Neutral Fall Decor Ideas for a Warm and Comfy Cottage

Are you looking for some warm, cozy neutral fall decor ideas? Tour my home and discover some quick tips and ways to decorate your home for autumn, creating the warm and comfy cottage haven you’ve always dreamed of.

This year, I wanted to bring a cozy autumn vibe to my cottage spaces without the traditional orange and red colors. This season’s neutral fall decorating captures the essence of autumn with soft earthy tones of warm browns, grays, and creams in a more subtle and understated way.

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More About Our Beach Cottage and Decor Style

If this is your first time here at Shiplap and Shells, let me share a little about my home and what you’ll see on my blog.

We live about 60 miles Southwest of Seattle, WA, in a rural town on Puget Sound. Our 1600-square-foot beach house was built in 1920, and we spent almost twelve years renovating our forever home to create a more charming space with loads of character.

My decor style is a simple cottage with vintage pieces mixed in. Depending on the time of year, I also have coastal influences throughout my home.

My garden is my pride and joy, and I try to be as involved as possible. My cut flowers are started in the greenhouse each February from seed.

Today, I’m sharing my cottage-style living room and kitchen to show you how I refreshed them for the fall season.

Take a look at some of the other fall home tours from past years linked below:

My Favorite Neutral Fall Colors and Design Elements

As the weather gets cooler and the leaves start to change color, there’s something special about this time of year. For me, the arrival of fall marks the transition from a coastal summer feel to creating cozy vibes in our cottage home.

This Year’s Neutral Fall Color Palette

When embracing the beauty of autumn in your home, you don’t have to limit yourself to the typical oranges and reds.

I chose a neutral fall decor color palette featuring creams, rich browns, and gorgeous grays. This color scheme creates a warm and inviting autumn vibe that perfectly captures the season’s essence.

The only bright colors in our living room this autumn will be from the dried hydrangeas and fall florals.

These simple fall decor colors provide a versatile canvas for layering textures and incorporating natural elements like dried leaves, pinecones, baskets, and wooden accents.

Layering Textures With Throw Blankets and Cushions

Ready for all things cozy for fall?

Layer textures using throw blankets and pillows. Swap out your lightweight summer throws for chunky knit blankets in earthy tones. These tactile textiles provide extra warmth and add a layer of visual interest to your furniture.

And your pets will love them too!

Cozy cream-colored throw blankets and fall decorative pillows in browns and grays create a cozy ambiance that seamlessly transitions from early fall to the colder months ahead. This neutral color palette celebrates autumn in a more understated and timeless manner.

As the weather cools, here are some ideas for decorative throw pillows and fall fabrics:

Fall Decor Textures

Wooden Textures

Wood is one of the most versatile textures to feature in your living spaces for fall. Whether it’s a rustic wooden coffee table, a set of weathered wooden shelves or shutters, or even a simple wooden bowl filled with fresh or faux seasonal fruits, incorporating wood into your decor instantly brings a touch of warmth and nature indoors.

I use my rustic dough bowl every year. There’s nothing quite like how this bowl looks filled with gorgeous hydrangeas.

How fun is this wooden tic-tac-toe game I bought several years ago when Pier 1 used to have their brick-and-mortar retail stores? It’s a great conversation piece.

Textured Pumpkins

Fabric-textured pumpkins are a great way to add texture to your fall decor. They always look wonderful under a glass cloche.

How fun is this textured pumpkin with beads, corn husks, and braided features?

Wicker Furniture and Baskets

Wicker picnic baskets fill my fall cottage. They are a great storage option and add a rustic tone to the rest of the space. I also use baskets for layering. They always come in handy when I need to add height to an autumn vignette.

Want to make a statement? Add a bigger wicker piece, such as a table, chair, or hanging basket.

Bringing the Outdoors Inside

As the air turns crisper and leaves start to fall, it’s the perfect time to bring the beauty of the outdoors into your home. If you’ve spent some time on my blog, you know that one of my favorite ways to decorate is to bring elements from the outdoors inside to use as a focal point.

Fresh seasonal flowers, branches, twigs, dried flowers, and fruit are just a few outdoor elements you can add to your indoor spaces. You can even cheat using faux flowers, greenery, or cotton stems.

Collect pinecones during a nature walk and scatter them along fireplace mantels or across your tabletops for eye-catching, neutral fall table decor.

Living Room Fall Decor Ideas

This is the view of our beach cottage as you walk through the front door.

There is no entryway to welcome you in. It’s just a cozy (that’s the word I use instead of small) living space with a leather couch, two slip-covered chairs, three very different-styled cabinets to meet our storage needs, a coffee table, two other tables, and a wicker chair.

Here’s the opposite view of where the front door is. The kitchen is to the left of the above picture.

We have a window seat that looks out to our front deck and bay in Puget Sound.

The window seat is mostly for show. No one sits here. Just Ollie and Jax, my sweet fur boys. And as you can see, Ollie perfectly fits the neutral fall decor vibe.

Cottagecore Style for Fall

This style is characterized by its emphasis on simplicity, nostalgia, and a return to traditional activities and values. Cottagecore idealizes a slower-paced, more harmonious way of life. Key elements of cottage-core style include:

I’ve used my glass cloches for plaid fabric, crocheted, and mini white pumpkins. They also look great, filled with pinecones and leaves.

Add apples, pears, pomegranates, pumpkins, gourds, or dried flowers to your rustic dough bowl.

Adding interest, I added an olive tree and a few faux green plants to the living room.

