The cozy scents of apple desserts and warm spiced drinks signal fall in your home’s kitchen. But you can celebrate the season in this hard-working room with festive fall decor, too. First, assess your space and how you use it; you’ll want to keep functionality top of mind. Then focus on decorating low-traffic areas outside your primary work zone. You don’t want to work around fall kitchen-counter decor while trying to prep dinner, for example. Be mindful of common kitchen hazards, too. Delicate materials or vintage items might not fare well next to a splash-prone sink, and placing items near your range can be a fire hazard.
Fall kitchen decor can be as simple as an arrangement of mini pumpkins and gourds on a tray or introducing fall color with seasonal linens or dishes. And for a personalized display, whip up a few fall DIY decorations for shelves and surfaces. Learn how to decorate a kitchen for fall with these pretty ideas.
Kritsada Panichgul
1. Decorate with Fall Colors
Autumn offers a wide range of rich seasonal colors, from deep reds to golden yellows. Decorate with accessories in warm fall colors to instantly showcase the season. Arrange branches of berries, bittersweet, or leaves in jars to display on a counter or open shelves. Repeat the treatment throughout your kitchen to wrap your space in fall warmth.
Michael Partenio
2. Accessorize a Kitchen Island
Your island is the center of your kitchen; make it the focal point of your fall decor, too! Treat the surface similar to a table and display a DIY fall centerpiece as kitchen island decor. When decorating a kitchen island for fall, focus on functionality. Anchor an arrangement of fall items like pumpkins and gourds in a tray or low basket. With everything contained, it’s easy to move the decoration out of the way when you need to use the entire workspace.
Blaine Moats
3. Add a Fall Farmhouse Twist
Fall evokes scenes of apple picking and countryside foliage, which is why farmhouse style lends itself well to the season. Evoke rustic vibes in your kitchen by adding small doses of fall farmhouse decor. Combine copper accessories with wood accents, antique finds, and a gourd or two for a rustic fall shelf display. This formula can also be repeated to decorate above kitchen cabinets.
David A. Land
4. Arrange a Fall Centerpiece
Employ a spare serving tray to create an easy fall centerpiece. Gather harvest elements in a mix of materials and colors, and start arranging. Choose a star item to be the tallest piece in the arrangement, then add in progressively shorter pieces to create a cascading or stairstep effect. Here, a curvy gourd vase kicks off the fall kitchen centerpiece, followed by a metal candle holder, a squat pumpkin, and a shallow wooden bowl. A simple serving tray grounds the arrangement.
John Bessler
5. Introduce Fall Linens
Kitchen towels and linens are a constant, so why not rotate in pieces that celebrate the season? Go full fall with dishtowels and cloth napkins in leaf or pumpkin motifs. Keep it subtle and nuanced with linens in fall colors, like red, yellow, and orange.
Carson Downing
6. Make Your Own Fall Decorations
Break out the glue gun and paint, and craft a few DIY fall kitchen decorations. This versatile pumpkin decoration can easily find a home on a table, island, or sideboard. Hollow out a craft pumpkin so that you can fit a vase inside. For an extra flourish, add decorative tacks to the outside. Arrange fall flowers in the vase and place inside the pumpkin.
Werner Straube
7. Keep It Simple
When decorating a fall-theme kitchen, infuse nooks with simple seasonal touches. Add sumptuous velvet pillows in fall colors to a window seat or breakfast banquette. Fill a wire basket with pumpkins and gourds and place on a ledge or shelf. Swap out artwork for fall kitchen wall decor in autumnal hues or motifs.
Related: Make Your Own DIY Velvet Pumpkins
John Granen
8. Work with What You Already Own
While red, orange, and yellow will always be primary fall colors, there’s plenty of room for other hues. If your kitchen color palette leans cool, bring in warm accents for a seasonal refresh. For example, working greenery into fall arrangements in a kitchen with green accents helps the seasonal decor fit in with the room’s existing look. This creates continuity between seasonal and day-to-day decor.
Michael Partenio
9. Showcase Fall Table Decor
All you need to decorate a kitchen table for fall is a simple centerpiece. Start with a vase of fall flowers or branches of leaves. Arrange a few gourds or pumpkins around the vase, and you’re done! The centerpiece can be loose and organic, like this one, or you can give it more structure by containing all the elements in a vessel. For Halloween, layer in spooky elements like faux cobwebs and black silhouettes of ghosts and ghouls.
Kritsada Panichgul
10. Create a No-Fuss Fall Display
Showcase a sculptural fall element with this easy formula. Stack two cutting boards or serving trays as a base. Add tall branches in small vases and surround with small varieties of gourds. Look for branches that can be bent or trimmed so you can shape them into a sculpture. Place the centerpiece on your table or a low-traffic stretch of counter space.