20 Ways to Decorate Your Kitchen for Fall

Infuse your kitchen with harvest centerpieces, fall farmhouse decorations, DIY accents, and more.

Cozy scents of apple desserts and warm spiced drinks signal fall in your home's kitchen, but you can celebrate the season with festive decor, too. Fall kitchen decor can be as simple as an arrangement of mini pumpkins and gourds on a tray or a seasonal floral arrangement. For a personalized display, whip up a few fall DIY decorations for shelves and surfaces, or introduce fall color with seasonal linens or dishes.

Decorating your kitchen for fall doesn't have to be a daunting task. First, assess your space and how you use it; you'll want to keep functionality top of mind. Then focus on decorating low-traffic areas outside your primary work zone. You don't want to work around fall kitchen counter decor while trying to prep dinner, for example. Be mindful of common kitchen hazards, too. Delicate materials or vintage items might not fare well next to a splash-prone sink, and placing items near your range can be a fire hazard.

Learn how to decorate a kitchen for fall with these pretty ideas.

Related: 30+ Fall Home Decor Ideas to Add Seasonal Style Inside and Out

Decorate with Fall Colors

Autumn offers a wide range of rich seasonal colors, from deep reds to golden yellows. Decorate with accessories in warm fall colors to instantly showcase the season. Arrange branches of berries, bittersweet, or leaves in jars to display on a counter or open shelves. Repeat the treatment throughout your kitchen to wrap your space in fall warmth.

Related: 28 Gorgeous Ways to Decorate with Fall Colors

Arrange a Fall Centerpiece

Employ a spare serving tray to create an easy fall centerpiece. Gather harvest elements in a mix of materials and colors, and start arranging. Choose a star item to be the tallest piece in the arrangement, then add in progressively shorter pieces to create a cascading or stairstep effect. Here, a curvy gourd vase kicks off the fall kitchen centerpiece, followed by a metal candle holder, a squat pumpkin, and a shallow wooden bowl. A simple serving tray grounds the arrangement.

Introduce Fall Linens

Kitchen towels and linens are a constant, so why not rotate in pieces that celebrate the season? Go full fall with dishtowels and cloth napkins in leaf or pumpkin motifs. Keep it subtle and nuanced with linens in fall colors, like red, yellow, and orange.

Fall Decorating Ideas for a White Kitchen

Rather than choosing orange pumpkins for fall decor, this kitchen design plays off the gold faucet to create autumn style. The color pairs well with the stems placed in the crock on the counter, while a couple of white pumpkins match the white brick, counters, and cabinets. A brown gingham dish towel adds another element of neutral fall style.

Related: 17 Stunning White Kitchen Cabinets That Will Brighten Your Space

Create a Fall Display

Showcase a sculptural fall element with this easy formula. Stack two cutting boards or serving trays as a base. Add tall branches in small vases and surround them with small varieties of gourds. Look for branches that can be bent or trimmed so you can shape them into a sculpture. Place the centerpiece on your table or a low-traffic stretch of counter space.

Decorate with Wood Cutting Boards

Display wood cutting boards on top of the counters to create a natural fall display. Placing a pumpkin and a few pears alongside the cutting boards makes this corner of the kitchen feel decorated and put together. A small rosemary plant adds a little greenery and ties the section together.

Showcase Fall Table Decor

All you need to decorate a kitchen table for fall is a simple centerpiece. Start with a vase of fall flowers or branches of leaves. Arrange a few gourds or pumpkins around the vase, and you're done! The centerpiece can be loose and organic, like this one, or you can give it more structure by containing all the elements in a vessel. For Halloween, layer in spooky elements like faux cobwebs and black silhouettes of ghosts and ghouls.

Embrace Fall Farmhouse Style

This farmhouse-style kitchen blends modern cabinets and a white backsplash with an antique wood work table in place of an island. It’s a great spot to display fall style, such as a pitcher filled with colorful autumn leaves, and a basket with farmers market finds. The shelf below doubles as storage for pots and pans, and stays stylish with a distressed wood crate.

Related: 23 Farmhouse Kitchen Ideas to Add Rustic Charm in Modern Spaces

Use Fall Treats as Decor

Hosting a fall party? There’s no reason the menu can’t double as decor! Glossy candy apples with twigs for holders displayed on a cake stand make a fun and inviting centerpiece. Pairing with a glass vase filled with orange and yellow buds completes the fall fantasy look.

