Fall styling guide
Cozy Fall Living Room: Swap Your Art for Autumn
You don't need new pillows, a new rug or a trip to the craft store to make a room feel like fall. Change what's in the frames you already own.
Art is the biggest surface in most rooms, so it sets the mood more than anything else. Swap a summer seascape for a hillside of rust and gold, and the whole living room turns warm. With printable art the refresh costs a few dollars of printing and one afternoon. Better still, autumn landscapes don't expire on October 31: they carry the room all the way through Thanksgiving.
Below are three cozy looks, a swap-day checklist, and a guide to what can stay up until the Christmas boxes come out.
Look 1: The harvest farmhouse living room
This is the warm, sunny side of autumn: rolling hills, a white farmhouse, a steeple among the maples, a robin on a berry branch. It suits light walls, linen sofas and wood floors, and it pairs with the rust, mustard and olive pillows you probably already pull out every September.
Hang a landscape in the middle and flank it with two portrait-shaped prints at the same height. The center print should be the widest; together the three should span about two thirds of the sofa.
- Autumn Cottage LandscapeThe centerpiece. Warm, cheerful, easy to live with.
- Fall Village ChurchA New England postcard in paint.
- Autumn RobinA small, soft piece to balance the landscapes.
- Autumn Wildflower FieldSwap it in for a wider, calmer wall.
- Vintage Fall CottageMuted and cottagecore; lovely in a hallway.
- Autumn ChildrenJoyful, and perfect for a family room.
Frame it: light oak or honey-toned wood with a cream mat. Keep all three frames the same so the colors in the art do the work.
Look 2: Moody autumn woods
If your idea of fall is rain on the window, a lamp on and a book in your lap, this is your look. Misty forests, a cabin glowing at the end of a muddy path, a single oak leaf on a dark ground. It belongs in a study, a reading nook or a bedroom with dark walls, and it looks best by lamplight.
Because these prints are dark, give them room: a slim frame, a mat in warm off-white (not bright white), and a picture light or table lamp nearby.
- Vintage Autumn CabinThe hero. Hang it in the middle, slightly larger.
- Autumn WoodlandSoft and misty; balances the darker pieces.
- Moody Fall LeafGraphic and simple. Great in a stack of two.
- Vintage Autumn BirdA quiet portrait for a narrow wall.
- Autumn Country PathInvites the eye in; good above a bed.
- Moody Fall SceneryA wide, hazy landscape for over a console.
Frame it: slim matte black or dark walnut. A warm off-white mat keeps the dark prints from disappearing into the wall.
Look 3: The pumpkin kitchen
Kitchens are where fall actually happens: apple pie, soup on the stove, a bowl of squash on the counter. Two pumpkin still lifes hung side by side above the counter, or leaned on an open shelf, make the room feel seasonal without any clutter. They don't say Halloween, so they can stay up until Thanksgiving dinner is cleared away.
Frame it: white or natural wood. Near the stove, use frames with acrylic rather than glass and wipe them down now and then.
The swap-day checklist
One weekend, one print run. Here's how to change every frame in the house in an afternoon.
- Count and measure your frames. Write down each frame's opening size (for example 8 × 10 or 11 × 14). That tells you which file ratio to download.
- Pick one look per room. Harvest farmhouse for the living room, moody woods for the study, pumpkins for the kitchen. Mixing looks in one room is where it starts to feel random.
- Order all the prints at once. Upload every file to one print shop order online (Staples, FedEx Office, Walgreens or Costco Photo) and pick them up the same day.
- Keep the summer art. Slide the new print in front of the old one, or store the old prints flat in a folder. Next spring you swap back in minutes.
- Add one textile. A rust or olive pillow or a plaid throw that picks up a color in the art ties the whole room together.
What stays up through Thanksgiving
Fall art isn't just for October. Here's how long each kind of print works:
| Print type | Up from | Take down |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn landscapes and cottages | Mid-September | When the Christmas tree goes up |
| Leaves, birds and botanicals | Mid-September | Late November |
| Pumpkins and harvest still lifes | Late September | After Thanksgiving (26 November) |
| Scarecrows and haunted scenes | October 1 | November 1 (swap for a landscape) |
Want spooky for October? Our vintage Halloween gallery wall guide has two moody looks you can hang now and swap for autumn landscapes on November 1. And when December comes, see our vintage Christmas wall art guide.
Frames and prints for fall art
| Frame finish | Best with |
|---|---|
| Light oak or honey wood | Sunny landscapes, farmhouse scenes, robins |
| Dark walnut | Cabins, forest paths, hazy meadows |
| Slim matte black | Moody leaf and woodland prints on dark walls |
| White or cream | Pumpkins and still lifes in the kitchen |
| Antique gold | Any of the oil paintings, for a more formal room |
Print on matte paper. Gloss makes an oil painting look like a poster. A cream mat and a frame one size larger than the print (8 × 10 print in an 11 × 14 frame) makes a $3 print look like a gallery piece.
FAQ
When should I put up fall art?
Any time from mid-September. Landscapes and botanicals can stay up until the Christmas decorations come out, so you get two to three months from one swap.
Can fall art go up alongside Halloween decor?
Yes. Pumpkins, scarecrows and moody woods sit happily next to Halloween pieces in October, then carry the room on to Thanksgiving once the spooky decor comes down.
Will I get a physical print?
No. You get high-resolution digital files to print at home or at a local print shop. Nothing ships.
Do I need new frames?
No. Every print comes in five ratios that fit standard US frames, so you can reuse the frames already on your walls.
Fall in one afternoon
Pick a look, print it, and slide it into the frames you already have.
Shop autumn and fall art