Fall Décor in a Small Space
Growing up in the Midwest, Fall has always been my favorite season. I have fond memories of hunting for nuts in Michigan as a child and the changing colors of the leaves in Ohio as a 20 something adult. If that isn’t enough of a reason to love fall, Andy and I got married October 5th, 1996.
We were hoping that by now we’d be celebrating the changing of seasons from summer to fall in Palisade. Alas, that has not yet come to fruition, and we are still bunking with our daughters in a tiny two-bedroom apartment in Littleton, Colorado. I thought I forgo decorating for fall this year since we are still in transition. That thought was about a nanosecond long, and this past week I did a little seasonal shopping to make the apartment festive with a bit of fall color.
I promised Andy I wouldn’t go crazy, so the décor is centered around the girls’ fireplace with a small expansion out to the balcony. If you want to decorate for a small space on an even smaller budget, it is easy to do. The trick is to wait until the decorations go on sale at either Michael’s Arts and Crafts store or Hobby Lobby. Michael’s is close by so that was my target destination. At 50% off I picked up four faux leaf garlands in hues of red and burn orange, two interesting textured faux pumpkins, at least I think they are meant to be pumpkins and a wreath also made of faux fall leaves and pinecones (the decorating also included the door to the apartment). I picked up a couple of tapered candles the shade of yellow ochre and five real pumpkins in various sizes and colors at the local grocery store (aka King Soopers) and set to work.
Here too the act of decorating was simple, I draped the first garland along the mantel of the fireplace, weaving it around the plants and crystal candle sticks as well as an actual crystal that is Bella’s (that crystal according to her wards off negative energy). Then I place the faux textured pumpkin like orbs on either side of the mantel and replaced the white tapered candles with the new fall-colored ones. On either side of the hearth, I arranged the real pumpkins. In addition to the visuals, I had Andy pick up a fall scented candle and our interior decorations were complete!
On the balcony, I rearranged the plants, and brought inside the two fig trees and the pineapple plant for the season. As a side bar, I’m thinking the apartment is too small (especially with four adults and two dogs) for a Christmas tree. So, if we are still here at Christmas time, I think I will decorate the larger of the two fig trees! It will be a Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the truest sense! Anyway… once the balcony was reconfigured, I had Andy hang the other three garlands along the railing of the balcony and with that… my fall decorations were complete! In all, I think I spent less than $100 and the apartment (and my mood) is a bit cheerier with a subtle hint of fall. It’s lovely and reminds me of home and future possibilities. As Martha Stewart always use to say, “It’s a good thing”.
