How to Decorate a Living Room for Fall: 6 Ideas

If pumpkin spice, rainy days and cozy hours spent by the fire are on your mind, you’re probably ready for autumn. Maybe you’re excited about Halloween, or you just can’t wait until Thanksgiving to start getting festive. Why not decorate the house to reflect your mood? To celebrate the changing of the seasons, you can use a variety of things like plants, candles, pumpkins and children’s crafts. Here’s how to decorate a living room for fall. 

1. Pillows and Blankets

First, swap out your usual throw pillows for orange, gold or red ones. You can also look for pillows in neutral tones, like beige, to complement the more brightly-colored ones. Or, look for definitively fall-themed cushions, such as ones printed with oak leaves or pumpkins. 

Drape a knitted blanket over the back of the couch. Lay down a seasonal rug on the living room floor to make it feel even more like fall. You can also add an autumn-themed welcome mat in the entryway to the living room. That way, guests can wipe away the mud and fallen leaves from their boots. 

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2. Fire

The sweet, spicy scent of candles creates a cozy atmosphere that invokes a sense of the seasons changing. Choose candles with aromas like vanilla, cinnamon or pumpkin spice to decorate your living room for fall. 

Place rustic lanterns on the mantel or coffee table for a classic autumn vibe. They can be real or artificial, and you can choose to light them or leave them be.

If you have a fireplace, clean it out and stock it with thick logs. There’s nothing like a roaring fire on a cold evening to make it feel like autumn.

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3. Plants

String a corn cob garland over the mantel using different varieties of corn. Corn comes in a surprising number of colors! Put pinecones on the table, or use them to make autumnal wreaths incorporating red and gold leaves. You can spray them lightly with gold glitter for emphasis. 

Find a unique branch and use it as part of a display. Tie some twine or burlap around mason jars, then fill them with mums, sunflowers and potpourri. 

Put wheat or pampas grass in an old milk churn and place it in a corner. On an end table, put out a cornucopia overflowing with orange and yellow flowers framed by lotus pods.

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4. Fruits

Of course, you can’t decorate a living room for fall without pumpkins! They come in a variety of hues, so you can pick orange, white or green-striped pumpkins to adorn your living room corners and tables. 

It might be fun to choose a mix of different textures, too — see if you can find the bumpiest pumpkin at the store, or the smoothest. Carve them into jack-o’-lanterns and put tea lights inside, etch leaf designs onto them or leave them au natural. 

Pumpkins aren’t the only fruits that make good fall decorations. There are so many other kinds of gourds that look nice, too. Some gourds that double as decor include butternut, acorn, carnival and delicata squashes. 

Put some tea lights inside hollowed-out birdhouse gourds. They look beautiful in their natural state, but you can also paint them. Some ideas for autumn-themed designs include falling leaves, scarecrows or fields of wheat. You can even paint them solid colors like white, red and gold, or add a glittery sheen so they sparkle as part of a centerpiece. 

Colorful, ceramic bowls of apples are another simple fall decoration. Or, make pomanders — oranges pierced with cloves in intricate designs — for a fragrant decoration. If you let them dry properly, they can last for years, and could serve as drawer-fresheners that also repel insects. 

Go outside and see if you can find a branch covered in berries. Stems with bright red or white berries look great as part of a bouquet, wreath or centerpiece.

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5. Kids’ Crafts

If you have young ones, they’ll probably want to be involved in the decorating process. Make crafts together that you can display for everyone to see. 

For example, use a piece of colored construction paper and let your child dip their hand in brown finger paint. Their handprint on the paper becomes the body of a turkey for them to decorate with string, glitter and googly eyes. 

They could make an autumn bouquet by painting pine cones, which are still on the stem, different colors. Then, they can tie them together with a piece of twine. 

Your kids could paint faces on acorns and set them out as part of your fall decor, or use popsicle sticks and yarn to make spooky spider webs. Then, they can make spiders out of pompoms and googly eyes. 

Although typically a winter activity, making a gingerbread house can also be a fun, edible craft that serves as an autumn living room centerpiece. Just make sure to keep an eye on it! It might not last long if you have young children. Of course, that’s all part of the fun. 

Your kids will be so happy when their artwork becomes part of your fall living room decor.

6. Halloween Decorations

Part of decorating a living room for fall can include celebrating Halloween. In addition to all the decor ideas mentioned above, put out things like fake cobwebs, string lights, paper bats and bowls of candy corn. 

Adorn some of your pumpkins with witches’ hats, and get a cute, stuffed scarecrow to sit in the corner. Find candles, pillows and blankets with ghosts or skeletons on them. Put a paper silhouette of a black cat in the window. 

If you’re hosting a party, a fun Halloween decoration is a black cauldron filled with dry ice. The dry ice creates a foggy mist as it sublimates into the air. Add a long, wooden ladle and colored lights in the bottom of the bowl to make it look like a potion is brewing. 

How to Decorate a Living Room for Fall

A chill is in the air. To invoke an autumn vibe, use pumpkins, scarecrows, strings of pinecones and scented candles, or set out bowls of fruit and candy. You’re only limited by your imagination. Have fun decorating, and enjoy the season while it lasts — pretty soon, you’ll be looking forward to winter.