A Homespun Autumn: Natural Decorating
Autumn greetings to you! Our little house is all dressed for autumn and is feeling like a soft place to land. I thought it would be enjoyable to share my heart behind natural decorating, and some of the elements that I love to use during this cozy season.
If you’ve been around here for awhile, you know that I love all things rustic, vintage, and homespun. I prefer homemade over store bought, real over fake, and frugal over frivolous. My seasonal decorating is rooted in all of these things. Our consumer culture convinces us that each season we need to head to Home Goods or Hobby Lobby to spend our money on the latest mass-manufactured knick knacks.
Maybe instead we simply need to head to the nearest forest or farm.
Homespun decorating is frugal, resourceful, and seasonal. This style of decorating isn’t an abundance of cheap “throw away” decorations. Sure I have a few knick knacks that have been collected over the years that I truly love and display each autumn, such as a little scarecrow, plush pumpkins, and handpainted signs… But the majority of my autumn decorating is using natural elements that are either foraged from my backyard, grown in my garden, or purchased from small local farms. These items weren’t made in a factory, they were grown in the ground. They contain no plastic and can either be eaten, composted, or simply saved to use again next year. It’s a thoughtful cultivation of unique homemade and gathered items.
As a homesteader, a large portion of autumn is still dancing with the season of summer. The gardens, despite slowing down, give until frost. Zinnias are still blooming rich reds and oranges, pumpkins and potted mums line the outdoor steps, and produce is constantly being brought in from the garden. My decorating style can be described most accurately by the picture Laura paints in Little House in the Big Woods:
“Now the potatoes and carrots, the beets and turnips and cabbages were gathered and stored in the cellar, for freezing nights had come. Onions were made into long ropes, braided together by their tops, and then were hung in the attic beside wreaths of red peppers strung on threads. The pumpkins and the squashes were piled in orange and yellow and green heaps in the attic’s corners.”
We don’t have a cellar, so we get creative with our food storage and it often becomes a way to decorate our home with the current season. In September and October, pumpkins are paired next to bouquets of zinnias and marigolds, while come November, the garden is resting for the year and more muted tones of brown wheat take prominence. Our environment affects our temperament more than we estimate. As the seasons ebb and flow outdoors, my goal is to reflect that same rhythm on the inside of the home as well.
I hope you enjoy these thoughtful decorating ideas and visuals. No matter your style or aesthetic, you can incorporate the idea of a simple and natural Autumn in a way that feels right for you!
Seasonal produce
Seasonal produce is one of my favorite ways to decorate my home any time of the year. Not only is it beautiful, evoking a sense of the current season, but it’s simply practical. For example, if I have some pears that need to ripen before turning them into sauce, I will display them in a basket or a bowl in the kitchen somewhere. I also have pumpkins, squash, and various gourds around the house. Edible squashes will stay on display through Thanksgiving, and then will be stored down in the basement and we will eat through them all winter. Onions from the garden are braided and hung in the kitchen and taken from as needed, and the stalks from the garlic we grew have been dried and placed in various baskets and crocks.
Pumpkins, squash, and gourds
Display them around the house throughout the season. On counters, windowsills, mantles, and hearths. Once you begin decorating for Christmas, edible varieties can then be stored in a cool place and eaten over the winter.
Corn
Sweet corn can dried simply by bundling by the husks and hanging
Indian corn adds a depth of color to your autumn displays and can saved to use year after year.
Garlic
Softneck varieties make lovely braids that can be displayed in the kitchen
Display the bulbs in a basket or wooden bowl
Onions
Braid them and display them in your kitchen
Dried sunflower heads
These look lovely paired with pumpkins and gourds. Display them on the mantle or leave them outside next to your potted mums for the chipmunks and squirrels to enjoy eating from.
Pears and Apples
Pears are always picked green and need to ripen before using. Use this opportunity to display them in old baskets or bowls on the countertops or dining room table
Apples need cold storage in order to stay fresh, however if your home is kept cool this time of year, a display of apples can be enjoyed on the counter for a day or two.
Foraged Floral, Greenery, and brownery
Autumn offers an abundance of foraged floral, greenery, and brownery to bring into the home. Every year I purchase potted mums to display on our outdoor porches, and I continue to bring in fall colored flowers until frost. Cornstalks are fun to display outside, and we always save and our garlic stalks—which are much shorter than corn—to display indoors as well. Check out your local farms, forests, or yards of friends and family for a natural yet beautiful touch of nature.
Wild aster
Black-eyed susans
Marigolds
Zinnias
Cornstalks
Garlic stalks
Mums
Wheat sheaves
Bowl fillers
Bowl fillers are a simple way to display natural items that correlate with the current season. I collect antique wooden bowls, and you’re sure to find at least one or two in every room of my house! In autumn, I like to fill bowls with various produce (pears that are ripening, butternut squash harvested from the garden) acorns, cinnamon sticks, pinecones, buckeys, etc. You can use any sort of bowl, crock, or basket you have to display these items as well.
Jar Fillers
Similar to bowl fillers, jars filled with seasonal delights are fun to display in the kitchen or on shelves. This is a great way to put those old jelly or pickle jars you’ve saved to good use. Just make sure any nature being placed in jars is fully dried to prevent molding.
Allspice
Cinnamon sticks
Cider spice mix
Beeswax candles
Acorns
Pinecones
Natural Garland
Natural garland is a cheap and fun way to decorate for any season. Garland can be hung across the mantle, in doorways, or across the windows. It’s fun to sit down with a needle and thread and simply string away with a good film or autumn playlist on in the background.
Cayenne peppers
Dried apple slices
Dried herb bundles
Dried flower bundles
Green beans
Pinecones
Beeswax-dipped leaves
Corn husks
Other Miscellaneous Elements
There are other miscellaneous elements I like to add to my autumn home, most of which I have collected overtime from various antique or thrift store. These items are typically on display all year, I just change up the details according to the seasons. Amongst the abundance of pumpkins and wheat around the house, I like to add the warm glow of hand-dipped beeswax candles, aged tin elements, and plaid homespun fabrics.
Candlestick holders
Nothing cozies up a space like a primitive style candlestick holder does! In the fall, I like to add acorns, mini pinecones, or allspice to the pan at the bottom. (Shop our locally made primitive candlestick holders here)
Beeswax candles
Paired with primitive candlestick holders, beeswax candles give a wonderful warm glow to these dark evenings that inevitably come this time of year. I choose beeswax for the natural health benefits, clean burn, and rich yellow color. (Learn more about candles here)
Aged tin or copper elements
Copper pots, tin colanders, cheese graters, and other old kitchen tools are always abundant at thrift stores and look cute paired with gourds and wheat sheaves throughout the home.
Plaid homespun fabrics
I can never get enough of homespun fabrics. I love to make pillowcases, curtains, and aprons using sage green and burnt orange plaids this time of year. Displaying these around the house adds color and texture to the autumn home. (Shop homespun fabric here)
Stacked wood
Even if you only have a faux fireplace like me, stacked wood can add a cozy feel to the home. You can stack it near the hearth or place it in a wooden box or galvanized bucket for a rustic feel.
May your autumn be filled with harvests both physical and spiritual, decorated most of all with the truth that “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 9:10)
Autumn blessings,
Kaetlyn
“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”
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