Hi friends!
Today I’m sharing some amazing tips for decorating your home for fall without breaking the bank. We all love high-end home decor, but spending a ton of money to do it isn’t fun. I’m a firm believer that having a cozy, beautifully decorated home, doesn’t have to be crazy expensive – if you know what to look for. This post is full of Fall decor ideas and decorating tips, PLUS some awesome decor finds from Tuesday Morning!
I’m so excited to share this sponsored post with you! When Tuesday Morning asked me to shop at their store and share my fall finds with you, I was so excited because I knew that you would love it! Thank you to them for providing me funds to go shopping with. All opinions are my own.
Our living room is one of the highest traffic areas in our entire house. With this being Finn’s (my 1-year-old son) primary play area, I need a space that is functional above all else. Then, my second priority is to make it beautiful and seasonally decorated because this is the room our guests spend time in when they visit. That’s where Tuesday Morning came in. I ventured out to my local store to hunt for some items to add some fall color and texture to this space.
WHAT IS TUESDAY MORNING?
If you haven’t checked out a Tuesday Morning store for yourself, here’s a brief overview of the brand, some photos of my local store, and what you can expect to find:
- DEALS – Tuesday Morning stores have been around since the 70’s, so you may have seen them or heard of them before. Their prices are 20-60% less than what you’d find in department or speciality stores. Full disclaimer, I hadn’t been into one of their stores since before I was pregnant with Finn (pre-pandemic), and I was very impressed with their selection of items. They were very on trend and at a great price. Their selection was better than I remembered! I will for sure be going back.
- GREAT QUALITY PRODUCTS – It’s not a closeout store. During my visit I found a ton of top-quality items for both everyday and for fall that rival some of the high-end home decor stores that I like to dupe (starts with a K…). Check out the photos below for some of my favorite finds from around the store!
- A SIMPLE LAYOUT – Tuesday Morning stores have a very simple layout, meaning no extra frills. They have metal shelving set up in aisles, and a couple areas with furniture, but that’s about it. However, on those plain metal shelves, you’ll find some fun and unique items from home decor to housewares. The company uses the savings on its own in-store decor to pass along better deals to their customers. Which I’m cool with! I love that each location is unique, so you’ll never know what you’ll find when you head into one of their stores. Treasure hunting while shopping is MY FAVORITE, so this is right up my alley.
FALL DECOR TIP 1: SHOP BOTH THE SEASONAL & EVERYDAY SECTIONS
When I got there, I knew I wanted to hunt through both the seasonal fall section as well as the general decor aisles to find what I needed for my fall living room. While I wanted some traditional fall colors to warm up my space, also on my list were some dark industrial metals to match the modern farmhouse decor I already own.
When you’re in a store like Tuesday Morning with so many different options, you can find amazing pieces that aren’t categorized as “Fall decor,” but you can totally use them seasonally. The other great thing about non-seasonal items: you can use them for multiple seasons, giving you an even greater bang for your buck. And who doesn’t like that?! Here is just a small sampling of all the amazing things that caught my eye in store, (both seasonal and non-seasonal):
Two pretty statement (and non-seasonal) pieces I found are 1) this black metal pitcher (which was ONLY $9.99!) and 2) this gorgeous wood and metal tray ($16.99). Both of these items checked the box of industrial black metal accents I was on the hunt for, but weren’t in the fall section. If I only shopped in the seasonal section for fall, I would have completely missed these beauties. With a little bit of styling, they’ll be giving off fall vibes in no time!
TIP 2: THINK BEYOND SOMETHING’S INTENDED USE
Not everything is as it seems….when it comes to decor uses. At least it doesn’t have to be.
Check out these fall storage boxes. I found a set of three, ranging in price from $4.99 to $12.99, and I thought they would make awesome signs on my floating shelves.
And peep those sides, more gorgeous matching chalk illustrations, making them pretty from multiple angles. Score!
Because of their flat bottoms, I knew I could set them up on the side, and boom, very budget-friendly signs! Hand-lettering and illustrations are VERY on trend for fall 2021, making me one happy shopper when I added these to my cart!
TIP 3: SELECT A FEW LARGER PIECES TO ANCHOR YOUR SPACE
For each area of your space, focus on 3-5 anchor pieces that are larger and will create a statement, and that will last you for years.
In this space, I chose two ultra-soft blankets at $19.99 each for each of our couches and these large pumpkins at $14.99 each. I fell in love with the pumpkins because of their neutral coloring and size. Their texture was also different than a lot of the fall decor I already owned, which I thought could add some interesting contrast to my space.
I went with a caramel buffalo check and a deep green with the blankets not only to fit my fall decor but those colors could also be repurposed for winter and beyond.
I had a wide variety of blankets to choose from in-store: patterns and solids, traditional and non-traditional fall colors, as well as a variety of materials. Most of the blankets were between $19.99 and $24.99, which are amazing prices for this size and quality of blanket!
