If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, fall is my absolute favorite season of the year! 

After what has felt like an endless summer of intense rain and humidity here on the east coast, fall's cool, crisp days are more welcome than ever. And while I'm not quite ready to drape our home in the traditional orange and black of Halloween (give me another week for that), several seasonal touches of autumn have begun to make their appearance in our home.

Given all of our rain this summer, our gardens are looking remarkably lush this year. As a result, my pre-Halloween decorating approach has been to bring the outdoors in, and to celebrate the change in seasons with cuttings from my garden and small pumpkins purchased from a local farm stand. 

When hatching my decor plan I took a few minutes to walk around my garden to snip florals and leaves that I thought would make an interesting statement. This included a few stalks of pink sedum and branches of deep purple weigela.

I also nabbed a couple stems and leaves as well as a couple dried blooms from our giant hydrangeas, which grew like crazy this year (but failed to produce more than a handful of blooms). I rounded out my picking with a few pieces of fern leaves, dried Black-eyed Susans, and a little ivy. 

Using the garden cuttings, I created a small arrangement that hangs on the side porch, next to the door we use as our primary entrance to our home.

I picked up this metal container in a shop last summer during a visit to Morrison, Colorado just outside of Denver, and I love how I can change out the contents based on the season.

I carried this same natural approach Inside our house. our fireplace mantel also received some attention. 

Making just a few slight modifications transformed the look from summer to fall in just a few minutes. In our home I much prefer this look to an over-the-top display that covers the entire mantel. It's easier to assemble, we tend not to tire of it over time, and it doesn't cause a big mess when it's time to clean up.

I'm looking forward to creating a full-blown Halloween look later this month, but will be appreciating a softer approach to celebrating autumn these next few weeks. It's such a simple way to augment our decor with a little touch of autumn, and a great way to begin appreciating the change in season. Who knows, maybe next year we'll be using more of our own natural elements? I'm thinking planting a small pumpkin patch of our own is in order!

If you too are thinking ahead to Halloween, check out our Halloween Page for more details on past projects, party favors, and costume ideas for my favorite holiday.