something even more specific, look up artist autumn pallets that’ll pull really great and specific colours for you to be on the lookout for!
That being said, there are many widely-agreed-upon colour pallets and materials used for fall. It’s always some variation of orange, red, yellow, green, and at least one type of beige/neutral. This primarily goes for things like fabric, but don’t forget about the other elements that help make a room more put together like books and any dishes on display. For your hard materials you’re looking for things like brass, amber, copper, and ceramic to help you capitalize on that fall aesthetic.
Don’t Buy A Thousand Plastic Pumpkins
Let’s be honest, those craft store pumpkins look okay at best and you will never ever use them anywhere else. They’re also way too expensive for a hunk of plastic and if you’re buying a few the costs add up quickly. Buying a couple new things for the season can be fun and exciting, so why not make sure you can enjoy them at least more than 2 months in the year?
For cloth materials, you’re looking to visually keep it cozy and warm. This usually means knits, wovens, and natural materials. Usually there’s a splash of plaid in their too, so it’s up to you to try to keep it a classy flannel if you can because that extends to decorating life of the piece longer throughout the year than just the classic fall black-and-red colour blocking.
In the cases where you’re looking to buy something, thrift stores and clearance sections are your best friend! Especially with Christmas being advertised sooner and sooner that just means that fall decor is getting placed on clearance that much earlier in the year. If you have your heart set on making some new purchases, definitely see if you can wait for the sales!
We put together a quick list of things you can buy or might already have in your house to make your house really feel like you’re leaning into fall!
Things You Probably Have
1. Throw Blankets
Throw blankets are the perfect thing to have around your house. They’re the peak combination of style and comfort. In these colder fall-to-winter months, having your prettier blankets out can add both to your colour scheme and to your cozy vibe.
On the downside, these can be kind of expensive. That’s why it’s great to visit places like Marshalls, Homegoods, and thrift shops. It can also be hard to find cute blankets online, so we put together a small list* below of our favourites from this season that are cute and actually affordable.
2. Candles
Autumn candles are a very easy way to inject some fall into your home. Even if you don’t feel like rearranging, or don’t even have the time, throwing a couple pumpkins on your table and lighting a cinnamon candle will get you 90% of the way there. Even without being heavily scented, just the look of a candle can make the room feel cozier and more decorated.
The classic Fall Candle is usually some variation of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, pine, and apple. If you’re not looking to burn them (some candles give me headaches), then I recommend getting some of the pretty natural candles with wood wicks. It helps add to the aesthetic without being too overpowering.
3. Autumn Coloured Books
If you’re in a house you probably have some books laying around, especially if you’re a student. This is a really cheap and easy way to bring those purples, oranges, reds, and neutrals into your space. Books can be used to stack, prop, or lean their way into being ideal fall decor.
If you don’t have a lot of books with pretty spines, remove the cover sleeve before you start shopping! I can’t tell you how many beautiful books I never realized I owned until I started removing the sleeves.
If you do need to go get some new reads (never a bad thing either), try checking out your local thrift stores, where you can get some great finds for only a dollar or two each!
4. Fall Coloured / Themes Drinkware
A fall refresh is all about rearranging what you already to have to make your vibe look intentional and curated. By bringing your themed mugs or even just amber glassware to the front of your cupboards or arranged nicely on your coffee table, it gives your eye something to focus on and makes the space feel more intentional.
We made a small list* below of our favourite glassware of the season that fits these categories.
Small Purchases to Intensify the Autumn Vibes
1. Downloadable Art Prints
Wall art is expensive, there’s no way around it. Or is there? Welcome to wonderful world of downloadable art!
All over Etsy incredible independent artists have taken incredibly high-quality scans of their work and uploaded it so that people like you and I can download it for only a few dollars. It’s a really cheap way to display exactly what you’ve been looking for, sized to your specific dimensions.
Once you’ve got your beautiful new print, you just have to spend a few more bucks to get it printed at your local printer store. My personal go to’s are always Fedex and Staples. Pop in your favourite frame and you’re ready to go!
2. Real Pumpkins
I have two words for you: Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s (TJ’s if you’re nasty) hands down has the best pumpkins every year, without fail. They have the widest variety, the cheapest, and the best gourds.
