How to Decorate for Fall on a Budget

Fall is my absolute favorite holiday to decorate for and I swoon over all things white pumpkins. If I’m not careful, I can easily go over budget with my decorating. Since this year we are on a tighter budget, I’ve come up with budget friendly ways to decorate for the fall. You won’t need to sacrifice any style with these ideas, but you will keep your wallet happy. Ultimately, creating beautiful fall decor is all about comfort and coziness. Although buying all the things can be so much fun, creating that cozy feeling doesn’t actually require a lot of money. Read on for my favorite tips for how to decorate for fall on a budget.

How to Decorate for Fall on a Budget

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1. Choose a color palette + style

I love buying one piece at a time as I scour home stores and find items that I love. This could be a huge killer to my budget, but since my style is generally the same and I stick to a similar color palette, all the pieces I buy work really well together. For example, I generally stick to whites, golds, and other neutrals with pops of blues and greens. Any time I purchase a pop of color that’s not blue or green, I end up having a difficult time incorporating it with my other pieces. The only time I make an exception is for tea items like teapots, teacups, etc. I like those to be a little more mismatched as I feel it adds whimsical charm.

Before you purchase anything, figure out what your style is and what looks you generally gravitate towards. For extra inspiration, I recommend creating a mood board or a Pinterest board. Then don’t buy anything unless you absolutely love it and it fits your general style. I like the look of mix-and-match items so I have a higher tolerance for mismatched pieces. If you don’t, just make sure everything you buy fits together well and has something similar that ties it all together, whether that be color or design. If you’re really loving a piece that doesn’t really fit with your general style, try to find an inexpensive version so you won’t regret it if you don’t get too much use out of it.

2. Load up on pine cones and mini pumpkins

I absolutely love stocking up on cinnamon scented pine cones, mini real white pumpkins, and mini faux pumpkins. All three items are super cost effective and often can be found at your local grocery store. I put them all around the house and they add such a pretty fall vibe. They are great for adding subtle little details which I always love to do. Although little details can usually be costly, these are really cost effective. I save the scented pine cones to use in future years and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well the scent lasts. You can also spray paint the pine cones white and gold so that they last through the winter as well.

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3. Go DIY, but know when DIY might actually be more expensive

One of the classic budget friendly ways to decorate is to go DIY. It’s one of my go-tos when I want a certain look but it’s too expensive. However, I have learned to exercise caution with DIY. What I have found is that DIY can sometimes be more expensive. For example, I was lusting over a blue pumpkin wreath this year, but it was more expensive than I was willing to spend, especially since it didn’t seem to be of good enough quality to last me for years. I decided to make it myself. By the time I gathered up all the supplies I would need, I realized DIY was going to be more expensive than just buying it. I waited until the wreath went on sale and bought it at half price. Score!

If you already have most of the supplies you need and it’s a project within your skill range- go for it! Just make sure to factor in the cost of the products when deciding if you should go the DIY route. Similarly, if it’s a project not within your skill range, you might end up not being able to use the final product. That’s fine if you enjoyed the creative process, but just not budget friendly.

4. Keep coziness in mind as your fall mantra

The best thing about the fall season is coziness. Keep that in mind as your fall mantra to create a welcoming, warm, and beautiful atmosphere without having too spend too much. Think about what evokes feelings of coziness to you and make sure you have those items all around the house. For me the following items feel cozy to me:

• Lots of candles and soft little lights, like mini twinkly lights
• A tea or coffee station in your kitchen
• Warm spicy candle scents like cinnamon and vanilla
• Blankets in different textures. I recently filled up an oversize basket with all kinds of blankets and I love how cozy it makes the room feel
• Fill the house with a delicious scent. Check out this easy DIY cozy fall scent I’ve been loving lately

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5. Get inspo from nature

Fall is such a beautiful time to be outside and in nature. Get inspired by how beautiful it is outdoors and bring that into your home. The next time you go on a nature walk collect leaves in various colors, wildflowers, twigs, pine cones, acorns, and whatever else looks pretty to you. You’d be surprised how useful these can be in adding fall decor around your home. You can also use them to create DIY decor projects like leaf decorated picture frames. A lot of these items can also be re-purposed for your winter and holiday decor.

6. Use what you already have around the house

My biggest rule is before I go shopping, I see what I have around the house. It’s always surprising to me how many different ways I can use what I already have around the house if I just look at with a different perspective.

