Fall is almost here! And while we can appreciate a burlap gourd and a flannel throw, we’re of the mind that it’s okay to skip the pumpkin decor and classic rustic color schemes that always show up this time of year.
If you love mid-mod designs, simple decor, and a kitschy sense of humor, your home can absolutely lean into the fall season while staying true to your mid century modern taste.
Below are our top 10 decorating tips for fall to help every lover of mid century modern design get their home cozy for the cooler months ahead.
10 Decorating Tips For Fall: Mid Century Modern Edition
1. Pick a Theme
Before you buy a decoration conveniently positioned near the checkout line, decide what kind of fall you're really going for.
Are you leaning classic harvest warmth, spooky mid-mod, witchy-and-retro, or do you have another vintage vision in mind? Pick one theme as your north star and let it guide every other decision on this list.
2. Get Palette Inspo From Palm Springs, Not New England
Most fall decor default to a New England palette of maple-leaf red and pumpkin orange. Mid century modern homes were built for sun-drenched desert climates, so lean into that instead. Sun-baked terracotta, sagebrush green, and dusty rose read as autumn without looking like a postcard from Vermont.
Other mid-mod colors that work wonders in the fall are mustard, burnt sienna, olive green, chocolate brown, and warm avocado.
Bonus Tip: If you already have mid century modern furniture in your home, look at the wood and metal tones in each room and choose colors that mesh with those specific undertones.
3. Decorate With Shape
MCM design brings sculptural and geometric shapes into otherwise simple spaces, so let that lead in your fall decor, too.
Instead of focusing solely on color, decorate a boomerang-shaped tray with a cluster of pumpkins or add fall-scented potpourri to a kidney-shaped bowl. The shapes are doing more work than the color, and the seasonal touches bring the mid-mod look and fall feel together.
4. Choose One Mid-mod Piece Per Room
MCM interiors lean into negative space, and fall decor is where that restraint can be forgotten fastest. Rather than adding knickknacks to every surface, pick a single piece you really love per room.
That might be a wreath on the front door, a cinnamon stick-filled vase in the entryway, a printed throw pillow on the couch, or a sculptural candy bowl on the kitchen counter, with the rest of the room able to breathe around it.
5. Repurpose When Possible
Some of the best fall styling in an MCM home comes from objects that already have a job, just restyled seasonally. Look at what you already own and ask what it could hold this fall before you shop for new decor.
For example, a fun fall decorating idea can be to style your retro bar cart with a few fall-toned cocktail napkins, a small stack of themed coasters, and one mini pumpkin for a fall moment that lives where you actually entertain.
6. Cater to Delivery Drivers
Fall decorations for your porch can be far more creative, and useful, than a couple of pumpkins. Instead, set up a small drinks station that your delivery drivers can get a warm drink from as the days get colder. Provide disposable cups with mid-mod fall designs and have a thermos or two with hot chocolate, warm cider, or coffee to give thanks to your delivery drivers.
7. Reach for Smoked Glass, Chrome, and Brass
A lot of fall decor leans farmhouse, with designs made from reclaimed wood, burlap, flannel, and galvanized metal. None of that belongs in a mid century modern home. Stick to period-accurate materials like smoked glass, chrome, and brass for anything you add this season, so it reads as mid-mod autumn instead of rustic.
8. Decorate for the View Through Your Windows
Mid century homes are known for walls of glass and a strong link between indoors and out, so let your fall decor decisions read from both sides. A cluster of gourds on a windowsill or a wreath visible through a sliding door does double the work without extra effort on your end.
9. Match "Volume" to Function
Go bold in the rooms where you socialize and pare back in private spaces.
Fall dining table decor can go big with a layered table cloth and runner, cloth napkins, and matching glassware sets, but a bathroom can be kept simple with fall-themed hand towels and scented hand soap.
Decorating every room at the same intensity is what makes a home feel like a display instead of a lived-in space, so find balance based on the space.
10. Don't Forget Scent
Fall is as much about how a home smells as how it looks. Placing a candle or diffuser with notes like amber, clove, or fig on your taper-legged coffee table does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting when it comes to making a neutral-toned mid-mod space feel cozy.
Ready, Set, Decorate
With these tips in mind, we hope the mid-mod ideas flow as you’re decorating for fall! Keep it simple and retro, and your home is sure to stay cozy all season long.
