90+ Fall Decorating Ideas for a Beautiful Autumn Season

Simple and rustic, this quick-to-make arrangement delivers what Southern Living floral genius Buffy Hargett Miller calls "an easy wow."

How To Do It:

Wrap twine several times around votive holders(similar votives here) and colorful fall leaves, and then secure with a knot. To construct different heights, top the votives with varying numbers of small white pumpkins. Add a touch more autumn dazzle to your display with this simple addition: Gather an assortment of colorful fall leaves, and use wire to fasten them to a length of rope to form a beautiful seasonal garland. Using temporary adhesive hooks, attach the garland to your mantel.

Bring fall into your foyer with a simple tablescape.

How To Do It:

Pick a few branches of colorful fall leaves, and arrange simply in a tall glass vase filled with water. From this bold focal point, build out the rest of your tabletop display. Gather an array of seasonal gourds in a mix of colors, sizes, and textures for variety. Stack flat gourds of graduated sizes, and top with a large glass cloche (available at crafts stores or online). Fill another smaller glass cloche with bleached pinecones, and invert; we used it to top one of our flatter pumpkins, but feel free to improvise. Add a potted plant (we used a small olive tree) to the arrangement for texture. Place small gourds around the larger items, and scatter more bright fall leaves along the table.

A smart mix of green tones, white, and flashes of fall color make this centerpiece feel like a fresh, modern cornucopia.

How To Do It:

Take a round or oval container, and fill it with potting soil. Plant a mix of succulents (such as echeverias) toward the center of the bowl, leaving plenty of room around the edges. Nestle small orange and white pumpkins into the soil. Add seasonal vegetables like kale, radishes, and eggplants. Use bundles of fresh herbs (such as rosemary and sage) to fill in any gaps. Surround with more pumpkins and votives.

Feel free to skip the container and scatter the votives anywhere that could use a little fall glow.

How To Do It:

Fill a rustic container two-thirds full of water. Use a craft knife to trace circles a little larger than the bottom of a tea light into the orange mini pumpkins. Cut and carve out the circles to allow a candle to fit inside comfortably. Insert tea lights. Float pumpkin votives as well as whole pumpkins in water. Using the photo as a guide, add bright fall leaves and sprigs of herbs for color and texture.

White pumpkins add an unexpected and elegant twist.

The 25-Minute Wreath:

Start with a store-bought grapevine wreath. Pick an odd number of white mini pumpkins. Attach pumpkins to florist picks, and then work the picks into the wreath, making sure to space them evenly. Secure pumpkins to the wreath with wire. Using additional florist picks, attach seasonal greenery (we used smilax) and bittersweet (available at your local garden center), filling in the spaces between pumpkins. Add an assortment of fall leaves to wreath with picks and wire for a colorful finish.

Raid your kitchen cabinets to gather the elements for this fragrant display.

How To Do It:

Start with three bowls of graduated sizes. Place wet florist foam in each bowl, and trim, as necessary, so the top of the foam is even with the top of each bowl. Stack the bowls with the largest on the bottom. Using florist picks, secure white pumpkins and artichokes in an asymmetrical arrangement to the foam of each level. Take a mix of fresh herb and pepper plants out of their pots, and wrap in plastic bags so they can be replanted later. Attach berries (we used brunia) to florist picks. Working one side at a time, use herbs, peppers, and berries to fill in the spaces between the pumpkins and the artichokes. If desired, create smaller accent pieces with single bowls, sprigs of herbs, and individual pumpkins.

What do you get when you combine the fun of a pumpkin with the beauty of a mum? A "mumkin," of course! Fill smaller gourds with containers of pansies to create a trio of trusty sidekicks.

Get the Step-by-Step: Mumkin Container

We'll show you how to whip up a striking seasonal tableau with bright green apples at its core. Trust us, this one's easier than it looks.

Watch the full tutorial: The 10-Minute Fall Apple Centerpiece

The key to arranging leaves is to group them by size and color as you would flowers. Fiery red maple makes a beautiful focal point when countered with the feathery foliage of dawn redwood laden with globes of gray-green fruit on the fringes.

There's a reason you see mums each fall—they work. Once buds begin to open, you're guaranteed blooms whether your display is in sun or shade. To prolong the show, water when dry and remove spent flowers. Pair with Mexican sage and boxwoods for this stunning display.

For a quick and easy approach, group your favorite tiny pumpkins on a side table, and let the collection speak for itself. There is no right or wrong way to create this display. This arrangement looks unintentional, adding a carefree, casual seasonal touch.