I start by bringing out my old fall pieces. I find that this gets me inspired to work with the season and helps me see what is already around the house with a fresh eye because I have a few “new” pieces to work with. I’ll arrange the pieces I had in storage with items I already had around the house. Since I typically stick with a neutral color palette with a pop of blue year around, almost all of my home decor can be mix and matched. In general, I am a big fan of mixing and matching. As long as there is a similar element, the pieces will look cohesive without looking like you replicated the showroom at a home store.

Give yourself permission to get really creative with this and use items you have around the house that don’t necessarily seem fall-like. You can mix them with traditional fall pieces to create really unique vignettes and tablescapes. For example, add some shells and starfish to a cluster of pumpkins and you have yourself a fall look inspired by the sea!

A few examples of how I make my every day pieces serve as fall decor:

• I’ll group together candles and lanterns to create a cozy fall vignette
• I’ll bring out cake stands and other serving platters to use as my base to decorate
• My year around chalk board is revamped with a fall message

7. Shop the sales and keep an eye out year around

Almost every time I’ve had my eye on a piece that was more expensive than I could justify, I was able to find it on sale. I used to wait until the end of the season to shop that sale and use the pieces the following year, but I’ve found that the pre season and mid season sales can be just as great! The beginning of October is usually when stores start trying to clear out their fall inventory, so that’s a great time to shop! Flag any items you’ve been lusting over and continue to check it weekly to see if the item has gone on sale. Never shop online without searching for a promo code first. Always ask the sales associate if they know of any upcoming sales. And always check online for in store coupons. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been able to purchase items on sale this way.

I also suggest keeping an eye out for fall decor year around. There are often pieces that will come up throughout the year that are perfect for fall. Candles are an obvious one, but think about the colors, textures, and shapes you like to decorate with. I love neutrals with a pop of gold and earthy pieces. I often find great gold items, acorns, and leaf platters during the Christmas sales.

8. Use real pumpkins sparingly

Ugh, I hate this tip. Decorating with real pumpkins is my absolute favorite. I swoon over Jarrahdale blue pumpkins and white Cinderella pumpkins. I would be so happy to buy out the pumpkin patch and fill my house with them. That being said, I also know they are a killer for my budget. Most pumpkins are often on the pricier side, especially those blue and white pumpkins I love so much. Even though they look beautiful, they only last the one season. Throwing them away is essentially throwing all that money away. I’m a huge advocate of spending money on things that make you happy even if they are short lived. That is why I always have fresh flowers in the house. I’m not telling you not to decorate with real pumpkins at all, but in order to keep your fall decor budget friendly, it might be best if you use real pumpkins sparingly.

Here’s what I do. I start by decorating with fake pumpkins. I only buy ones that are really high quality and pretty to keep the decor chic. I fill in as much as I can with these pumpkins. Then I stock up on real minis. These are often way less expensive and you get can get quite A LOT for under $5. By this point, my decor is almost done and there are only a few spots in which I need real pumpkins. {Keyword is need because I can always find a use for however many real pumpkins I can get!} I figure out exactly how many I need and go to the pumpkin patch with that number in mind so that I don’t get tempted to buy them all.

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9. Splurge on one timeless piece each year

Each year that our budget allows, I splurge on one timeless piece or set that I know I can use year after year. I often prefer to buy less so that I can spend my money on that timeless piece. When buying timeless pieces you want to look for a few things:

• Neutral color palette so that it will work in your home no matter what direction your home decor goes in
• Quality materials that will hold up after years of use
• Something that makes your heart sing. I refuse to buy any pieces that don’t make me happy, but this is especially essential with the splurge items. When you bring out that piece year after year, you want to feel excited. That’ll make it worth the splurge!
• If possible, send your splurge on items that can do double duty! For example, nice serveware that can also double as decor

My absolute favorite splurge item I’ve bought was these white pumpkins from Sur La Table that can be used as decor, holders for candy and other small goods, or serving food. I debated about purchasing them because they were way too expensive, but I’ve used them for years now and they make me happy every single time I see them. I found cheaper knock offs, but they just didn’t compare to the quality and look of the Sur La Table ones for me. I’m so glad I didn’t hold off on buying them because the sets they sold in the following years weren’t the same! I use them several times each fall in different ways and feel the cost was justified.

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I hope this helps you add some fall style to your home on a budget. Let me know if you have any tips that I missed!

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