In partnership with Etsy. Each piece here was selected by me, and all opinions are my own.
The easiest fall home decor ideas this year are small, handmade and placed exactly where you’ll see them. In my house that means three places: a block-print fabric pumpkin that greets you at the front door, a burning cider candle in the living room, and 16 small soy pumpkin candles on the dining room table to go home with friends at the end of the night. All three come from Etsy, and each one has a real person behind it. Consider shopping Etsy for fall, one room at a time.
Here’s the thing about Etsy: There’s a lot of it. That’s the magic and the challenge, because the really special pieces are out there, you just have to know how to find them. This is the part we love. I did the digging so you don’t have to, and every shop in this post is one I would refer my friends to.
Three spots, three handmade pieces
Entrance: This rust block print pumpkin
Every home needs a fall piece that says hello before anyone takes off their coat, and Made Market Co’s Rust Block Print Pumpkin is mine. It’s soft cotton in a vintage-feel floral block print, warm rust on cream, with a wood-look stem. At 8.5 inches across, it holds its own on an entry table or console, and it moves just as easily to a living room shelf.
Made Market Co is a mother-daughter shop run by Sue and Jordan, who grew up on a family farm in Kansas and have been on Etsy for 10 years. Their motto is a little heart and a lot of hustle, and you can feel it in the details.
What I love most: It never goes soft, never rots, and goes straight into the storage bin in December to be returned the following September. This is the easiest way I know to make a corner of your house feel like it’s falling apart in about 30 seconds.
Living room: This Hello Fall candle
If pumpkin spice has you tired by October, this is the fall candle to know. Freshwater Decor’s Hello Fall Candle opens on hot cider, warms in cinnamon and cloves, and settles on apple and nutmeg. It smells like a good portion of a farm stand, not a latte.
Melissa Horvath started Freshwater Decor in 2014 in her Pittsburgh basement. Today it’s a team of more than 35 that has sold more than two million candles, and each one is still poured in their own Pittsburgh factory, with American-made soy wax and cotton wax. Each 9-ounce amber jar burns for over 40 hours. The shop was already a favorite of mine: my October coffee goes to them. Ghost cup. So when it came time to pick up the falling candle, I went straight back.
dining table: Mini Pumpkin Candle Favors
This is the piece that made the whole table click. OlivMee’s pumpkin candle set is 16 mini soy pumpkins, each about the size of a walnut, ribbed like the real thing. I’m setting one at each place setting and clustering the rest down the center, and at the end of the night each guest takes their own. Decorations and party favors, one purchase.
OlivMee is a small shop in Sacramento, and each box comes with a printed autumn card inside. The sets come in four palettes, from Golden Harvest’s warm orange, yellow, green and cream to moodier red, brown and black. I went with Cozy Pumpkin Tones, a soft run of white, cream, and yellow to deep orange, and ordered them unscented, because the food should be what your guests are smelling at the table!
How to Set a Fall Dinner Table
Start with a linen runner and cluster small pumpkin candles in odd numbers down the center, then set like a place card on each plate. Add height with a few taper candles and let the colors repeat: rust on the napkins, cream on the plates, soft oranges of the pumpkins running through. If you’re also planning the menu, our fall dinner ideas pair well with this table.
This table is not for vacation. It’s for our closest friends, if for no other reason than that fall is finally here and we love it. These are the dinners worth setting a real table for.
And then the best part. The table gets a little emptier with each goodbye, one pumpkin per guest, which is exactly the point.
Shop these fall dining picks.
Shop Etsy for the rest of your home.
The three pieces above set the mood. They grace every space from the front door to the table, and each one is from an independent Etsy shop.
Oh Wreath of dried flowers For the front door, all boughs and straw flowers in pale pink and marigold, which will look as good in November as they do now. Pear shaped candles In olive, buttery yellow and rust, the kind of thing guests pick up and ask for. Rusty linen napkins With a single embroidered initial, when you want the table to be a little more understated. And A A bowl of stoneware Scattered with white leaves, because your morning coffee also counts as a fall ritual.
None of this says Halloween, and that’s the point. These are the pieces that take you from that first chilly morning right through Thanksgiving, then get packed away to come back next year.
Borrowed from Fall Wedding Favor, Dinner Table
If you’re planning a fall wedding, take this idea with you. The same mini-pumpkin candles serve as favors that double as escort cards: a name tag underneath each, lined up on a table at the entrance. At $32 for 16, a wedding of 120 guests requires eight seats, so order early and at once. For more ideas see Wedding Favors Guests Actually Take Home and Placement Chart Shows Wow.
Frequently Asked Questions About Home Decor
Order by early October for Halloween or Valentine’s Day dinners and by early November for Thanksgiving. Handmade shops cast and sew in small batches, and processing time increases as the season fills. All three pieces here were arriving within about a week when I ordered.
No scent on the table, scent everywhere. The aroma competes with the food and can overwhelm guests sitting near it. Light a scented candle in the entryway or kitchen an hour before guests arrive, and keep table candles unscented.
Plan on six to eight per guest plus for table centerpieces. For a meal of eight, a set of 16 covers both.