Simple Decor Ideas Using Fall Favorites

Many of the items you need to make this quick fall display can be found in your kitchen. Start with a wood serving tray—marble or glass will work, too! Place a decorative linen napkin on top, followed by a shallow serving dish. With the basic base built, fill the serving dish with gourds, pinecones, candles, or any natural autumn materials you have on hand. You can even clip a few sprigs of eucalyptus or bittersweet from a fall wreath to pair with your arrangement.

A lot of fall decor involves yellow, orange, or red—but you can incorporate any color you like, including moody gray, green, black, and metallics. Get inspired by fall bonfires and nighttime hayrides with a gourd display that exudes autumn's deep, rich colors. We piled dark green gourds in a tall gold bowl and paired it with a navy blue candlestick and dark glass vase. This rich fall mantel display is perfect for dinner parties that turn into a night of craft cocktails.

The perfect table centerpiece could be just a pumpkin patch trip away. Show off fall's natural beauty with an arrangement of unique pumpkins and gourds found at the farm. Look for ones with distinct colors and shapes, then pile them onto a table runner for a one-of-a-kind fall display. Space warm golden votive candles throughout, and add texture with clippings of bittersweet.

Related: Wondering which pumpkin to pick? Use our handy guide to every type of pumpkin.

It's not every day that we use our dessert platters—especially our cake stand. Give your kitchen's most neglected dishes some love by incorporating them into your fall decor. When surrounded by candles and a vase or two, a cake stand is a perfect place to display your most gorgeous gourds. If you have extra fall harvest, place gourds or mini pumpkins in a shallow bowl to display on a shelf or bookcase. Finish the look with a fall wreath featuring wheat and goldenrod.

Gather all the best elements that fall has to offer in an all-encompassing autumn wreath. This DIY design shows off the colors of the season by grouping brown, yellow, red, and orange natural leaves and flowers together. To make this natural fall wreath, start with a foam ring and use hot glue or floral wire to attach the pieces. 

Put a fun fall twist on a traditional centerpiece by placing a beautiful bouquet in a hollowed-out pumpkin. To make this natural fall decor, cut the top off a pumpkin, hollow it out, and fill it with soaked floral foam. Push the stems into the foam and keep adding foliage and fillers until the pumpkin is overflowing with fall spirit.

For a glamorous fall table setting, enlist a magnolia garland complete with fresh fruit. This garland was pieced together by hand using floral wire and an abundance of magnolia leaves, eucalyptus, hypericum, cinnamon sticks, and more. For a fun, colorful touch, we placed bright clementines throughout, but you could also swap in pumpkins or pomegranates to match your fall color scheme.

Take a walk around the neighborhood and pick up loose leaves or branches to inspire your fall decor. Stack various cutting boards on your mantel and fill the extra space with bright, colorful leaves. The natural wood works well in a modern farmhouse setting, while bright orange leaves stand out against a neutral backdrop. 

Forget about fancy faces and pumpkin patterns. Instead, go for a graphic look with easy-to-create drilled holes in your pumpkins. These will make your outdoor fall decor fun and unique—plus, they don't come with the stress of attempting to create the best-carved face on the block!

Don't put too much thought into your fall centerpieces. Look for a long, narrow platter that fits easily down the center of your dining table. Then fill it with floating flowers, votive candles, or river rock. Or as we've done here, grab a few seasonal squash and garnish with flower heads and dried or artificial seed pods.

Mix the formal with the informal to make a style statement. Here, a pair of humble acorns get a lift to luxurious by replacing one acorn with a large craft store pearl. Tie it up with a gorgeous velvet ribbon for a simple decoration on your place settings. You can also use the pearl acorns to add a glam touch to your fall wreath. 

Don't sweat a seasonal centerpiece. Simply cut the stems of flowers and float them in little dishes of water. Placed down a dining table or along a mantel, these make quick fall flower arrangments with little effort. Use faux flowers that you can dry and store to reuse next season. 

Make your guests feel special by decorating their dining chairs with DIY fall decor. Here, one perfect pinecone hangs from a wide satin ribbon bow. Make sure your fall arrangements don't disrupt the back of the seat too much—no one wants to sit with something bulky on their backrest. 

Craft stores are full of faux berry wreaths, but those can look generic. You can also make your own from a twig wreath and stems of real, dried, or artificial berries, and leaves. Fresh outdoor fall decor like will put your home on the map for the neighborhood's best displays.  

Don't discount white fall decor this season. Both sophisticated and country, this white pumpkin has been elevated to designer status with a swoosh of black paint and a unique footed cake stand. It will bring a sense of class to your purple and orange decor, whether that's indoor or outdoor. 

The best simple decoration ideas sprout from nature. Stems with just a few leaves or berries can make natural holders for family photographs. Tie branches with twine and add evergreen tassels; then insert photos in the branches, clipping them on if needed to hold in place.

Group miniature trees to create a forest-like scene for simple fall decorations. Here, we've arranged pinecones of various sizes into vintage molds. Place large pinecones upright on pine needles or artificial grasses. Use a cinnamon stick or twig to support smaller pinecones and secure with hot glue. Fresh pine needles will provide a beautiful grassy base.

Chocolate brown is hot for fall centerpieces! We inserted a small vase into a larger one and filled the space between them with coffee beans. The inner vase can hold flowers. Or insert a pink candle into the center of a vase and fill around it with coffee beans. Try other colors as well to fit with your decor—white, green, blue, or orange.

Fall flower arrangements are gorgeous, but only for a short period of time. Get long-lasting floral-inspired decor with a cluster of plain glass candleholders (or vases) on a windowsill. Wrap the cylinders with art paper and secure with tape and twine for a uniform display. Tuck berries and twigs or blossoms and leaves between the strands of twine.

Make this easy candle showstopper as one of your fall centerpieces. Group nine pillar candles on a table center; soften the base with a foundation of moss for fall or fake snow for winter. Wrap the candles in wide ribbon and embellish with hypericum berries. Since there are so many candles, consider using unscented candles so the aroma doesn't overpower the dinner you worked so hard to perfect!

Dress up purchased candles with a sleeve of leaves. We used salal, but any flat leaf would work. Fit a rubber band or pony-tail elastic around the votive and insert the first leaf underneath. Align the leaves, though they'll probably need trimming to make a clean bottom edge. Finish with a tie of raffia or a satin ribbon. Glue leaves together if desired, for a more permanent DIY fall decor.

Try this idea for fall, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Simply cluster silver vases, such as these mint julep cups, and them fill with large-headed flowers, berry stems, twigs, and decorations. Here we've used green hydrangeas and lime-green holiday balls (on "stems" of floral wire) nestled into moss, to create a tabletop "wreath" that will last many weeks with minimal attention.

Try a natural theme for fall centerpieces, using items from your yard or a farmers' market. Here, an interesting leafed branch stands in as a place card with the addition of a tied-on embellishment. You can also tuck the branch under a ribbon holding the napkin and silverware together. 

The best simple decoration ideas can transition from fall to holiday. Take this mantle display for example. Plant live or dried green moss into interesting pots or urns surrounded by pinecones. White fall decor lends itself well to transitioning to winter. 

Get inspired by your favorite holiday cocktails for fun DIY fall decor. A wine or champagne glass filled with a mix of cranberries and other tiny fruits gets a touch of glamour from a sparkling votive candle placed on top. Put these on the table with the sangria punch bowl to tie the whole party together.