It's officially fall in Ontario. The leaves are turning, the wind is picking up, and it's time to think about how you want to decorate your home.
That crisp October air just makes you want to put out the pumpkins, buy the chrysanthemums, and start warming up the apple cider, doesn't it? If you're like me, autumn tends to be most welcome after a Niagara summer as hot as the one we just witnessed.
The beauty of a place like Niagara is that just as you've had enough of one season, the next comes along and gets you excited again. Dressing up your home according to the season is all part of the fun of that process. At the same time, it's important to keep it tasteful. Below, I've shared four tips on how to best transition your home’s interior and exterior to fall decor in a way that makes sense for you, while maintaining curb appeal.
1. Stick to a Few, Simple Hues
It's so easy to overdo it. Walk into any home improvement or home decor store, and you'll be flooded with decorative ideas designed to get your home ready for fall. The vintage shabby-chic look is in, as is the modern minimalist look and also an ode to everything retro. Before you know it, your home's look is going in so many directions that you don't even know where to begin.
Instead, try to start with a strategy. Determine a few, simple hues that you want incorporated into your decor. Hey, it's fall, right? Pumpkins in shades of orange and greyish blue might be just the perfect choice for your property.
Once you've found your theme, stick to it. I personally love the pumpkins available at Howells Pumpkin Farm in Pelham, Ontario. Pick a few that you like and turn them into centrepieces for your property. Then, start building around them. For instance, have you thought about matching your fall planters with the pumpkins you've purchased? How about carving out a few of them for Halloween? Sticking to the theme can still mean plenty of variety as you decorate your home and property.
2. Entertain, Don't Scare the Kids
Speaking of Halloween: it's impossible to think of autumn without this holiday, and chances are your fall decor will reflect that. Halloween decorations are fun. From carved pumpkins to a few other accent pieces, your home might just be the preferred stop of the neighbourhood kids.
At the same time, you have to keep it measured. Aim for playfully creepy, not nightmarish. That artificial spider web probably doesn't have to cover your entire front porch, and you might not want a skeleton scaring passers-by with a motion detector.
Here's a trick I love to use when thinking about Halloween decorations: get the advice of children themselves. If it's too scary for them, it's probably not right for your home. Sometimes, a few subtle decorations are much more successful than overkill (no pun intended).
3. Keep it Clean When Possible
Decorations, from pumpkins and planters to Halloween, are great ways to get your property ready for fall. However, they won't make the impact you want them to make if you don't make sure to keep your property clean.
Autumn brings with it storms and changing leaves. Any homeowner in St. Catharines with mature trees knows just how many sticks and leaves can end up in your yard. That's inevitable, the task of keeping your yard clean for curb appeal is much easier if it’s not left for a long time.
No - raking and bagging leaves is not a lot of fun. But it makes a huge difference in ensuring that your property looks like it's well-cared for and appealing. The fall decor you've planned is that much more impactful as a result.
Not sure what you do with all those leaves? You can leave them with your yard waste for weekly curbside pickup, and there's actually no limit in the Niagara region on how much you can leave out at a time. Just make sure you use acceptable compostable bags for the pickup.
4. Bring the Outside to the Inside
Finally, don't be afraid to apply what you're doing with the exterior of your property to the inside, as well. All that fall decor you've been thinking about might look just as good in your living or dining room. What's even better is that it begins to create a more consistent, pleasing experience for anyone visiting your home.
Bringing decorations from the outside in, tends to have a beautiful side effect. Even as you spend less time outside, you continue to appreciate all that nature has to offer. You just have to know how to use it the right way.
There are so many possibilities. Those pumpkins on your front porch might look beautiful in a miniature as the centrepiece of your dining room table. A few dried flowers could be just as nice as the fresh ones you've been putting out all summer. Have some hydrangeas outside that aren’t looking so lively? Cut them and place them on your fireplace mantle! Even a few pine cones might get that autumn feeling across.
Of course, all of the other guidelines provided apply here as well. Keep it simple, and stick to a few hues. Don't overdo it, and make sure that decor doesn't just become a dust collector. Ideally, your interior and exterior decorations become a coherent visual experience that all make sense together.
Preparing Your Home for Fall and More
If you're anything like me, fall is the second-best decorating season. But, just wait until Christmas rolls around! Sure, there's plenty of time for yard work and flower planting during the summer. But there's nothing like preparing your home for the cooler season with the right homey decor.
Consider these tips as guidance. They've gotten me through multiple fall seasons and helped me both make my own home more comfortable and of course, I use this same strategy when staging other houses for sale in St. Catharines and throughout Niagara. Because in the end, if a house feels like a home, feeling comfortable in that home becomes that much easier for a potential buyer.
Contact me for more information. I include a staging consultation in every Niagara and St. Catharines home I sell!