How to Make Your Home Feel Cozy for Fall
There’s always a point when summer begins giving way to fall. The mornings are a little cooler, the days get a little shorter, and spending an evening at home starts sounding pretty good.
It also seems to be the time of year when we're surrounded by images of homes completely transformed for fall—pumpkins everywhere, elaborate porch displays, new pillows, new blankets and perfectly styled kitchens.
I love decorating for the seasons, but I don't think you have to completely redecorate your home to enjoy them.
Some of my favorite ways to welcome fall are much simpler. Small changes can make home feel different—and give us another reason to enjoy the season we're in.
Here are seven simple ways to make your home feel a little cozier this fall.
1. Change the Lighting
This might be one of the simplest ways to make a room feel cozier.
As daylight starts disappearing earlier, take advantage of the lamps you already have around your home instead of immediately turning on the overhead lights.
A lamp beside your favorite chair, a smaller light in the kitchen after dinner or the glow of a candle on the table can completely change how a room feels in the evening.
You don't necessarily need to buy anything new. Sometimes changing how you use the lighting you already have is enough to make home feel warmer and more inviting.
2. Bring a Little of the Season Inside
Before heading to the store for fall decorations, take a look outside.
Branches, dried grasses, late-season flowers and other natural elements can be beautiful tucked into a pitcher or vase. A bowl of apples on the kitchen counter is useful and seasonal at the same time. Later in the season, pumpkins and gourds can find their way from the porch into the kitchen.
If you have a garden, you may already have plenty to work with.
I especially like decorating this way because your home doesn't have to look like anyone else's. What you bring inside reflects what's actually happening outside your own door.
3. Bring Back the Cozy Things You Already Own
One of the best parts about the changing seasons is rediscovering things you haven't used for a while.
This is when favorite blankets start appearing on the sofa again. Mugs that didn't get much attention during summer come back into rotation. A basket can hold throws beside a chair. Fall kitchen towels can come out of the drawer.
Before buying something new for fall, look around at what you already own.
None of these changes are dramatic, but that's really the point. Making home feel cozy doesn't have to become another project.
Sometimes it's simply bringing back the things that make you happy to be home.
4. Change the Fragrance of Your Home
Our sense of smell is closely tied to how we experience a place, so changing your home fragrance is another simple way to mark the changing season.
During summer, I tend to reach for wax melts that feel fresh and bright. As fall arrives, I gradually start bringing back apples, woods, leaves, spices and eventually some of the warmer bakery fragrances.
But you don't have to go straight from summer into the heaviest fall scents.
Early fall is a wonderful time for fragrances that bridge the seasons—crisp leaves, fresh air, woods and fruit can make home feel like fall without immediately making it smell like Thanksgiving dinner.
One candle I particularly enjoy during this transition is Autumn Leaves. Plum, dry leaves and nutty acorn are layered with sweet maple, warm s
andalwood and a touch of patchouli. It's earthy rather than overly sweet and reminds me much more of being outside on a fall afternoon than baking something in the kitchen.
As the weather gets cooler, that's when I find myself reaching more often for the warm kitchen fragrances.
5. Make the Kitchen the Heart of Fall
The kitchen has always felt like the heart of the home to me, but there's something especially comforting about it during fall.
Maybe you've brought home a bag of apples. Maybe there's soup simmering for dinner. Maybe you're finally willing to turn on the oven again after avoiding it during the hottest days of summer.
But making the kitchen feel cozy doesn't have to mean spending an entire Saturday baking.
Put on a pot of coffee or tea. Bring out a favorite mug. Sit down at the table for a few minutes instead of rushing on to the next thing. Make a familiar dinner you haven't had since the weather turned warm.
And on the nights when absolutely nothing is simmering on the stove, fragrance can help create some of that same feeling.
Harvest Cider is one of my candle and wax melt fragrances for this fall. Tart cranberry, pomegranate and red currant bring a bright fruitiness, while apple cider and gentle spice add warmth. It reminds me of a welcoming kitchen with something spiced simmering on the stove—even when there isn't.
6. Experiment With Fragrance Layering
If you already enjoy home fragrance, fall is a fun time to experiment with using two fragrances together.
You can burn two complementary candles in the same room, combine pieces of two wax melts in a warmer, or use different fragrances in adjoining rooms and let them mingle as you move through the house.
Think about combining fragrance families rather than simply choosing two scents at random. Something sweet can balance something smoky. Fruit works beautifully with spice. A fresh outdoor fragrance can lighten something warmer.
One of my favorite fall combinations is Piñon Campfire + Campfire S'more. Piñon Campfire brings the warm woodsmoke, while Campfire S'more adds marshmallow and chocolate. Together, they remind me of lingering outside around the fire after dinner.
Harvest Cider also layers beautifully with Autumn Leaves, Golden Crumb Cake or Appalachian Air, depending on whether you want your home to feel a little more outdoorsy, sweet or fresh.
Most importantly, experiment with the fragrances you already own. There's no formula you have to follow. The best combination is the one that makes your home smell good to you.
7. Create a Fall Ritual
This may be my favorite way to enjoy the changing season. Pick something small that helps you notice it.
Take your coffee outside on a cool morning.
Light a candle while you're making dinner.
Put a wax melt in the warmer while you clean the kitchen.
Sit outside around the fire after dinner.
Turn off the television for a little while and read under your favorite blanket.
Make something you haven't cooked since last fall.
It doesn't need to be impressive enough to photograph or special enough to share with anyone else. It's simply a way of making an ordinary day feel a little less ordinary.
A Cozy Home Is One You Enjoy Living In
There's no right date to start decorating for fall, no list of things you need to buy and certainly no requirement that your house look like the ones you see online.
Start with what you already have.
Turn on a lamp. Bring something in from the garden. Pull out your favorite blanket. Change the fragrance. Make something warm for dinner when you have time—and light a candle when you don't.
Most importantly, find little ways to enjoy being home. Because creating a cozy home isn't really about decorating for fall. It's about enjoying the home you already have in the season you're in.