With that my cart was filled I was ready to check out, and I’d say it was a pretty successful trip wouldn’t you?!
WHAT I BOUGHT AT TUESDAY MORNING VS. HOW I STYLED IT
For about $150 I was able to pick up a ton of items for my space. By no means do you need to spend that much to decorate your space for fall, but I just wanted to give you an idea of pricing.
Here’s my full haul:
My first area to decorate was my couches. I took the two plush blankets and draped them over one corner of each couch. To get an effortless look, I like to completely unfold the blanket and then drape it vs. leaving it folded as it was displayed in the store. That helps make the space look lived in, like you tossed it back over the couch after using it.
TIP 4: DON’T BE AFRAID TO DIY!
I found this amazing set of four burlap placemats at Tuesday Morning and thought they would make a great matching pillow set for the couch. The placemat set was $9.99 and I had some Polyfill stuffing on hand from a previous project. If you don’t, you can use an old pillow, or another stuffing of your choice.
These were such an easy DIY! I started by taking two placemats and putting the side with the wording on the outside so the pillows would be double-sided.
Then I used some Gorilla Glue hot glue sticks (in my experience these hold the best with fabric) and my Surebonder hot glue gun to apply a line of glue around the outside (being careful of the fringe). I left a small area at the bottom open to allow for me to stuff the pillow.
Then I stuffed my pillows with Polyfill, but you can use whatever you’d like and/or have on hand. I made sure to use my fingers to push the filling up into the corners for a nice rectangular pillow. Then I closed that small hole with more hot glue and my pillows were ready for prime time!
These pillows look great with my cozy blankets and a couple of other toss pillows I already had.
Next, I moved to my wood floating shelves. If you don’t have shelves like these, no worries! You can use these tips to decorate a singular shelf, a sofa table, an entryway table, or any other surface you want to decorate.
Also, because I get a ton of questions, we build these shelves ourselves. You can see the tutorial in this video.
First, I placed my chalkboard art storage boxes on each of the three shelves to give me a base. Then I took my large pumpkins and placed those opposite the boxes to create anchors on either side of my three shelves.
On my bottom shelf, I arranged two smaller white and green pumpkins from Tuesday Morning (both under $10!), along with two more boxes I purchased that look like books. I stacked them side-by-side so you could see the “Grateful” and “Leaves are Falling” text when looking at the shelves. If you wanted a different look, the front of the book is also super cute, so you could use them as signage similar to how I used the chalkboard boxes.
To finish off the look I added some additional pumpkins and trinkets I already owned.
By adding a mixture of fall faux foliage and scrap fabric that matched my theme to the mix, I created a cohesive look that feels cozier, but not too matchy-matchy.
And here’s the final look, I love it!
TIP 5: HOW TO DECORATE A TRAY FOR FALL
My final Fall vignette features that gorgeous metal pitcher and industrial tray. I filled the pitcher with some dried wheat I purchased earlier in the season, and it instantly fit the fall vibe I envisioned (and for only $10, what?!)
TIP 6: USE AN ODD NUMBER OF ITEMS TO CREATE BALANCED VIGNETTES
To the tray, I also added four other items to have five items total in my display. I like to decorate in groups of odd numbers: 3, 5, 7…. The rule of three has been around for a long time in design.
Simply put, it says that items displayed in odd numbers are more appealing than groupings of items in even numbers. My go-to is groups of three, but with the size of this tray, I felt five looked more balanced and full.
My final item was the really pretty ceramic pumpkin that is actually a candle! I found it for only $9.99 and it smells heavenly. I kid you not when I say that all the fall vibes happen when I light it.
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that function is key in this room where my young son plays. So I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the awesome benefit of decorating in a tray on a coffee table when you have kids.
I can style it once, and then pick up the tray and put it in the other room for playtime. When company comes over, I grab the tray and put it back to create a cozy adult space. #MomHack! Sebastian loves it too.
PS. We built this table. You can find the plans here.
I rounded out my side tables by adding some pumpkins I already had (and this cute DIY lantern) that matched and I was done!
THE FULL REVEAL
What do you think? Be sure to leave a comment letting me know your favorite find from Tuesday Morning and if you learned anything from my tips. Happy decorating!
PIN NOW TO SAVE FOR LATER
Love these ideas. I loved the big turkey in the one photo at the store. I wonder how much it was. I love to incorparate Thanksgiving into my Fall items after Halloween. It seems like everyone skips over Thanksgiving.
You picked up so many great items. Love the way you used the place mats. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
I loved looking at all the store items pictured. Your home is lovely with all your fall decor. Definitely will be going to my closest Tuesday Morning soon! Also wondering how Home goods
Compare to Tuesday Morning?
They are similar in regards to departments and selection, however, I felt like Tuesday Morning’s prices were a little less. I hope that helps!