Last week we talked about one way to get fall scents (mixing your own room sprays!) and this week, I thought it would make sense to move on to another of the senses: touch. 

One of the main things I look forward to in fall is the change of textures as well as the change in temperature. 

Here are a few ways to change your environment so it nods, supports and feels like fall.

1. Flannel Sheets  

If you do nothing else, changing out what you spend 1/3 of your life touching is a powerful way to fallitize your life and home. 

Flannel sheets are a must for me once it starts cooling off, we have this brand (in ivory although I love these patterns, especially the floral) they are a great price with great ratings. We also purchased these for our youngest son–Gavin’s dorm room and he loved them for the two weeks he lived in the dorm before his college closed. Womp. 

Heads up, because of the nature of flannel sheets you’ll often get a little pilling at first, I use this sweater shaver and it makes them as good as new–a tiny price to pay to get into a warm cozy bed every night.

What else I use on our bed:


2. Fireplace (don’t have one? skip down to the next photo)

This is not about decorating your mantel. (yet) 

If you have a fireplace, I want you to think about what’s in that big black hole in your family room (the firebox) during every season. You can just ignore it until you have a fire, or, it can be an opportunity to add some style into your home. 

If you have a working wood fireplace now is the time to make sure you have everything you need to have great fires. Locally, we don’t even have a freeze warning on our 14 day extended forecast yet, but, we’ve had cooler nights and that means I want to make sure I have everything I need to be ready for our first fire.

Sidenote for wood fireplaces–if your’s feels dirty on the inside, even after cleaning it, it might need a coat of high heat paint. Here’s what I used in both my indoor and outdoor fireboxes and it make my fireplace look brand new. 

If your fireplace has one of those old attached folding doors and you’re tired of it, here’s how to remove it (I’ve done this many times, it takes mere minutes). Now, you just close the flue when you aren’t using the fireplace and add a pretty screen in front for protection against wood pops and such.

No fireplace? 

We bought an electric wood stove a few years ago. It usually starts out sitting on the hearth, then we move it to the basement or a chilly bedroom as it gets cooler. 

It’s just a glorified space heater, but the design is charming and as much as I thought the little pretend fire was dumb, when the lightbulb for it burnt out last year, I immediately headed to the store to replace it so we could experience the cozy factor that even a pretend fire has to offer. 

If you don’t have a fireplace and miss the ambiance of a real fire, this is a great option.

3. Cozy Throws, Pillows and Rugs

Throws 

In the summer a thin, more decorative throw will do, but as the weather cools down consider changing up the fabrics represented on your throws and pillows. Even if you are in Florida you can get some mileage out of heavier materials for those cooler evenings. 

I have this feathery throw and it is stunning and magnificent and I also have this snow leopard style throw and every night I move it to the family room to snuggle with on the sofa, and then back onto my bed to keep my feet warm, I think every style home can use some leopard print.  

Heavy Pillow Covers 

I’ve purchased multiple pillow covers from Kilim Pillow Oriental, I love their heavy, neutral hemp covers, and their I-once-was-an-acutal-rug covers.

I also love the simple, rustic mud cloth covers from Sew and Cloth that you can see on the anchor pillow in the photo above.   

Hide Rugs (real or faux)  

Even layering a few rugs visually and literally cozies up a space. Just last week I brought in a few cowhides from our barn to layer over our current rugs. Hides are great for layering because they are very thin, and their organic shape allows you to layer them in the middle or on the edges of an existing rectangle or square rug. 

I’ve purchased cowhides from Wayfair (in photo above), RugsUSA and Ikea (HUGE, gorgeous and a great deal–we have this one in Gavin’s room) 

If you are into faux hides, here’s a great one.  

I hope your home is feeling like fall for you and your family. I love paying attention to the sense of touch because it allows us to add functional beauty instead of just a layer of cute seasonal decor that takes up precious surface space. 

For more seasonal ideas that won’t clutter up your home, check out my latest book Welcome Home. 

Here’s to home!