Plastic pumpkins tend to look cheap and can get very expensive, but mixing or replacing them with real pumpkins can really bring your space to life. Whether it’s as simple as having a coffee table bowl filled with the mini’s or having a full-on arrangement outside your front door, pumpkins are a great way to immediately know that your place is autumn oriented.
The best way to go about picking your pumpkins are to vary your size, shape, and colour to keep it interesting. You want contrast to make your new hoard really pop. Mixing in some cute fake pumpkins is a good option to bulk it out and helps keep the fake ones from looking too tacky or artificial.
Bonus points if you pick up edible squashes to keep you fed!
3. Autumnal Stems/Florals
Dried stems are an easy, cheap, and dramatic way to inject those colours into your space. Not only are they versatile throughout the seasons, but because they’re dried you can put them away into storage and bring them right back out again a few months later!
A variation of this is to mix some great fake flowers with your dry foliage to make the flowers look more realistic. Getting a great dried bouquet ad sticking it in your favourite vase, jar, or used candle holder is an easy way to make your space look both beautiful and fancy on a low budget.
We put together a small list* of our favourite bouquets of this season below!
4. Candle Sticks / Taper Candles
Regular scented candles really help set the mood for a space, but taper candles just bring another level of design. Their dramatic height and huge colour variation creates visual interest, especially when paired with statement candlesticks.
Because of their small footprint, taper candles are easy to store when not in use and easy to display when in use. They can be tucked behind other decor, stacked on top of books, or paired with your favourite vases. They come in every colour imaginable and are usually fairly inexpensive. Mine primarily stay unlit and are basically just decor, but nothing beats the drama of a couple taper candles on date night regardless of the season.
5. Ceramics
Picking up some small stoneware and ceramic pieces help bring in the natural elements that make your home feel cozier. This can take the form of mugs, bowls, vases, or even functionless decor.
Getting some white speckled pottery if you’re on a budget is a lot more versatile throughout the seasons than some hyper-specific fall decor. It’s an excellent neutral base to add on top of. Besides that, ceramics are usually fairly high quality if you’re buying them independently. Most of my personal ceramics and stoneware were hopefully lifetime buys.
Making your decor Big Impact
Now that you know what you need or have found your favourite substitutes and pieces, let’s talk about how to arrange them so they have the biggest impact. You can’t just put everything you have in a giant pile and call it a day. You have to be intentional about where you’re putting things in order to maximize the fall vibes you’re getting out of your stash. There are several easy areas that draw in the eye and give your place a more subtle, but overarching, autumn feeling.
Coffee tables, dining tables, and media consoles are the largest impact surfaces because they tend to be already placed in areas that catch you eye. Try to vary the height and colour of your decor and generally arrange in small groups of 3-5. Make sure you’re also mixing textures as well as materials. This helps make your decorating look more balanced, less cluttered, and more interesting. Pull out any wood cutting boards you have and arrange some of your smaller items and florals on top of some kind of natural cloth if you’re looking to make a more functional centre piece for your dining table.
For more subtle but inescapable touches of fall, try placing your smaller items like candles and mini pumpkins in your windowsills, on shelves, and on side tables. By doing this you’re not only using up any additional decor you might have that doesn’t fit elsewhere, but you’re also cozying up your space even more. Again, I recommend groups of 3 and of course keeping in mind any pets you have that might be causing trouble.
The golden rule of decorating your home to is make sure you’re keeping yourself in mind. You’re the one living in the space so you have to make sure to prioritize your happiness over everyone else’s. If you want a million and one pumpkins in your home, there’s nothing stopping you! Whether you’re indulging in colour, materials, or even candles, an autumn refresh is meant to reflect what you love about this wonderful season. The easiest way to do this is by knowing what you want, usually by making a moodboard, curating what you already have, and refreshing your space in a cohesive manner. Fall carries a lot of connotations and that means there are a lot of different ways to inject your own style into what you love about fall. Whether you’re looking for a total overhaul, a subtle pumpkin spice splash, or just something different anything that makes you happy at the end of the day is the best thing you could’ve done with the space!
Article Product Roundup*
All the products we linked in this article above were collected and surmised in this section. Be aware, while we do like these products, we have affiliate links set up for most of them. That means we get a little kickback if you decide to get any of these products through our website.
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