One of the main focal points in the living room is this oversized hanging basket I bought in Poulsbo at Red Plantation. I am drying the hydrangeas from my garden in mason jars with about an inch of water.

Vintage items such as suitcases and brass candlesticks are perfect for fall decor.

Add the Fragrance of Fall With Candles

Don’t you love the smell of fall? Antique Candle Co. has the most amazing fall fragrances available. Use code KIM20 for 20% off your order.

Living Room Cabinets for Storage

Since our kitchen has little space, this black glass-door cabinet houses all the white vintage ironstone.

Fall Kitchen Decor Ideas

Next is our cottage-style kitchen, which is all dressed up for the fall season.

Vintage Furniture Pieces Add Color to a Neutral Fall Decor

I know I’ve been sharing neutral fall decor in my home tour, so when you look at the kitchen, it may throw you off a bit.

We have painted the vintage cabinet and kitchen island beachy colors to reflect the summer months’ coastal beach style.

As much as I liked the island being painted a fun color for summer, I think I will repaint it a darker blue so it blends in a bit better.

Neutral Fall Decor in the Kitchen Eating Space

We don’t have a formal dining room, so we spend much of our time in this casual kitchen eating space. My husband even thinks it’s his personal office. I’m sure you can imagine how I feel about that.

The fall kitchen decor is neutral, with beige and white decorative pillows on the window seat and a white matelasse throw covering the denim cushions for the season.

A neutral-colored table runner, wooden round tray, and cane vase add texture to the kitchen’s neutral fall vibe.

Even the wicker chairs help with the neutral and cottagecore look.

Bright-colored dahlias and sunflowers make the perfect informal fall arrangement.

Vintage Copper for Fall

Is there anything more warm and beautiful than vintage copper decor for fall? Our handmade pot rack holds vintage copper pans.

Copper vintage pots are perfect for holding green plants and dried flowers.

I love drying flowers from the garden in late summer and early fall. Here, I’ve hung them from the pan rack next to the copper.

Our Vintage Furniture Pieces

Our kitchen island was a vintage dresser we bought before we moved into our house. We added a butcher block top found at a Dunkin Donuts that was going out of business.

And here, my Pumpkin Spice candle will sit throughout the fall season.

This vintage cabinet is my favorite piece in the cottage. It has been painted orange and then black, but this aqua color is here to stay.

Can you believe how perfect it is in this space? It’s meant to be, right?

Drying Hydrangeas for Fall

Here are more hydrangeas from a different bush in the garden. I am drying these in jars of water as well. It may sound funny to hear that I’m drying flowers in water. But it really is a thing!

Check out my blog post about drying hydrangeas to find out more.

Open Shelving for Displaying Seasonal Kitchenware

Open shelving in the kitchen is the perfect opportunity to integrate your cooking space with the season’s charm. This is a great way to showcase seasonal kitchenware and vintage decor.

Vintage kitchen decor items such as colanders, scales, copper, ironstone, and baskets look beautiful when displayed on the shelves for everyone to admire.

I also love bringing out my vintage rolling pin collection every fall for the baking season.

Neutral Fall Porch Decor

I’ve just started decorating my front porch for fall. This is where you can make the first impression on your guests. I haven’t hung the wreath on the front door yet, but I will do that when I return from our September boat trip.

I got the prettiest planter boxes from DutchCrafters and had so much fun planting fall flowers and plants in them.

Simple fall plants like ornamental cabbage, kale, and grasses fill the containers. I even brought my wicker chair and fall blanket outdoors for a festive feel. Now I need a mug of hot apple cider, and I’ll be set for autumn.

In October, I’ll add pumpkins, lanterns, and scarecrows to the outdoor porch mix. Here’s a look at last year’s outdoor decorations:

Common Fall Home Tour Questions

What Month Do You Start Decorating for Fall?

I remember when I wouldn’t even start decorating for fall until October 1st. But that was a long time ago.

Many people like to start decorating for fall when September arrives. That’s when the weather gets cooler, and the leaves on trees change color.

But it is really a personal preference. If you love the feel of autumn decor in your home, why not start early? The stores are also bringing in fall decor items earlier and earlier now. So, if you’re looking for new items for autumn, start shopping early.

How Can I Make My House Cozy in the Fall?

To make your house cozy in the fall, you can do a few simple things. First, add soft blankets and comfy pillows to your sofas and chairs.

Bringing in some candles with autumn scents, like cinnamon or pumpkin, can make your home smell like fall. For a natural touch, you can also put out some bowls of seasonal fruits, like apples or pears.

Don’t forget to switch out light, summery curtains for thicker ones that keep in the warmth. Consider using warm, soft lighting to create a cozy ambiance.

What Colors are Best for Fall for Home Decor?

For fall home decor, it’s great to use colors that match the cozy feeling of the season. Earthy tones like deep browns, warm oranges, rich reds, and muted yellows work well.

Think about the colors you see in nature during autumn – those are the ones that bring that comfy and inviting vibe indoors.

Also, adding some touches of deep green or dark teal can mimic the changing leaves and add a nice contrast. And don’t forget those rose tones and burgundy.

Final Thoughts on My Autumn Home Tour

I hope you found some neutral fall home decor ideas for your home.

I love using these understated hues for the fall season. They make a great backdrop for layering textures and incorporating natural elements like dried leaves, pinecones, baskets, and wooden accents.

If you have any questions or additional suggestions, please share them in the comments below. And be sure to share this blog post link with anyone who may find these fall decorating tips helpfulful.

Until next time,

Happy Fall Decorating!

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