How To Avoid Tacky Fall Decor

As we sip our precious PSLs and don our finest knee-high boots, it's time to start thinking of fall decor. Placing fall-themed decorations on your porch can complement the colorful fall leaves, and adding embellishments inside your house can help make it feel warm, as the weather becomes cooler outside. Decorating can also help boost your mental health, per House & Garden. The warm-toned fall colors – red, orange, and yellow — are stimulating, which can help with your motivation as the days get shorter.

If you're someone who is aesthetically challenged, though, the good news is that all you need to remember is a few key tips to ensure that your fall decorations are trendy and not tacky. The season starts with Halloween-themed decor and ends with Thanksgiving adornments, yet it is possible to incorporate holiday-specific themes without looking gaudy. Keep scrolling to read our fool-proof guide on how to accessorize your house to give the ultimate autumnal atmosphere.

Now that it's October, you should start putting up Halloween decorations as soon as possible (per Homes.com). This will give you ample time to keep your decorations up to show off to the Jones family next door. However, you should remember to take down any Halloween-specific decorations after November 1. This is when people start focusing on Thanksgiving, and keeping a scarecrow around when you are planning on inviting friends and family can send the wrong message. Above all, remember to throw out any hand-carved pumpkins after Halloween. More than looking tacky, you don't want to keep rotting pumpkins on your porch that could attract pesky bugs.

As sustainability becomes more of a priority, the trend has been to repurpose items and turn them into fall decorations. One stylish idea by Better Homes and Gardens is to take pumpkins and fashion them into multipurpose scalloped bowls. The bowls make for great candy-holders so you can leave candy for trick-or-treaters to pick up without answering the door. They can also hold fall foliage and candles. All you have to do is to cut the top of the pumpkin off and scrape out the insides. Finally, trace a scallop pattern alongside the edge of the bowl, and carve it out using a drill. This will give the appearance of a lace design.

Next to Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations can be notoriously garish. If you don't want to be that house in the cul-de-sac that raises your neighbors' eyebrows, stay away from inflatable ghosts and wreaths with fake leaves (per Apartment Therapy). According to Living Alot, upside-down witches, fake spider webs and skeletons are all cliché outdoor decorations that are absolutely cringeworthy.

Keep pine cones and acorns outside, and don't use them as a part of a DIY indoor decoration idea. Pilgrim figurines, signs that just say "fall," and candy corn jars aren't appealing either and can look like you didn't put careful consideration into your decorations. And while PSLs may be delicious, you don't need to broadcast your obsession for all things pumpkin spice with wall art and throw pillows that say that (via Apartment Therapy).

That's a quick way to turn off your guests. Instead, opt for classic autumn-inspired touches that will not overwhelm your guests, yet will make them feel at home. Examples of classic fall-themed indoor decorations include wall art that features colorful autumn leaves. Plaid tablecloths and chunky knit throws are good choices, too.

Like the saying "you never get a second chance at a first impression," it's important that your guests feel welcome before they step foot inside your house. Making your porch feel welcoming is crucial, and you can literally make guests feel welcome by placing a DIY fall-themed welcome mat at the front door (per Better Homes and Gardens). Use letter-stencils and paint to write out your welcome message on a blank mat, and then stencil in fall-themed shapes to decorate the empty spaces on the mat. Placing a tiered wire display filled with fall foliage and gourds can also give a warm welcome.

Incorporate fall colors into interior decorations. Pops of cranberry-red pillows and throw rugs can help set a homely ambience (via Country Living). Another idea is to implement the farmhouse style throughout the entryway and common spaces in your house by going with an all-white look with decorations that bring in pops of rust (per Better Homes and Gardens). You can re-use vintage milk canisters and stoneware crocks by filling them with warm-toned chrysanthemums and placing them throughout the foyer, kitchen, and living room.

Placing an easy DIY dinner table centerpiece is also a great way to channel fall vibes. According to Country Living, you can make your own centerpiece by filling a wicker-basket with apples, gourds, and squash. The site also recommends displaying copperware in the kitchen. Try hanging your copper vessels and placing copper vases for the ultimate rustic farmhouse feel.

An easy way for your decorations to go from trendy to tacky is to go overboard on them, per Homes.com. While it's okay to have a couple of Halloween decorations, it can look overly kitschy if you put every Halloween symbol on your porch. If you want the jack-o'-lantern and the scarecrow, then adding hanging bats would just be over-the-top. By keeping the decorations to a minimum, this also gives you an opportunity to declutter all your decorations that are taking up space in your attic or garage. Try to donate any decorations that are in good condition that you don't need anymore.

Minimalism is in this season. So keep telling yourself "less is more" when decorating your porch. Black-and-white monochromatic schemes utilizing black branches and white pumpkins have become a trendy decor option for this fall. If you are someone who tends to forget to take down Halloween decorations long after the day is over, then creating a generic fall theme might be the way to go. For example, you could try a farmhouse look by surrounding your door with colorful cornstalks, yellow-orange chrysanthemums, and a wicker basket full of fall foliage. As you can see, it's easy to decorate for fall and not look tacky, if you keep things simple and don't overthink it. Just remember: Less is more this fall.