15 Great DIY Fall Home Décor Ideas

If you want to update your home for fall – but you are on a strict budget – you don’t have to abandon your autumn makeover dreams.

Using flea market finds, inexpensive upgrades and simple craft projects, you can add the colors of fall into your home easily while getting more bang for your buck.

These 15 modern DIY decorating ideas – made with budget-friendly and easy-to-find items – will help you create the fabulous fall home you crave and make every room of your house magnificent.

1. Add a gold and gilded mirror to your entryway. This glitzy item complements your holiday décor and enlivens the warm shades of copper, cinnamon, and yellow that are popular in the fall. Instead of buying a new and expensive mirror, buy an old framed piece of glass from the thrift store. Spray the frame with gold metallic paint to create an affordably chic gold mirror.
2. Create a wall collage with decorative vintage plates and frames. To add pizzazz to a hallway or the space over a mantel, hang seven or eight decorative plates and three or four gold frames on the wall. Don’t restrict your wall hangings to photos or prints. Fill the gilded frames with red and yellow leaves, your children’s artwork or fall-themed greeting cards.
3. Place potpourri in fabric-covered petite vases or small paint cans to add a pleasant scent to your bathroom or living room. To give these containers a rustic feel, cover them with burlap or tweed fabric. After cutting the fabric, wrap it around the outside of the clear vases or paint cans. Close the fabric’s seams together and seal the material to the containers with hot glue.
4. Give your home office door a designer makeover. If color all over your office is too much, jazz up the door instead. Using a stencil, you can easily paint the door while it is hanging on its hinges or lying flat or the floor. After placing a geometric or chevron-striped stencil on the door, paint the door with two harmonizing fall hues to add a pop of color to your work space.
5. Dress up inexpensive tea lights with orange, red, or yellow washi or masking tape. Wrap the crafting tape around the bottom of the lights. Set the candles in small clear votive holders to display on your over-the-fireplace mantle or on a dining room table.
6. Nothing updates the kitchen counter like fresh and potted herbs. Instead of placing a bowl of red apples in your kitchen, place three small potted herbs near the stove. When you are ready to use fresh herbs for your meals, you can skip the grocery store and use your fresh thyme, mint, or rosemary leaves instead.
7. Use outdoor branches to decorate your Thanksgiving dinner table. Have your children gather all the fallen branches from the front or backyard. Place these outdoor trimmings into a tall gold vase to make nature the center of attention at the table. You can also spruce up these branches with ornaments and small satin bows.
8. Keep piles of paper neat in the office with a gilded pine cone paperweight. Instead of a generic stone or a glass disk, use a silver or metallic-colored pinecone to keep your office organized. To create the office item, lay three or four pine cones down on a few pieces of newspaper. Spray the cones with paint from the can to add a little fall glamour to your workday.
9. Hang scented sachets on your bathroom doorknobs to make this room more fragrant. Fill orange, gold, and yellow small muslin bags with lavender flowers or buds. Close the bags tightly and tie the end of the ribbons into the knot. Place the sachets on the doorknobs to scent your bathroom or any room in the home.

10. Reupholster your dining room chairs with inexpensive fabrics. Select fall-colored fabrics, but make sure they complement your dining room’s current color palette. Remove the seat cushion from the chairs. Measure the fabric to cover the entire cushion. Make sure you leave a three to four-inch border to secure the fabric with a staple gun or hot glue. Fold the fabric over the cushion and hot glue or staple the ends to the bottom of the seat.
11. Spruce up your sofa with a decorative throw. You don’t have to paint your walls to make a bold and creative contrast in your living room. Instead, add high glamour by draping a green, yellow, or orange-colored throw over your cream or brown-hued sofa. To add a bit of understated luxury to your living room, use inexpensive and rich-looking fabrics such as a gray and black faux fur or a piece of chocolate brown or maroon velvet.
12. Dress up your napkin rings with brown, gold, and red-jeweled bracelets. To add flair to your holiday parties, skip the plastic napkin rings and adorn your linen napkins with pieces of fall-themed jewelry instead. Pull the folded napkin through the bracelet, and center the bejeweled napkin and ring on the plate.
13. Tie colored ribbons around your drapes. Upgrade your bedroom and living room drapes with satin and grosgrain ribbons tied in large bows. To complement brown, cream, or gold drapes, select ribbons with fall-themes, such as apples, leaves, or corn. Apply clear glue to the bottom of the ribbon ties to keep the ends from fraying.
14. Use your cake stand to create a centerpiece with candles and fresh fruit. Place a cluster of green, silver, and purple unscented candles on a silver cake stand. Add pears or green apples to the stand to decorate your dining room table.
15. Welcome your holiday guests to the table with seasonal fruit place cards or leaves. Write your guests’ names on small tags or brown or gold leaves. Attach the ends of the tags, or the leaves, to pear or apple stems with brown, hunter green, and gold satin ribbons. Set these placeholders on your guests’ dinner plates to help with seating.