Magical Autumn styling ideas for your home.
I’m back after a summer break! And I’m happy to be back in time for my favourite season: Autumn; my birthday season, a time of harvest and plenty, getting organised for the season ahead, and yes; even the prospect of the cold and dark….I know that makes me sound a bit strange, but think of the cosiness!
As we go into a new season, let’s talk about everything you need to get your home ready for the rest of the year. The first part of this blog post is dedicated to boring but necessary jobs your future winter self will thank you for. The second part has lots of magical witchy styling ideas.
Autumn and winter can be a tough time for a lot of us. You may be like me and feeling a little uncertain about what autumn and winter in the UK are going to be like in 2023 (a Covid/ cost-of-living, recession mash-up?), or you may just not be a fan of those darker nights.
So I’m here to remind you that we are always capable of creating nurturing and calm havens to be in. Even when things outside are feeling really intense and out of control. In fact, it’s when things outside feel intense and out of control that we need safe nurturing havens more than ever.
Boring but necessary jobs your future Winter-self will thank you for:
I knowwwww but these things will make a big difference to your home if you can get them sorted sooner rather than later:
Inside the house, check your boiler’s working. Your future self will definitely thank you for this one! If your boiler’s been off for most of the summer, turn it on and make sure that everything works. And if it doesn’t, get it serviced ASAP!
Similarly, clear your heating vents, air filters, book a chimney sweep, order logs, whatever you need to check to make sure your heating is functional for those colder months.
When was the last time you did a fire safety check? A house on our street burned down earlier this year and it inspired a Fire safety check and chat in our family. If you haven’t discussed with your family recently what to do in case of a fire, have that conversation. Check your smoke alarms and make sure you’ve got your fire extinguisher nearby.
Check your drains and make sure they’re all clear. Slow-draining drains hit worse once things get wetter and drains get fuller (and you do not want drain back-swill)
Turn your mattress, if you have a turnable one. It elongates the life of the mattress and loosens dust and any other bacteria that might have settled there.
If you didn’t do this in spring, wash and air any wool homeware or clothing you have. Moths love natural fabrics that are still, dark and stagnant, so give them all a check to make sure you haven’t got any friends that have made a home there! Make sure to clean the actual drawers and cupboards that you store your wool in too. Hoover them out and then spray them with a spray that contains moth repellant (natural, like lavender, or chemical)
A new season is always a good time to take a look at your budget and bills. Take a look at your regular payments; all Standing Orders, Direct Debits and recurring payments and check you know about them all. We recently reviewed our Apple payments after a few mysterious amounts were being taken out and it turns out we were paying for apps we no longer had on our phones. (you can check your a
Apple payments by logging in here)
If you haven’t already, this is a perfect time to start putting money away for the festive season. If you put £30 a week away from the start of October, you should be able to get a decent chunk toward Christmas.
Declutter. You knew this one was coming… Autumn is a great time to get on top of the house, so take a look at clothing, toys, and seasonal furniture that didn’t get used over the summer months.
This summer was pretty rainy, so you may find you’re a bit behind on getting gardening jobs done. So take a look at cutting back and clearing the garden, storing outdoor furniture, and clearing your gutters whilst it’s still relatively dry!
And now that we’ve got those jobs out of the way, let’s move on and talk about magical witchy autumn styling ideas - my favourite!
Magical, witchy styling ideas for your home
As usual with any of these suggestions, I do not recommend unnecessary spending. The interior decor industry can be incredibly wasteful, so as always, I recommend shopping your home and using natural or homemade decor instead of buying new.
Clockwise from top left links: Lobster & Swan, Season Enthusiast on Pinterest, Maison De Cinc, and These Four Walls
Shop your home for warm colours and gather them together. Bring together warm coloured cushions blankets and accents. One way I’ve done this recently in my home is introducing my favourite terracotta bedding set, alongside a dark orange throw and some olive-coloured cushions, which is an easy way to add instant warm and cosiness.
Change your lighting. The key to your magical autumn and winter this year is your lighting! If you don't have plug sockets, there are so many lovely LED rechargeable lovely around these days at lots of different price points.
Sort your fireplace out. And if you don’t have a real fireplace, consider an electric one to add instant cosiness to your space. We bought an electric wood burner for our rental last year, and we love it. What makes it look “real” is it’s plastic flue! so if you have an electric wood burner or are thinking about getting one, bear that in mind!
Bring the beauty of the outdoors inside. Think pine cones, acorns, hazelnuts, apples, crabapples, pears, gourds, pumpkins and my favourite, braaaanches! choose a branch that has a lovely shape with or without leaves, and place in a vase or jug (pack with rocks and sand first to help it stand up)
Stock up on candles if you haven’t already. This can be fancy scented candles or it can just be standard tealights, but whatever it is will add instant magic and ambience to any room.
Autumnal scents. I am currently burning cinnamon, ginger, and cedarwood in my little burner. When it gets closer to Christmas, add in clove and frankincense too for the ultimate festive scent.
Swap your lightweight summer fabrics with heavier cosier textiles if you have them. So think extra rugs, cushions, throws, anything to create that nest feeling on your sofa and bed.
Seasonal wreaths. I teach a class on my website on demand, teaching you how to make a wild woven base wreath, which is one of my most popular classes! Once you learn it, it’s a skill for life too. Autumn is the time to create a beautiful base made of branches and add some of the beautiful dried leaves, berries and textures and colors that are abundant at this time of year. I will be teaching a class live this December too, details here.
Leaf craft! You could experiment with making a leaf garland - pick up autumn leaves, press them between heavy books, and once they’re dried out, use a needle and thread to string them up and there’s a beautiful garland! You could also try displaying leaves as art, so mounting leaves or flowers on backing board and then popping them in a box frame. Not only are these free, but they connect you to autumn memories too.
Faff around a bit with your tablescaping! There is no need to buy anything extra here, you can set a magical autumn table using what you already have! Add gourds or pumpkins, candles, pressed leaves, for example. If you have autumn colours in your linens, this is the perfect time to use them. You don’t need to spend lots of money, but autumn and winter is the time to have cosy meals with friends and family, so again, shop what you already have to make it as magical as possible.
Simple Natural Halloween craft ideas
Halloween doesnt have to be super tacky (unless you love that) and wasteful. As well as the ideas above, try some of these simple ideas to keep the cost to both you and the environment, low.
Each year I get my kids to draw a rough ghost outline on recycled paper, we then string them up and use them as ghost garlands - such an easy and free craft!
Make ghosts and bat shapes out of fallen leaves
Another lovely Halloween craft, whether you have children or not, is to cut out bat shapes in black paper and hang them from a branch over a table.
Cut out bigger shapes from paper or black bin liner and stick them in your windows
Hopefully I've given you loads of ideas to really bed down and make the most of this wonderful cosy season in your home.
A reminder that you don't need to spend lots of money to decorate your home for the upcoming season. You can always add magic just by using what you already have in a different way. I am wishing you a very warm, happy and cosy autumn season ahead!
