Mother Nature is beginning to put on her grandest show for the year, and we’re heading to the attic or basement for all those boxes marked “Fall Decorations.” As many of you would agree, fall is a great season to change out or update your seasonal and home décor, but just like our wardrobe, sometimes we need to weed out or refresh our stash. Here a few ideas and tips to help you update your home for the season and infused the latest trends into your home décor.

1.) Give your rooms a new arrangement. Fall is the perfect time to review your spaces and ready your rooms for the upcoming succession of holidays. Like a blank canvas, a new arrangement gives you an introduction for a medley of fresh ideas from accessory placement to infusing new color ideas. By starting at the base, you can layer on interesting new ideas, rotate your collections and perhaps come up with something totally new! (Insider Arrangement tip: Your hearth, piano or picture window is appropriate launching points for your new redesign.)

2.) Shop Your Home & Reinvent It. Unveil those fall décor boxes and sort through your decorating goods by shopping your own home. Metallic’s are at the fore front of 2009-10 trends. Could your ceramic pumpkin and Indian corn collection get a hip makeover with a quick coat of trendy antique copper paint; perhaps those pitted cabinet knobs, a lamp bases, or a painting frame could be given the same coat, creating a new metallic tread to your décor? From lamp shades to art print’s mats – small changes made to your old stuff gives them the same result as a bit of Botox! (Insider's tip: By updating more than one accessory item with a common color element, you'll create a new rhythm & flow to the room.)

3.) Put it into Rotation. The same stuff out all the time, in the same place becomes a bit dull on the eyes - Consider a rotation of your accessories. Packing away a few of your room accessory staples when seasonally decorating, not only rejuvenates your room, but when you bring it back into the mix, put it in a different spot! My motto is – “A pumpkin in, means a Lladro out! “

4.) Layer it On. As the temperature goes down, the layers come out. Nothing speaks more to the season than cozy & warm textiles. Hot trends are nature inspired textural prints, animal motifs and ethnic patchworks - So incorporate layered fabrics and other textiles like rugs into your seasonal decorating. Have an old quilt that can be reinvented into a beautiful pillow, framed as art, or upholstered into a footstool? (Patchwork stools by Horchow.)Don’t be afraid to layer more than one rug on the floor or consider that rugs can be wall art too. (Insider Tip: No one ever said you can’ use fabrics as accessories – Down tables, tossed on sofa backs or tucked into or on top of bookcases or armoires.)

5.) Setting the Room’s Mood. Nothing is cuter than Mr. Scarecrow you picked up at the craft show, but is he appropriate sitting in your formal living room? Remember to set the mood of the room with how you accessorize it. Mr. Scarecrow would be better far better suited to hang out in the kitchen, and sitting on your cocktail table a repurposed silver serving tray adorned with pine cones, leaves and candles more befitting for the flavor of the room. Ombre is a trend, so why not invest in a few large ombre colored candle holders for a new candle look. (Ombre Candle Holders from World Market.)

6.) Coordinate with Color. Incorporating a new color palette into a space is one of the easiest ways to revitalize a room. Some new color combinations may evoke your creativity when seasonally accessioning your rooms, looking for a new pillows, window panels, throws or creating vignettes:

Coffee Bean Brown paired with Artichoke Green
Deep Plum paired with Paprika
Apple Green paired with Tomato Red
Smokey Blue paired with Champagne Beige (Pottery Barn Panels.)

1. USE IT: Most of us over the years have acuminated things, whether bought, inherited, or found, we have stuff. If you take a hard look at your stuff; I guarantee there is treasure galore within your inventory. Can you repaint, upholster, and update it? In another room, would it look better or have better use? Your old stuff is your legacy, it defines who you are, and if it doesn’t, I’ll let you know. As an educated professional, my talent is to be able to identify what can be used or not when it comes to making your spaces beautiful. Although, most would not cast me to appear on “Antiques Road show,” I’m pretty good at knowing what’s worthy, and really good at using it if it fits into the grand plan.
   Whether it’s a couch, painting or lamp, I’ll let you know if it will work, or if it’s an undiscovered treasure that we can use “as is,” or is worthy of a reinvention. I did a staging recently and came upon a signed Leroy Neiman print that the homeowner had picked up at a garage sale. They were going to toss it because the matting was ragged and damaged and the print was falling out of its frame. After a quick look over and a suggested run to a framing store for a re-mat & tune-up - They’ll have a pretty snazzy “real” piece of showcase art!


2. SPEND IT: O.K., even though I’m supposed to be the budget decorator, you just have to sometimes SPEND IT! Love that vintage French one-of-a-kind-kind; will be perfect for my awkwardly sized foyer- Entry Table? – Go get it. It will become the showcase to your home. You’ll love looking at it every day and it will define the style of your place. There has to be expensive in the mix – and there will be a times that spending the big bucks is a worthwhile or part of the grand plan. That stuff may be pricey, but you can fill in the blanks with less expensive or fabulous finds.
   The other piece of SPEND IT has to do with the quality of things. Sometimes you can’t get it for less; sometimes the workmanship upstages the price point. Your inherited Grandma’s dining room set can be broken or made by the SPEND IT choice you make. Pair her set with off-the-rack Target window treatments and rods and her set is reduced to a “tired pass-down.” Pair her set with custom one-of-kind window treatments and the set is upgrade to “antique heirloom.”


3. LOOK FOR LESS: Getting the LOOK FOR LESS is a two- fold feat. The 1st feat is to see if you can find the expensive, SPEND IT item for less (you still have to pay $$$ for it though.) And the 2nd feat is to be to make choices at discount store, and have the eye for inexpensive items that LOOK expensive. Shopping expensive is easy; anyone can walk into the Mart and find fabulous stuff, expensively priced. Finding its identical twin or a knock-off for a fraction of the price takes talent and an eye. Getting that look for less, filling in those blanks makes for that perfect “mix.”

• Say you’ve got a few lovely Sterling silver pieces. Pair those with a few more in silver-plate, and the plate becomes instantly “Sterling” by association… The end result is a beautiful mix…