September is here, and with it, thoughts of making your home into a cozy autumn nest for your family. But how does one go about cozifying a house?
If you don’t want to spend many, many dollars at a decor boutique or craft store, don’t fret. You can shop your own house first, and find coordinating pieces for very low prices at thrift stores or auctions.
But this post isn’t about getting you to buy anything. (You might be like me, and not really into decorating for the sake of decorating, anyway.)
I want to detail the elements of a cozy autumn home, so that you can think intentionally about what will help make your home a cozy, comforting space. (Hint: it’s not just about things!) Read on as we explore coziness through the five senses!
Sight
Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when I think of fall is color. Deep, vibrant hues ranging from golds to crimsons to russets are some of my favorite colors. I love to see the trees and bushes decked out in their autumn glory.
But there’s more to fall than this. You don’t have to stick with a color scheme of red, yellow, and orange. By no means! I’ve taken some of the dominant colors from these five fall photographs to give you an idea of the many and varied shades you can use as part of your autumn palette.
The basic idea is to pick one palette, or group of colors, and use those same colors over and over again in your decorations. This makes a space feel cohesive, instead of a riot of different colors!
See, fall colors don’t only revolve around orange and red. You can even include blue, and still keep the autumn theme!
See how the colors in the next two photos are similar, yet one palette is warm and the other is cool? This is how you can use some of the same colors throughout your house, but still add a little variety with one or two different shades per room.
Again, you’re not limited to a group of four colors; these are just examples. You could even use a different palette for each room in your house, to set a different tone in each! If you need help determining a color scheme, I used Canva’s Color Palette Generator to make these palettes.
Create Coziness with Lighting
You can match your colors perfectly, but add the wrong lighting and the effect will still disappoint. The right choice of lighting, however, can really help create the mood you’re looking for.
I’m not an expert on interior design, but I like to match bright colors with bright (or natural) lighting, and soft colors with soft lighting. For example, take the last color palette above. If you choose soft colors like these, say, for a bedroom, then the cozy effect can be heightened by using smaller, softer lamps instead of a strong overhead lightbulb.
Some spaces in your home do require brighter lighting, such as the kitchen. That’s why I tend to go with light and bright colors in my kitchen: pale neutrals with a pop of color. This suits strong lighting or an abundance of natural light through windows.
If you’re trying to create a cozy reading nook, make sure that the light you choose is adequate for the purpose. If it’s too soft, (think candlelight only), there’s a good chance nobody will want to sit and read there. Perhaps candles on the mantelpiece or a chest of drawers can augment a lamp on a side table next to your comfy chair.
Smell
Cinnamon and warm spices, ripe apples, crisp morning air, sweet maple, fresh rain on the grass, and earthy damp leaves… these are the scents of fall.
Most of them smell of things outside, but you can bring those aromas of fall inside your home as well.
Scented candles create an autumnal atmosphere instantly with their varied mixtures of scents. I like big candles in the kitchen, and smaller ones throughout the house. Just don’t burn two different candle scents at the same time!
Cinnamon
Aside from candles, you could diffuse cinnamon and clove essential oils. Or try simmering cinnamon sticks, cloves, and dried apple slices in a small pot of water on your stove. This will fill your kitchen with a wonderful spicy aroma.
I find it strange to “waste” food this way, so an alternative is to make hot spiced cider or applesauce with those same spices. This way, you get to smell your efforts, and eat them too! If you want your home to smell like apples, this is probably the best way to do it.
Apples
Apples won’t keep well if you leave them at room temperature, so setting out a dish of them on your kitchen counter isn’t the best idea.
However, cooking them on the stove or roasting them in the oven lets the aroma of sweet, ripe fruit fill your house for hours. (In a pinch, scented candles will do too, of course!)
Crisp Morning Air
How do you bring the scent of crisp morning air inside? Open a window!
If you’re trying to trap warm air inside your house in an effort to delay heating costs as long as possible, I wouldn’t leave windows open all day; but opening one or two for half an hour or so is wonderful for freshening the air in your house.
Maple
The sweet scent of maple syrup is often combined with others, because it’s not very strong on its own (and I don’t know how you would get it alone, save for warming a pot of maple syrup on the stove!)
