Seasonal Decorating Inspired by Nature for your Luxury Custom Built Home
Fall is definitely a favorite season for many residents of Southeastern Wisconsin. The crisp air is a welcome respite from the lingering humidity of Indian Summers, and eye-popping colors of sugar maple and red oak trees, as they slowly shed their leaves, lend a festive air that lasts into the colored lights of the Christmas season. The anticipation of children’s favorite holidays provide inspiration for embellishing your luxury custom built home to reflect the magic of the season; 3 months of decorating that range from pumpkins and turkeys to angels and stars.
The best part about Halloween and Thanksgiving is that they both reflect cornucopia, fall harvest and nature. Many of the decorations are and should be of the earth and may even be found within the grounds of the luxury dream home you’ve created. Consider the leaves, pinecones, branches with berries, dried flowers and herbs that may be found in nearby fields or woods. Apples, nuts, berries, cinnamon sticks and gourds incorporated into your décor can carry all the way through the festive holidays.
Start with a general fall design scheme that complements the style of your custom built home. Personalize the touches to reflect your family’s unique lifestyle and create a flow throughout your chosen rooms, from the entrance to living spaces; encourage your children’s participation by giving them opportunities to add their own creative and playful touches. If you play it right, fall holiday décor will seamlessly blend into Christmas enhancements, with holiday specific touches added and subtracted along the way. Drawing upon nature also allows for bringing the beauty of the changing seasons to flow through your house, with minimal investment. The idea is to enhance rather than overwhelm the beauty of the dream home you have created; frame special places in desired rooms with decorations and add light touches elsewhere to complement.
Ideas to build on may revolve around the themes of color, light and/or scents. Consider the following suggestions based on each of these themes:
Color: Correlating with the changing leaves outside the window, orange, red and gold accents evoke fall accents. Evergreen and pinecones draw in late fall, winter and Christmas themes. Simple crafting ideas suggest adding gold paint to pinecones, leaves, branches and even pumpkins and gourds, which can be transformed with minimal effort as November comes to a close. These are wonderful items to accent your entry, fireplace mantels, coffee tables and dining centerpieces.
Light: Proper lighting and fires invite feelings of warmth and gathering, particularly in the fall and winter months. Most custom home builders put much thought into creating the right lighting scheme and balance in their home already, and the addition of candles and holiday lights should properly complement the setting. Consider clusters of votives and varying heights of pillar candles artfully arranged on mantles, tables and in windows.
Scents: The scents and smells of the season are equally important to holidays, as many psychologists will tell you that memories are enmeshed in smells. Because most new odors are encountered in our youth, certain childhood or nostalgic memories may be invoked by a scent, as the emotional response to smell is association. Simple tricks such as simmering apple cider on the stove with cinnamon and or cloves, using fresh evergreen boughs and scented pinecones to frame windows, and using spice, cedar and pine scented candles throughout will enrich the setting you’ve created in your home; you will be providing memories of the dream family home for future generations.
For more inspiration on incorporating nature’s bounty in your Halloween to Christmas decorating scheme, check out the following Colby Construction Pinterest boards:
https://www.pinterest.com/colbyconstruct/using-nature-in-holiday-decorations/
https://www.pinterest.com/colbyconstruct/fall-decorating-tips/
https://www.pinterest.com/colbyconstruct/halloween-front-porch-ideas/