Add a Fall Farmhouse Twist

Fall evokes scenes of apple picking and countryside foliage, which is why farmhouse style lends itself well to the season. Evoke a rustic escape in your kitchen by adding small doses of fall farmhouse decor. Combine copper accessories with wood accents, antique finds, and a gourd or two for a rustic fall shelf display. This formula can also be repeated to decorate above kitchen cabinets.

Subtle Fall Kitchen Decor

Decorating your kitchen for fall doesn’t have to mean adding bright pumpkins and vases filled with colorful mums. This minimalist kitchen adds a simple wooden bowl filled with fall squash to create a cozy, autumnal feel. The neutral white backsplash and light wood shelves make it easy for this simple kitchen to transition through the seasons without needing much decor.

Related: 23 Minimalist Design Ideas That Prove Less Is More

Accessorize a Kitchen Island

Your island is the center of your kitchen; make it the focal point of your fall decor, too! Treat the surface similar to a table and display a DIY fall centerpiece as kitchen island decor. When decorating a kitchen island for fall, focus on functionality. Anchor an arrangement of fall items like pumpkins and gourds in a tray or low basket. With everything contained, it's easy to move the decoration out of the way when you need to use the entire workspace.

Kitchen Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Go all out for fall (and specifically Halloween) even in your kitchen with easy-to-hang decorating like paper bats and a smiling moon. Placing the bats on cabinets and across the wood kitchen door gives the room a slightly spooky feel without making it difficult to access any of the cabinets. A huge skull vase filled with orange and red blooms and surrounded by a wheat-stalk wreath completes this festive, chilling design.

Make Your Own Fall Decorations

Break out the glue gun and paint, and craft a few DIY fall kitchen decorations. This versatile pumpkin decoration can easily find a home on a table, island, or sideboard. Hollow out a craft pumpkin so that you can fit a vase inside. For an extra flourish, add decorative tacks to the outside. Arrange fall flowers in the vase and place them inside the pumpkin.

Keep It Simple

When decorating a fall-theme kitchen, infuse nooks with simple seasonal touches. Add sumptuous velvet pillows in fall colors to a window seat or breakfast banquette. Fill a wire basket with pumpkins and gourds and place on a ledge or shelf. Swap out artwork for fall kitchen wall decor in autumnal hues or motifs.

Work with What You Already Own

While red, orange, and yellow will always be primary fall colors, there's plenty of room for other hues. If your kitchen color palette leans cool, bring in warm accents for a seasonal refresh. For example, working greenery into fall arrangements in a kitchen with green accents helps the seasonal decor fit in with the room's existing look. This creates continuity between seasonal and day-to-day decor.

Repurpose Dishes for Fall Decor

Glass cabinets already put unused servingware on display in this kitchen. However, using a wood dessert stand to show off small pumpkins gives it new life for fall and adds style to the kitchen. Two vases with orange, yellow, and dark purple blooms add even more fall color to the kitchen.

Fill Built-In Shelves with Fall Decor

Distressed shelves installed above a bar and wine-storage area are a great place to display fall decor. This kitchen mixes stamped pumpkins and a fall cornucopia in along with the regular dishes and serveware. A small pitcher with fresh flowers helps bring life to this corner of the room.

Related: 31 Built-In Bookshelf Ideas for Every Room in Your Home

Decorate Your Dining Table

If your kitchen includes a dining table, easily upgrade it for fall by swapping out the table linens and centerpieces. A simple cream table runner creates a cozy but neutral backdrop, allowing vases filled with mini pumpkins and fall leaves to stand out. A few finishing touches like red-orange tableware complete the look.

Related: 18 Dining Table Decor Ideas to Instantly Enhance Your Space

Cozy Fall Kitchen Decor

The slight reddish shade to the distressed kitchen island already gives the room a fall feel. When the season actually arrives, this kitchen just needs a few extra touches to make it look cozy and inviting for autumn. Swap out wall decor, like a painted wood apple-picking sign, or show off the fall harvest in baskets and bowls on the countertop.

Related: 30 Kitchen Wall Decor Ideas for Every Design Style

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