Here are some ideas for combining maple with other fall scents:
- Make maple lattes in your slow cooker. The low heat will help the aromas of coffee and maple (and cinnamon or pumpkin, if you choose to add those) waft throughout your house and draw people magnetically to the kitchen!
- Try the same method above of simmering spices in a pot of water, but add a little maple extract to them.
- Make maple-flavored treats such as baked oatmeal or maple cookies.
Fresh Rain & Damp Leaves
The scent of rain on the grass is best left outside, or enjoyed through a cracked window. I don’t want rain coming inside, though!
The smell of damp leaves is another scent that I like best outside. You can bring branches or colorful leaves inside and display them, but I find the smell rather mouldy and unpleasant inside my house. If you want to display colorful leaves, dry them first!
Touch
How do you add autumn textures to your home? Bring the outdoors in with bumpy squashes, crisp dried leaves, feathery or prickly dried grasses, fragrant dried herbs or flowers, and bunches of fresh fall flowers.
You can create cozy spaces in your house with woolen or flannel blankets and pillows, warm knitted sweaters, braided rugs, and quilts. Use knitted or crocheted accents to soften a bare table, or over it with a homey cloth.
Not everything needs to be soft fabric, though. You can still achieve a cozy feeling by contrasting the soft textures with rustic wood or tarnished brass. Hard surfaces like these can add depth and structure to your spaces.
Taste
Autumn is harvest time, and the tastes of the season reflect the crops that are ripening: squashes, pumpkins, corn, potatoes, apples, grapes, and cranberries. Using these ingredients in your cooking helps keep your meals in tune with the changing seasons, even if you don’t have a garden yourself.
After a long summer of hot weather, chilly fall evenings make a simmering pot of soup very welcome. Use vegetables from your garden or the farmer’s market for a flavor as earthy as fallen leaves and as fresh as autumn’s deep blue skies. I love a simple vegetable soup that showcases fresh veggies and herbs, perhaps with dumplings or barley added to the broth.
Hearty, crusty breads pair well with soups. Savory additions, such as herbs or cheese, make a rustic loaf extra special. If you need a quick bread, try scones with grated cheese and herbs. Apple cinnamon scones are also nice, particularly for breakfast. Throw in some walnuts or pecans for crunch. You can use any basic scone recipe for these, but maybe I’ll post my recipe for this combination anyway, because it’s so delicious!
My favorite sweets to bake in the fall involve apples and pumpkins. Apple pie, apple crisp, apple dumplings, old-fashioned apple cake with warm sauce… these bring back many autumn memories. Pumpkin bread or muffins, pumpkin spice snickerdoodles, pumpkin bundt cake, and pumpkin french toast bake are some of my favorite pumpkin recipes.
Hearing
Leaves rustling, wild geese calling, rain pattering, squirrels chattering… these are the sounds of fall. You can hear them if you listen.
Take a walk in the woods and listen to the sighing breezes and small creatures scurrying to store food for the winter. Come inside for a cozy chat with a friend over a cup of tea. Listen to the happy prattle of children as you bustle about the kitchen. These are the sounds of fall. You can hear them if you listen.
What kind of music blends into the autumn mood? In the genre of folk music, Appalachian picking tunes always remind me of fall. So do sad Scottish ballads.
Fitting classical selections highlight woodwind instruments. To borrow a thought from one of my favorite books:
The breezy days of autumn find their musical reflection in the rich, breathy tones of the woodwinds. From panpipes to bassoons, this family of instruments reminds me of wind flowing through the withered grasses of summer, through Queen Anne’s lace, black-eyed Susans and goldenrod, through cornstalks and haystacks, and finally rising up through the bare branches of powerful trees.
The woodwinds bring a radiance to the background of strings and harpischord so very like the radiant sun of Indian summer.
Paul Kortepeter, “Let’s Have Tea Together”
Bringing it all together
I hope these ideas about creating cozy spaces in your home inspire you to get started making your house cozy for fall! I find it fun to incorporate all of my senses in making my nest cozy.
One last thought I want to mention: don’t forget to leave some room for living! Decorating is great, but if everything in your house is arranged just so, your family may start to feel like they aren’t supposed to touch any of it. The goal of making your house feel cozy is so that people will feel welcomed and loved.
For more autumn inspiration, read about hosting a cozy autumn tea party or 10 favorite things to do in the fall!
Happy homemaking!
~Kimberly
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