Transform Your Home For Fall

Get cosy this season with these hot decor trends

When transitioning summer outfits to fall, what does the Vancouverite do?

Adds more layers, opts for a thicker jacket and accessorizes with pumpkin spiced lattes instead of iced caps.

When it comes to getting the home ready for fall, the transition can be just as simple.

“I think people worry a lot about changing up for fall,” says designer Jennifer Scott of Vancouver design firm, A Good Chick To Know.

“They think, ‘Oh I have to change my colour scheme, or I have to change the whole look’… but it’s honestly the same principle of layering and just using warmer, cosier textures.”

Take Scott’s own home for example. All summer long she has been loving the neutral palette, white-on-white look. At the first sign of rain this past weekend, she replaced her white Indian cotton curtains with thick velvet ones of the same shade. In place of her lightweight throw, comes a heavy knit blanket – just a few small alterations in texture, but the whole room changes for the cosier.

Photo: Warm up with hand-knit 100% Alpaca Everdeen Throw in wheat or dark slate ($500 each). Made exclusively in Vancouver for Nineteen Ten (4366 Main Street)

For more fall inspiration and tips, click through to see advice from local designers.

Mountain Lodge Luxury

According to Scott, faux fur pillows and throws add that warm texture and lodge feel we crave with the approaching winter season.

Faux fur is also a great way to keep the uber-trendy neutral pallet that’s been big in 2014, because you get so many different shades of whites, light greys and natural ivory tones. Bonus texture points for any permed fur varieties.

Photo (left to right): Faux Chinchilla Pillow in ink and Mongolian Fur Pillow in vanilla, Chapters Indigo (various locations)

Glow Factor

After getting used to a long bright season of all-day sunshine, amplifying the lighting indoors for fall is key, explains interior designer Jamie Banfield.

“I think one thing people miss most when fall hits is layering lighting.”

As Vancouverites move inside for the winter, Banfield suggests investing in an extra lamp by your preferred lounging spot, or a series of candles on the fireplace — incorporating a few extra touches at varying heights to suit your different fall lighting needs. 

Photo: Salima Silver Tray & Votive Candle Holders, Pottery Barn (2600 Granville Street)

Be Jeweled

What colours are trending this season? “Jewel tones,” declares Banfield.

“Punches of teal, purples – bring in jewel tones to liven up a space for fall.”

Just be sure to pay attention to scale, advises Banfield. No one will notice a tiny purple vase in the corner of a largely traditional room. “The scale should balance whatever it’s contrasting with,” says the designer.

Photo: Chas Armchair in navy velvet, Pier 1 Imports (various locations)

Down to Earth

According to Banfield, this time every year people feel a strong urge to go “earthy.”

People are making wreaths for their doors, centerpieces for their tables and finding new places for raw materials like wood, metals and pebbles in their homes.

Photo: Natural Tree Stump Side Table, West Elm (2915 Granville Street)

Metal Works

Metals are excellent conductors of heat, so it’s no wonder they’re such a popular choice for warming up a space.

According to Love It or List It Vancouver designer Jillian Harris, warm-toned metals like gold, brass and copper will keep on shining this fall season and showing up in totally unexpected places.

Photo: Martha Sturdy Brass Wire Sphere Lamp, Provide (529 Beatty Street)

Adjustable Living

With the wide-open expanse of the uber-popular ‘great room’ trend, Banfield says he’s seeing people looking for more personal spaces this fall.

“They’re dividing up sofas into settees and making more modular items, like an ottoman that will turn into four stools.”

They want the gathering space, explains Banfield, but also the ability to pull away in a more personal space where they can curl up and have a little corner to themselves.

For example, this Urban Barn sectional sofa is designed to be redsigned however the sitter sees fit. The ottoman-like attachment can work to extend the couch, function as a table for all, or as a footrest for one.

Photo: Trenton Custom Sectional Combo, Urban Barn (various locations)

Valued Vintage

“The whole ‘gallery wall’ trend with very graphic prints will mature this coming season,” says Harris. “Those very graphic prints will get replaced by actual handcrafted art, oil paintings, watercolor, antique wonders, everything with much more texture and a traditional, classic nod.”

According to Moe’s Home store stager Gene Guindon, this metal propellor adds an unexpected element to break up the monotony of a typical gallery wall’s linear, static arrangement.

“The patina on a rustic piece adds a bold, almost gritty quality to ground a somewhat clinical space.”

Photo: Moving Propeller Wall Décor Grey, Moe’s Home (1728 Glen Drive)

Shop Your Home

“To spruce up and jazz up one space, people can literally just shop in their house,” says Banfield.

This is done by browsing your home’s décor and grouping certain colours of items together, says the designer.  For example, emerald bedside table lamps can be repositioned in the hallway with a matching green rug in the same colour family.

Home design stores utilize this concept all the time, pulling together similar colours to stage beautiful rooms.

Photo: Vintage Vino shag rug, Sabina throw in vino, Betina knit throw in vino, Beckham toss pillow in vino and Cole toss pillow in vino, Urban Barn (various locations)