How to Easily Style Your Dining Room for Fall

With Fall just around the corner, you’re probably thinking about how you’re going to decorate your home. Learn a few quick tips on how to style your dining room for the season without breaking the bank.

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We are still smack in the middle of a renovation zone in our house, and I don’t see that ending anytime soon. In fact I just wrapped up refinishing my daughter’s dresser for her new little girl bedroom and about to dive into some wallpaper madness.

Call me crazy, because the projects are never ending.

But I still get excited to decorate for my favorite season!

Keep it simple with your fall décor

I love this season but I’m not going over the top this year in decorating our dining room for fall. Instead, I wanted to repurpose some items I already had on hand while mixing it up with a few new pieces.

I try to make a habit of adding just a little more to my seasonal décor collections each year. This way I can mix and match things throughout the house to change up my theme or look without splurging.

Tip # 1 – Swap out existing décor items for a seasonal change

There’s no need to start from scratch and wipe the slate clean with your décor just because ALL THE PUMPKINS are everywhere you turn.

It’s an easy trap to fall into, trust me I know. I made weekly trips to Homegoods this fall and walked out with a new pumpkin in hand each and every time.

Shameful, just shameful.

But, if I can offer just a little bit of advice. It would be to take stock of the items around your home that you already have on hand. Look for things that you can easily repurpose in your dining room.

I call this technique “shopping your home”.

It’s fun and free.

This can be as easy as changing out your vase or filler items for a decorative bowl to add a seasonal touch.

One of things I like to change out for fall décor in my dining room are bowls of spring fruits and flowers in favor of more rustic touches like pinecones, acorns or pumpkins.

My dough bowl is a decorative staple in the house, so it was easy for me to swap out summer items for a few pumpkins and eucalyptus stems.

Tip # 2 – Dress up Your Dining Room Table for fall

Your table top is the perfect place to showcase your fall décor, and many times it may be the only surface in the room you have to decorate.

There were so many close wood tones going on here that I needed to break up the rustic look with a bit of glam. Adding in these vintage looking glass hurricanes brightened up the table with just a touch of bling.

I’ve played around with arranging this table about a dozen times since taking these photos, because it’s just so much fun to create new combinations for a fall tablescape.

It’s also a great way to learn how to combine different objects, which is a huge confidence booster when you’re just building your decorating skills.

Tip # 3 – Accessorize your chairs

It is so sad to think that in our formal dining room our chairs get zero love except for the two biggest family dinners of the year (Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve).

I definitely plan to do something to change that, but the truth is, with toddlers, we eat dinner standing up hunched over the counter most nights. So making it into the dining room for a daily meal is a bit of a stretch for us.

But, one of my favorite ways to add in some color to a dining room is by accessorizing a few chairs for some added texture.

A simple throw blanket laying over our dining bench or a pair of jewel-toned pillows like this gorgeous burgundy chenille added a luxurious fall touch to this room.

Tip # 4 – Style Your shelves for the season

I love a good shelfie. Seriously I am obsessed with beautifully styled shelves and built-ins.

I haven’t gotten around to building up my décor collection for these bookcases, because, well honestly I never had shelving or a need for it before. 

But these gorgeous red velvet pumpkins were a great addition to our dining room shelves.

I went pretty minimalist with everything else though. Adding in some white dinnerware and pumpkins from my current collection were a simple touch.

I did move my DIY fall centerpieces that I created last month over to the bookcases to make room for the fresh table décor, but I’m sure they’ll make an appearance back on the table just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Tip # 5 – Learn to Layer

Layering in design is simply the process of bringing all of the individual elements together in a room.

The goal is to create a look that is curated, but still cohesive. Items don’t need to match, but they should have some underlying similarities. This makes a room that feels like it was meant to be this way.

My dining room furniture for instance is intentionally mismatched. The bench and chairs are not the same color, but the underlying feel of them is a washed wood and refined farmhouse look.

There definitely is an art to layering, and with practice it becomes much easier.

Focus on bringing items together and stepping back with a critical eye so that you can edit and remove unnecessary things.

Don’t feel the need to clutter your dining room with fall décor, instead thoughtfully choose items that serve a purpose, or you genuinely feel like they’re beautiful.

Happy fall decorating! For inexpensive Thanksgiving Decor ideas, be sure to take a look at how I styled our dining room for the holiday season.

P.S. If you’re ready to love your home, then grab my free PDF guide to get you started decorating today!