16 Autumn Home, Decor, and Craft Ideas

Autumn is certainly the time when our home becomes extra cozy. The smell of baked goods, the glow of candlelight, and cozy blankets abound! If you’re looking for some great autumn home, decor, and craft ideas, I have what you need to welcome the season!

For many years, I would have told you that autumn was my favorite season. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve really come to appreciate each part of the year for what it brings to our life.

I don’t think we can really enjoy any season without viewing the whole tapestry of the year. Would you appreciate summer as much if the sunshine never left? Would the smell of rain be as magical if it came each and every day?

Taking the time to slow down and mindfully savor each moment of the year is something I try hard to do. Last week, we created an episode for our YouTube channel with this specific goal in mind. This was very different from our normal weekly vlogs, but it was a labor of love! Time passes so quickly, and we wanted to make sure to capture the meaningful memories of each season before they’re forgotten.

The transition from summer to fall is an especially magical time of year, too. Right now, we’re still getting the benefit of warm days and sunsets at the beach. But the nights are turning cool, and the days are growing shorter. I find napping to be especially enjoyable this time of year!

Making Our Home Cozy for Fall

Getting our home ready for autumn is about a lot more than just plopping a pumpkin on the front porch. Although, we definitely make sure to do that, too!

Whenever I’m decorating, I like to look at the overall feelings that I want to evoke within the season. For fall, I always emphasize warmth, serenity, and coziness. After the busyness of summer, and as the days grow shorter and more cool, these are the things we’re craving the most out of autumn.

These feelings require more than just decor. I mean, my dentist’s office changes their decor each season, but I never feel warmth, serenity, or coziness there! Ha!

To truly welcome the autumn season into our home, we try to engage more of our senses than just sight. There are textures, smells, flavors, and sounds that also help to create a cozy home.

I’ve included 16 of our favorite ways to welcome the season, including autumn-inspired home, decor, and craft ideas! This is a post you’ll probably want to pin for later when you need more ideas!

DIY Fabric Pumpkin Garland

We have to get this list of autumn home, decor, and craft ideas started with something that fits into all three categories: home, decor, and craft!

I love fabric crafts, and sitting down at my sewing machine always brings my creativity to life.

You can create this sweet farmhouse pumpkin garland with or without a sewing machine. I’ve even included a printable pattern for you to use while you’re gettin’ crafty!

What I love most about this garland is the it brings a note of autumn into your home without the bright colors that don’t match many folks’ decor. It just goes to show you that you can absolutely decorate your home for autumn with a neutral color palette!

Or, if you’re feeling it, use vintage pastels or other colors that fit with your decor style! The options are limitless!

Plum Preserves: A Heritage Recipe

To me, it’s really important not to lose touch with the things our grandmothers and great-grandmothers did as part of homemaking. Those heritage recipes that were passed down from one generation to the next are important pieces of our history.

Making preserves each fall is a favorite activity for me. It reconnects me to my roots, and helps us prepare for the months ahead by preserving what we grow.

Some years, our plum trees give us an abundance of fruit, and preserves like these are absolutely perfect for gifting to friends and neighbors over the holidays, as well!

When you’re thinking about autumn home, decor, and craft ideas to incorporated into your celebration of the season, don’t leave out the flavors of home. Heritage recipes like these are a way to honor where we came from and the people we love, and isn’t that what home is all about?

Fall Farmhouse Living Room

Speaking of neutral fall home decor, there are so many ways to welcome autumn without ever incorporating a touch of orange! Personally, I think a dash of bronze is quite beautiful this time of year, but if it’s not for you, that doesn’t leave you out of decorating your home for fall.

Keeping our color palette very neutral, I refreshed our home for autumn using textures and themes that have a farmhouse vibe combined with a modern aesthetic. Neutrals can be very cozy, indeed!

How to Make a Fabric Pumpkin

For years, I saw adorable fabric pumpkins everywhere, but I could never figure out how people were making them. Every tutorial I read was vague and left out the important details that stumped me.

So, naturally, I had to experiment until I figured it out for myself. And then, of course, I had to share it so no one else would need to experience this crafting frustration!

This tutorial gives you every step you need, including the measurements, step-by-step, and photos of how to make your pumpkins nice and fluffy.

I made mine with both plain canvas/grain sack fabric, as well as some vintage lace that added the perfect amount of texture. You could also use crocheted doilies for a similar look! You can get so creative as you make these, and they’re perfect for hostess gifts as you spend time with friends and family this fall.

Harvest Grain Bowl

During autumn, I crave delicious and hearty comfort foods. But I’m less keen about what happens to my waistline between now and January!

This Harvest Grain Bowl with Shiitake Miso Cashew Sauce incorporates all of those craveable, savory fall flavors into a healthy dish that’s both vegan and gluten-free (your loved ones with food allergies will adore you!).

Grain bowls are a go-to for us this time of year because they’re super quick and easy to make. But, you don’t sacrifice on the presentation either–they’re beautiful!

One tip I have for this particular recipe is to add dried fruits that are your favorites. Lately, I’ve been crazy about dried cherries for so many of the recipes we make, but whatever you choose will be sure to taste amazing!

Planning Next Year’s Garden

If you’re like me, you’re dreaming about next year’s garden before you’ve even put the current year to bed. One can never have too many plants, if you ask me!

I love to make wish lists of the varieties I want to grow, or plan out new beds where we’ll grow veggies to preserve for the winter. The past few years have been all about tomatoes for me, and I’ve made it my personal goal that we don’t ever need to purchase a canned tomato product throughout the year.

{ Related: How We Use Soil Blockers on our Farm }

Pasta sauce, salsa, pizza sauce, you name it–I want to make and preserve it! So, of course, that means finding more and more places where I can fit tomatoes into our garden!