To make this arrangement, choose your favorite pumpkin (we like the flat-bottomed Fairytale) and pick up some violas, pansies, red and green leaf lettuce, thyme, and rosemary to decorate. Clean the pumpkin with a Clorox wipe, cut a hole in the top, and scoop out seeds. Line with aluminum foil or a plastic bag, and fill three-quarters full with potting soil and plants. We used Sorbet violas and Crystal Bowl pansies.

Simple white plates paired with timeless flatware and thin stemware keep this more rustic setting looking elegant. Bold orange napkins give the setting a pop of seasonal color.

Display oranges studded with dried whole cloves for a festive and fragrant addition to your fall decor.

Topped with silver serving pieces, pale gray and green pumpkins add interesting height to your buffet.

Vertical displays make a big statement at the front door. Tucking in cool-weather edibles such as ornamental flowering cabbages, kale, and bay leaves adds a distinctive twist. To create topiaries, sandwich bay wreaths between pumpkins stacked in concrete urns, and top with a small pumpkin.

Print out individual words on tabs, and fold them around twine. Weave the twine along the center of the table.

To arrange the perfect Southern table, keep these tips in mind:

• In the napkin arena, nothing's nicer than a generous 22-inch hemstitched piece of white linen, monogrammed and crisply ironed.
• Create a look that is "uniquely you" by combining simple stemware with more decorative china, or vice versa.
• Try to incorporate as much vintage silver as you can find - they add sparkle to a table.
• Don't forget to set place cards with your own handwriting for a personal touch.

Transform mini pumpkins into luminarias by cutting a 1-inch-wide circle into each pumpkin, scooping out the centers with a tablespoon, and inserting votive candles.

Peel off the labels of pickle and okra jars, and use a cord kit (paperlanternstore.com) to illuminate each one. Equipped with a dimmer and hung at varying heights, they provide the ideal mix of rustic and industrial.

Pair pumpkins with potted kale to create a warm welcome. Grace an entry with a garland made of clippings from the garden.

It’s simple to decorate pumpkins with just a few supplies from the hardware or crafts store. Create stylish seasonal decor with some gold and black paint and place them all around the house.

Naturally shed antlers lend a new twist to table decor. Pile them up with different-colored pumpkins, pine cones, and loose nuts and bring the outdoors in.

Double the impact of an arrangement by placing it in front of a mirror, like this one made from a barn window.

Arrange branches, dried grasses, moss, squash, and small pumpkins in a vase as you would a traditional flower display. Then, choose a single pumpkin with an interesting shape or a twisted stem to showcase. Place it on a smaller table or stool to help set it apart from the rest.

A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but a few words can have major impact. Use this pumpkin carving idea to carve a message on your pumpkin. Southern Living Associate Garden Editor Rebecca Bull Reed created this work of art and added the wise words “Spooky is what you think you see.” What do you see?

Gold metallic paint gives ordinary pumpkins a wow factor. Stick round labels on a pumpkin and trace the shape with a pencil. Remove the labels and paint inside the traced circles with gold paint. For another effect, apply labels to pumpkin, and then cover entire pumpkin in gold paint. Remove the labels when paint is dry.

Construct an easy-to-assemble Indian corn garland beginning with a piece of sisal rope. If you like, dye it dark brown or a golden maize shade. Wrap it with broomcorn, corn tassels (stalks are available at farmers markets), or other dried grasses. Place corn along the rope single file or gathered in bundles of three. Wire corn securely in place, and then tie raffia on top for a finishing touch. Hang your garland across a door or from your mantel.

Don't limit yourself to just traditional orange in your display. Orange and yellow pumpkins really pop when mixed with bright greens. Try using small green plants as well as gourds and squash with green tones.

For an elegant fall dinner, emphasize the beauty of the meal by serving it on gold and glass dinnerware.

To make these festive party decorations, pick up a carving or soft-skinned pumpkin, an awl (pointed tool), and some cut mums. Using the awl, poke a hole in the pumpkin and fill it in with a mum stem. Repeat this process until the entire pumpkin is covered. To help extend its life, keep this decoration in the refrigerator until party time.

Terrariums are an easy way to grow plants indoors. Start by choosing a clear glass container with a wide opening. Gently add fine gravel to your container. Top with a thin layer of aquarium charcoal. (Both of these items can be purchased at a pet store.) Then add moist potting soil. These miniature landscapes can hold a collection of colorful plants for display or just show off one plant. Good choices include ferns, peperomias, succulents, begonias, Irish moss, miniature orchids, kalanchoes, and African violets.