Realestock Blog

It’s fall! While most people profess that their favorite season is summer, Fall has a lot of fans. Fall is my favourite season by a big margin (more sunshine than spring, less humidity than summer), and that means I always want to get into the Fall spirit by decorating my house. 

That said… I prefer a more minimalist approach to décor. All my furniture is white. Lines are clean. Clutter is forbidden. I might love fall, but I’m not going to start making Martha Stewart style pinecone bouquets and sticking them around my home, or suddenly feeling the pull of big wooly plaid blankets draped over all my furniture. First of all, who has the time for that? Secondly… just no.

So, if you’re like me, how can you feel like you’ve got a bit of fall in the home, without going full Little House on the Prairie?

Here are some fun, LOW HASSLE ideas, from my own mind and the internet:

1. White Pumpkins

They used to be rare, but nowadays they’re popping up in local grocery stores – white pumpkins, sometimes called ghost pumpkins are a neat way to get the shape of the season, but in a new way. You can:

• Line up white mini pumpkins on a mantelpiece
• Turn white mini pumpkins into votive candle holders
• Cut off the top and remove the seeds from a full sized white pumpkin. Don’t carve it though! Put a flower vase into the pumpkin and display some seasonal blooms - (note, these won’t last more than a few days inside – best done for a special occasion!)

2. Pinecones

Yes, I realized I just disparaged pinecone crafts, but this is as easy as it gets. Take a contemporary, low silver bowl or tray and then fill it with the nicest pinecones you can find. Looks seasonal, not kitchy.

3. Branches and sticks

Trees and wood grain have been big design trends for a while now, so don’t pay for artfully arranged, carefully chosen dead branches from a florist, go pick your own out. They’re plentiful this time of year, and FREE. Besides, what says fall more than a branch without leaves? The easiest way to bring the outside in. Best yet? These displays don’t need water.

Photos: Pumpkin Vase, Martha Stewart.com; Branches, Vastu Design Clique

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Maybe you live in a dreary rental that you can’t do much with. Maybe you’re dying to change something about home, but you don’t have much of a budget. Maybe you’ve got the time to embark on a weekend home improvement project, but you’re lacking inspiration. Or maybe you just like to dream?

No matter what the reason, going online can be a huge source of ideas, inspiration, daydreams and super practical advice for anyone with the decorating bug. I certainly have one... so here are a few my favourite places to find inspiration when I’m online! 

Apartment Therapy: One of the most popular online design sites, and a personal favourite of mine. Apartment Therapy works hard to be a fantastic resource - it’s constantly updating during the day with a great mix of DIY projects, design showcases from around the world, interviews with artisans and designers and even photographic tours of Apartment Therapy reader’s homes from around the world. If you like homes and design, it should be in your bookmarks folder.

Freshome: Skewing much higher in the budget range than Apartment Therapy. With plenty of pictures and information about some of the most stunning and inventive architecture in residential homes today, reading Freshome is a fantastic way to fuel your daydreams if you’re a fan of architecture. If that’s not entirely your speed, don’t be deterred - there are still plenty of great articles and inspiring ideas on the site.

Design*Sponge: This site is almost the polar opposite of Freshome. Where is the former is about offering up high end inspiration, Design*Sponge is all hands on, affordable and ever so slightly twee. There is a great focus on putting up fun, practical DIY projects - so if you read Design*Sponge, you’ll never be bored and wishing you had something to do on a dark, wet winter afternoon! Also not to miss: the period under $100 product round ups.

Ikea Hacker: Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s amazing, occasionally you’ll want to do it yourself, but a lot of the time, you wonder why anyone would ever do that to perfectly good furniture... It’s Ikea Hacker - the blog where readers from all over the world showcase their (occasionally misguided) efforts to improve on the products from the world’s most popular design store. Whatever the outcome, the owners of the furniture in question are happy, and usually it’s structurally sound...

And there you have it - a round up of some of my favourite websites for design inspiration. Got suggestions of your own? Share them in the comments!

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Any realtor worth their salt knows that the quickest way to freshen up a property is a simple coat of paint. So how can you catch a buyer’s eyes? Painting everything builder’s beige won’t cut it anymore, but a paint job with an on-trend contemporary colour can elevate a property above its peers.

Does this mean you should paint the walls of a small, dark bedroom grey because it’s a popular colour right now? No. To be blunt, that would be stupid. However you could paint it a soft grayish blue, then add some grey and white accessories and capture the trend in a way that works for the space.

So, if you’re looking to improve a space, what are the hot colours for 2010?

Soft pastels like pale pink (yes, pink!) are popular, and don’t have to look girly. The important thing to note is they’re warm and cheerful, but not hyper-saturated. Colour may be in, but it’s muted. This grey and pink living room provides a perfect example.

Blue rules – but like the pinks, they’re not bright – they’re airy and light and take colour cues from aquatic colours like ultramarines and turquoises.  If I had to pick one colour I’ve seen pop up on every “colour trend” list, it would definitely be a turquoise blue. However, keep in mind that light blue isn’t the best colour if your room lacks natural light – a safe bet is to pick a bluish grey, which won’t seem overpowering in bright light, and will play better in a darker room.

Overall colour palettes are ditching cool beiges– warm, earthy neutrals with names like “sand”, “clay” and “mushroom” rule the day – look for infusions of gold, lavender or cream instead of beige if you want to spruce up the paint on a family friendly home.

Grey, grey, grey! It’s a tricky colour to work with, but the rewards are an almost ethereal look to your rooms. Greys can have an undertone of blue, green or even purple, so it’s best to test a grey to see how it looks before you commit. However, when you get a grey right, the results are simply stunning.

Citrus can add a splash to your décor – it could be small hits of a pumpkin colour, or a muted, softer orange as a colour to brighten up a room with neutral furnishings and accessories.

Want more information or a little more help with your paint choices? These are the sources I used to put together this list:

Apartment Therapy - Inspiration from Crown Paints, Colour Me Happy - What Everyone Should Know about Grey, Style At Home - Paint Colour Trends for 2010, Sico Paints Trends for 2010-2011, Apartment Therapy - The Best Grey Paint Colors

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