9 Tips for Sprucing up Your Home Décor this Fall

With fall’s shorter days and cooler temperatures, many of us are preparing for another season hunkered down at home as we continue to weather the pandemic. If the walls are starting to feel like they’re closing in, it might be time to spruce up your décor to make your home feel more like a welcoming sanctuary. For expert advice that’s easy to pull off, we spoke with interior designer Hannah Crowell of Crowell + Company Interiors, who styled our Virgin Hotels Nashville’s Funny Library Coffee Shop. She outfitted the inviting space with colorful Jonathan Adler furniture, as well as playful decorative objects, like a teal vintage scuba helmet sculpture and a Grand Ole Opry Barbie doll, while also curating the library’s book collection.

Crowell, who describes her personal style as “modern bohemian—for lack of a better term,” also happens to be a descendant of country music royalty as the daughter of Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash and the granddaughter of the legendary Johnny Cash. “Music informs my life to a tremendous extent, but I wouldn’t say it has informed my design career, per se,” Crowell says. “However, I think being raised in a family where art and books and the pursuit of creative passions was paramount certainly has informed my design sensibility and career.”

Read on for Crowell’s tips to freshening up your home décor:

1. Switch up your art “Artwork is always a good place to start, even if it’s just taking down everything you already own and moving it around to different rooms and walls. I have done this twice in quarantine! You don’t have to spend a ton of money—sites like Artfully Walls and 20×200 have some great pieces and offer framing at reasonable prices.”
2. Add fresh flowers “If you have access to a wholesale flower market or even a grocery store with a good floral section, buy an armful of flowers to put throughout the house. Most greenery will last a long time. Pampas grass is gorgeous, and when it dries it’s just as beautiful and lasts forever.”
3. Perfect your mood lighting “As far as lighting goes, if you don’t have your lights on dimmers, change them! Everything looks better in soft, moody lighting.”
4. Take advantage of low interest rates for that big project “If you’ve been putting off a kitchen or bathroom renovation, now might be the time to finance it. The one silver lining of this pandemic is low interest rates.”
5. The wallpaper hack “A more cost effective project would be to use wallpaper to change a room—even wallpapering one wall, like behind your headboard or a small space, like a powder room, can transform it. I don’t think you can have too much wallpaper in your life!”
6. The throw pillow hack “Changing out throw pillows is a great and affordable way to freshen up a space. You can find pillows in designer fabrics on Etsy that are really affordable.”
7. Create a cozy nest for fall “In the fall, I like to use throws, soft blankets and candles to make a space cozy. I love Furbish for blankets, and Tom Dixon’s London candle is one of my favorites. It’s woodsy and musky, and my absolute favorite scent for fall.”
8. Home office inspiration “It’s important to be surrounded by things that inspire you, regardless of your profession. My office is filled with my children’s art, family photographs, lots of books and weird little things I have picked up while traveling that make me happy.”
9. Just add plants “Lots of plants! Plants bring life and happiness into a space. I know we all responded to the pandemic in our own peculiar ways, mine was buying 4,000 plants. I have several—a lemon tree, a giant bougainvillea plant and a fig tree—that cannot live outside in the winter, so pretty soon my home is going to look like an insane greenhouse.”

Written by: Shayne Benowitz