I created my printable Garden Journal and Planner for just that purpose, and I hope it can help you dream, plan, and grow your best garden, too! There are 16 beautifully designed (and useful!) pages for everything from planning, to sowing, to harvest tracking, and more.

DIY Burlap Leaves Garland

Is there any more “fall” texture than burlap? It’s the perfect material for crafting this time of year–as long as you know a few secrets about how to work with it.

I break that all down, plus provide you with a printable pattern to make this autumn-inspired garland. Absolutely no sewing required!!

For our neighbors to the North, this could be the perfect craft for Canadian Thanksgiving or even Canada Day!

Decorating a Jelly Cupboard for the Porch

A vintage jelly cupboard on the front porch makes for a perfect place to add some farmhouse decor for autumn! Between the chippy-painted wood, the theme of preserving an abundant harvest, and room for a few specialty pumpkins, this adds a touch of heritage charm to welcome guests to our home.

This tour is sure to give you some ideas for decorating your own porch, and I’ve also highlighted a few of my favorite fall-inspired vintage finds, as well. As you’re out thrifting and antiquing, see if you spot any of these pieces during your own treasure hunt!

And, if you love vintage hunting like I do, you’ll also want to make sure you have my printable Vintage & Junk Hunting Journal along the way!

Smoked Poblano and Cashew Queso

Sundays and football are a favorite part of fall for us, and that means…snacks!

Now, I must warn you, this smoked poblano queso is quite addictive. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll be hooked! We use it on burgers, nachos, tacos, and just for dipping chips…it’s SO good.

Poblanos aren’t overly spicy, so if you’re not a fan of the heat, no worries. I’m in that camp, myself, so I understand! Once roasted, the smokiness of the pepper adds so much depth to this queso that you’ll think you’re in a swanky, hip restaurant instead of on your couch, in PJs, watching the game!

This is one you don’t want to miss!

Autumn Bunting Banner

Where are all my paper-crafting friends at?! Yep, I see you! I love a good paper craft, and this one is no exception.

Incorporating a vintage vibe into the autumn aesthetic, this bunting banner fits into pretty much any decor style. We tend to keep our decor fairly neutral, but changing the papers that you use can take this craft into a totally different direction to match your specific tastes.

A printable pattern is included to make this craft super easy for you. It’s also fun to make the banner flags with the kiddos in your life.

At Thanksgiving, you can have each family member make one flag and write their gratitude list on the back. String them together, and you’ll have a treasured memory to keep for years!

Fall Farmhouse Foyer

Our entryway and foyer is always the first area of our home that I decorate each season because it’s where we welcome ourselves (and our guests) home. You can create all the warmth and coziness right from the first steps into your home.

This design is heavy on the vintage and farmhouse vibes, and I hope it gives you some great ideas that you can use to style your own home for autumn.

Thai Pumpkin Curry

It seems that most people are either in the “I love it” or the “I hate it” camp when it comes to curry. But that’s probably because they’re thinking of the traditional Indian spice, not the true dish.

Curry is actually an evolution of colonization that occurred between Europe and the sub-continent of India. We have only come to think of it as part of Indian food due to the British colonization that’s most recently occurred, but it certainly is not a native dish of that part of the world.

If you replaced the word “curry” with “stew”, that might be more palatable for more Westerners. However, we tend to think of stew as strictly a beef dish.

Back when we still had our shop open in town, I made this Pumpkin Curry one fall, and offered samples to customers. Even the ones who turned up their nose at the thought were transformed after one taste!

You can also fully blend this recipe into a soup, and it’s every bit as delicious. It’s a fall flavor that we love, and I have a feeling that you will, too!

Autumn Harvest Playlist

Music is so powerful at eliciting emotions, and this time of year is no exception. I recently put together this autumn/harvest themed playlist, and we’ve been listening to it non-stop lately!

Whether you have a road trip coming up, or just want to bring these cozy autumn vibes into your home while you work on a craft or prepare dinner, I hope you enjoy it!

Rustic Farmhouse Fall Tablescape

Texture plays such an important role in cultivating the autumn aesthetic in our home. Plus, I believe that we should enjoy our time at the dinner table and make an event of every meal.

Enter: The autumn tablescape!

I love decorating our table with different themes throughout the year. Incorporating vintage touches, and natural textures, is definitely part of the fun for me. I aim for each table to tell a story, and this one is all about a rustic, autumn home.

DIY Acorn Wreath

When I’m thinking about autumn home decor craft ideas, this acorn wreath always tops my list! It was one of the first crafts that I ever blogged about, and it remains one of my favorites.

We still display our acorn wreaths each fall, and I love what they add to our home.

I’ve certainly never seen anything like these in a friend’s home…partly because they’re DIY and handmade, but also because they’re so darn unique! But…also surprisingly easy to make!

You can spend an autumn day collecting acorns, or if you don’t live in an area with a lot of oak trees, they’re easy to source as well. The DIY process is extremely simple, and you’ll have a treasured piece of autumn decor for years to come!

Hearty Cowboy Cookies

If you’ve never tasted a Cowboy Cookie, then you, my friend, are missing out.

And maybe you’re missing out because you have food sensitivities or allergies, which just isn’t fair. So, I re-created this favorite chewy, chocolatey recipe to make it enjoyable for a wider audience.

These cookies are vegan (no dairy, no eggs) and gluten-free, so you don’t have to suffer through the unimaginable existence of life without cookies for another minute.

Well, maybe just a few minutes…because, I mean, you do have to cook them. And then let them cool. You don’t want to burn the roof of your mouth, after all.