The Homesteading Cottage: 31 Days :: Preparing Your Home for Fall

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{Nook behind front door}

Welcome Fall (; The season is in full swing and the leaves are already beginning to change. This is my favorite time of year! The air is filled with that lovely seasonal scent and the evenings are crisp and cozy.

We chose Preparation for this year's 31 Days Challenge because our homes begin to change during this time...there's an internal and extrenal switch that happens. It's harvest time and we begin to live differently when the days become cooler and longer. Warmer textures are displayed, soft blankets abound for a quick cuddle and the glow of twinkling lights fill our windows as the sun sets earlier in the eve.

Since it's Day 2 in our 31 Days of Preparation, I wanted to share some of the ways we've been preparing our Homesteading Cottage for fall. Today we'll focus on decor. Everything used were items we already on hand and found throughout the cottage.

Our normal fern display at the front door was replaced with a white pumpkin topiary made by a dear friend. She used items from her many bins of fall decor to embellish the layers. Of course the critters wanted to share in the photo love too (;

The credenza faces the front door and greets us each and every time we enter the home. We placed pine cones, berries, autumn fruits and decorative pieces in the baskets on the bottom shelf. The woven suitcases on the right are perfect for additional storage and add a nice balance of textures.

I LOVE this pumpkin...the texture and touch of sparkle speak to me. We perched it in the center of an old wooden box found in the shed and then surrounded it with natural autumn elements like pine cones and dried fruit. The lovely porcelain birds on either side have a deep richness of red and really finish things off...love them!! (You'll have to forgive the over glow of yellow in the photos...the living room is quite dark and it's hard to take a good picture)

The mantle is simple. A few white pumpkins and gourds flank a tray of small mercury glass candle holders adorned with bittersweet and mini pine cones. The larger candle lanterns are filled with coffee beans and when the pillars are lit...oh, the aroma of coffee fills the air!!

This witch plate is a favorite in our kitchen and it makes me smile every time I see it (; Always surround yourself with things that make your heart happy.

We added a few pops of orange and some spooky, glittery green to this little wall piece in our bay window area.

And here's the bay window nook...it's a sad little neglected spot with odds and ends from other parts of the cottage. The owner told us it was intended for a dinning area, but since we already have a dining room, we decided to let it be more of a reading and cozy curl-up space.

In preparation for fall, we're going to be adding curtains to the windows, recovering the chairs (which were freebies), covering the window seat cushions, creating seasonal pillows, possibly adding a table between the chairs and doing something to the rug. Yes, we're going to repurpose that $5 garage sale rug into something lovely, unless we find another alternative that works better (;

The chandelier is also getting a tweak...isn't it a beast?! The owner doesn't like it at all and wants a change. I think we can do something to make it more pleasing to the eye instead of having to totally replace it. We can't wait to share the before and afters when they're completed!

So those are a just a few of the things we've done to prepare our cottage for the fall. What are some ways you prepare your lovely abode to welcome the autumn season? Do you have traditional favorites that come out each year or do you celebrate by making new creations?

I hope you'll join us for our 31 Days of Preparation journey. Tomorrow we'll be talking about how to prepare our hearts and the steps that have helped us during challenging times. Enter your email below and each post will automatically be delivered to your inbox. Don't forget to stop by the many other 31 Dayers for additional inspiration!