By ELIZABETH EIDLITZ
We live in a four-seasonenvironment.
While Nature alters the green landscape with fall colors, and black-capped chickadees replace warblers at bird feeders, we put away the beach umbrellas, bathing suits and sun block.
Children’s shoulders, wrapped with sandy towels in August, are strapped with school backpacks come September; tall glasses of iced tea with mint sprigs yield to fat mugs of hot cider with cinnamon sticks. Instead of counting cricket chirps, estimating the temperature, we name and count hurricanes, watching the barometer. We trade Crocs sandals for Ugg boots, screen doors for storm windows, and soft, vine-ripened tomatoes with mozzarella for crunchy hard Macs with Vermont Cheddar.
To bring the mood and look of the coming season into your own home there are many quick and inexpensive ways to decorate: rich yellows, reds, and oranges blend with the warm, autumnal colors of the world around you. Beige, terracotta, tobaccos, golden shades, milk and dark chocolate tones complement the brighter ranges of oranges, greens and reds.
Entrances can be dressed up with tall cornstalks, raffia or straw wrapped around porch columns or mailboxes, using thick, colored ribbon in deep oranges and brown to contrast with the straw, or by hanging a homemade fall wreath on the front door.
Grapevine, available at many florist shops and art supply stores, needs no maintenance and serves as a durable base. It can be intertwined with strands of tiny white lights, or decorated by circular additions of pinecones, sticks, leaves, berries, or nuts, attached with a glue gun.
When cold nights threaten container pots of annuals, even those moved close to the house, long-blooming perennials, like Mystic Spires Blue salvia provide color up to a hard frost. Cabbages, kale, and chrysanthemums contribute several weeks of bright foliage. Ornamental grasses such as dwarf forms of Japanese silver grass and dwarf fountain grasses stay handsome all winter.
Autumn joy sedum, whose flowers open pink and mature to copper, makes an attractive companion for ornamental grasses in porch, patio, deck or balcony containers, as do variegated yucca and lavender.
Living green and flowering indoor plants, among them philodendron, English ivy, spider plant, gerbera daisies and chrysanthemums, are more than decorative. They help to reduce indoor air pollution by removing toxic chemicals from the air, according to a 1989 NASA study.
As the sun sets earlier each afternoon, walkways can be lit at dusk with welcoming luminaries. Setting votive candles in paper bags weighted with sand makes a fine project for children. Alternatively, many shops now carry flameless, battery-powered candles.
Indoors, a few exchanges can warm things up a bit:
“Start with materials. The kinds of fabric or color you choose can really change the attitude of the room,” says Thomas Pheasant, an award-winning interior designer from Washington, DC. “Velvet and damask are formal patterns that are more appropriate for fall and winter. Silk, cashmere and chenille fabric textures are associated with fall. Linen, paisley and leather are better suited for spring and summer.”
Summer drapes need to be replaced with thicker ones. Reversible draperies can prove ideal, allowing you to turn them easily from lively to neutral with seasonal changes.
Put area rugs over chilly floors.
“At Classic Home Consignments, I carry a lot of small oriental rugs as well as cotton ones. I like a bright color oriental,” says JoAnn Dozois, who owns the North Falmouth shop. ‘I have several reds and cranberry as well as navy.”
Don’t ignore the bathroom, where striped rugs, red or orange towels, and shower curtain to match, can capture the energy of autumn.
Swap out white pillows for dark patterned shades, switch soft cotton or silk throws with cozy fluffy ones or afghans. Remove light cotton bed covers or blankets and substitute a down-filled duvet.
Change off-white lampshades to red or orange that offer burnished tones to the room. Ms. Dozois suggests adding a candle chandelier to hang in a bedroom or bathroom and putting lower watt light bulbs in lamps for a softer look.
Instead of purchasing new furniture, switch pieces that can be interchanged. A coffee table and some chairs, for example, might be equally suitable for a dining room or bedroom. Does tradition require that a couch be centrally positioned in a room? Why not put it closer to a wall or in front of the fireplace? Consider slipcovers for chairs and sofas in shades that match your new décor.
Fall is the moment to make a statement with your own decorating style,” says Jodi Villani, head of the visual merchandising department of Yankee Candle Company, “but a room without fragrance is an unfinished statement.” Villani believes that “scentmosphere “ creates a special ambience and enhances the desired mood in any room.
To this season’s favorites like Fall Festival and Autumn Woods, Yankee Candle has added Kitchen Spice, Pumpkin Buttercream, and Vanilla Satin.
If you have a fireplace, strategically placed mirrors not only spread its warmth and coziness but also create the impression of a much more wide-open space. The fireplace mantel can showcase seasonal décor—like dried leaves, pinecones, small pumpkins and gourds.
Similarly the dining room table can feature an informal and edible centerpiece: fill a glass, ceramic, or wooden bowl with fresh fruits of the season: grapes, red and yellow apples, pears and citrus, or candies wrapped in fall colors. A decorative glass jar on an end table might hold candy corn, colorful dried beans, or healthy after-school snacks for kids. As accent pieces, decorative plants and vibrant swathes of flowers, in vases of varied sizes, help to rejuvenate any room.
“Dry some of the beautiful flowers from the garden and place them in baskets around the house—on top of bookcases or even kitchen cabinets as well as on the floor in bathrooms and guest rooms,” says Ms. Dozois whose favorite flowers to dry and display are those from her white hydrangea. “They are easy to cut and dry. They start out white and then in mid-summer turn pink and in August turn to purple. So you can have a little of each in a basket or planter. Of course the lavender can make a nice display as well.”
For the ambitious homeowner energized by fall, painting walls is one of the least expensive ways to achieve an immediate and profound impact on the total effect of a seasonal makeover. It’s also possible to paint freehand or use templates to decorate furniture with floral motifs or geometric shapes, and to change window treatments by making or purchasing Roman shades, more personal than miniblinds.
But for those already exhausted by anticipating the challenges of redecorating for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chanukah or Christmas, small and easy efforts to recognize a Cape Cod autumn by bringing the outside indoors can make a dramatic and satisfying difference.