There is something about FALL LEAVES that makes us slow down and pay attention. One day, the trees are full of deep green leaves. Then, almost overnight, the landscape begins to change as colors hint at a forthcoming shift for the season. Hints of yellow appear, and orange starts creeping into the trees.
Reds become richer and deeper as the days pass, and shadows grow longer across the hillside. Before long, the ground is covered in a beautiful collection of colors that feels almost too pretty to leave outside.
For many of us, fall leaves are one of the things we love most about the season. They remind us that change can be beautiful, and they give us a completely new color palette to play with in our homes.
But what do you do with all those beautiful leaves?
Do you bring them inside? Do you decorate with faux leaves? Do you collect the prettiest ones for DIY projects? Or do you simply admire them from your front porch? There really isn’t a wrong answer.
Do You Decorate With Fall Leaves?
Fall leaves can become one of the easiest ways to bring FALL LEAVES autumn into your home.
You don’t necessarily need pumpkins covering every surface or an entire room decorated in orange to make your home feel like fall. Sometimes, a simple arrangement of leaves can do more than an entire collection of seasonal decorations.
A vase filled with branches covered in colorful leaves can become a beautiful dining room centerpiece. A few leaves scattered across a table can add a natural touch to a fall gathering. Even a simple bowl filled with faux autumn leaves can bring seasonal color to a coffee table, entryway, or kitchen counter.
And the best part? Leaves already have the colors we’re looking for. Instead of trying to figure out which shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown work together, nature has already done the work for us.
Real Leaves or Faux Leaves?
This really comes down to your decorating style. Real leaves give your home an authentic connection to the season. There is something special about bringing a little bit of the outdoors inside. They are imperfect, individual, and completely unique. However, real leaves can be fragile. They can curl, crumble, lose their color, and make a mess as they dry. Faux leaves solve that problem.
Today’s faux foliage can be surprisingly realistic, and it allows you to use your favorite fall colors year after year. You can also find leaves in colors that coordinate specifically with your existing decor.
Maybe traditional orange isn’t your favorite. That’s okay. Choose burgundy. Love soft neutrals? Look for cream, beige, tan, and muted brown foliage.
Prefer a dramatic room? Deep red, plum, rust, and chocolate brown can create a richer autumn palette. Fall decorating doesn’t have to mean decorating with the traditional colors of fall.
What If You Want Fall Leaves to Match Your Decor?
This is where decorating gets fun. Nature may give us the traditional fall color palette, but that doesn’t mean we have to use it exactly as it appears outside.
Maybe your home is decorated in black and white. Instead of completely changing your color scheme for fall, add a few deep rust or muted gold leaves. If your home is filled with blues, consider incorporating dusty blue-gray foliage with touches of warm brown. Have a neutral home? You have an entire autumn palette to work with.
Cream, caramel, tan, taupe, muted orange, rust, sage, and warm brown can create a fall feeling without overwhelming a neutral space. And if you love color, why stop with traditional autumn shades? Imagine fall leaves in shades of pink, purple, teal, burgundy, mustard, and coral. There is no rule that says your fall has to look like everyone else’s.
Turn Fall Leaves Into a DIY Project
If you love DIY projects, fall leaves are practically an invitation to get creative.
One of the simplest projects is a leaf garland. Collect or purchase leaves in colors that complement your home and string them together for a mantel, staircase, window, or dining room display.
You can also create a fall leaf wreath.
Start with a simple wreath form and add leaves, small branches, berries, ribbon, or other seasonal elements. You can keep it rustic and natural or make it polished and sophisticated.
Another fun idea is leaf artwork.
Press beautiful leaves and frame them individually or arrange several together in a larger frame. A collection of pressed leaves can create surprisingly elegant artwork for a hallway, bedroom, office, or guest room.
You can even use leaves to create seasonal table decorations.
Place a single beautiful leaf at each place setting. Write your guests’ names on them and use them as personalized place cards. It’s inexpensive, simple, and gives your table a connection to the season.
Can You Change the Color of Fall Leaves?
Absolutely—and this is where your creativity can really take over. If you’re working with artificial leaves, changing the color is relatively easy. Paint, spray paint, or other craft techniques can transform ordinary foliage into something that works perfectly with your decorating scheme.
Imagine taking traditional orange leaves and turning them into:
- Soft champagne
- Matte black
- Ivory
- Rose gold
- Deep burgundy
- Dusty pink
- Sage green
- Navy blue
- Metallic gold
Suddenly, those ordinary leaves become something completely different. You aren’t simply decorating with fall leaves anymore. You’re creating your version of fall.
Let Your Fall Decor Tell Your Story
One of my favorite things about seasonal decorating is that there doesn’t have to be one correct way to do it. Some people love the traditional fall look: pumpkins, orange leaves, plaid blankets, candles, and everything warm and cozy. Others prefer a quieter approach. Maybe fall for you is a few branches in a vase, a warm throw on the sofa, and a candle burning in the evening.
Maybe you love a glamorous fall with metallic accents and dramatic colors. Or maybe you want your home to look like you walked through a forest and brought the best parts of it home with you. All of those decorating styles can work. The important thing is that your home should feel like you.
Look Outside Before You Shop
Before you buy another seasonal decoration this year, take a walk outside. Look at the trees. Look at the leaves. Notice the combinations of colors you might not have thought to put together yourself. Maybe you’ll find a combination of golden yellow and deep purple.
Maybe you’ll notice how beautiful rust looks next to faded green. Maybe you’ll discover that the softest brown leaf looks perfect against your home’s ivory walls. Nature can be one of the best sources of decorating inspiration—and it’s free.
Fall Doesn’t Have to Be Orange
Perhaps that’s the biggest decorating lesson fall leaves can teach us. Fall isn’t one color. It’s hundreds of colors changing every day. Some leaves are bright. Some are muted. Some are deep and dramatic. Some barely change color at all.
Your home can be the same way. You don’t have to decorate your entire house in orange simply because it’s fall. You can choose the colors that speak to you and create a seasonal look that works with the home you already have. So this fall, don’t just look at the leaves as something to rake up. Look at them as inspiration.
Collect them. Photograph them. Press them. Paint them. Frame them. Turn them into wreaths and garlands. Use them as table decorations. Or simply take a moment to appreciate the incredible color palette happening right outside your window. Because sometimes the best fall decor isn’t something we buy.
Sometimes, nature has already decorated for us.
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