5 Free Decor Items You Need to Use This Fall

Decorating your home shouldn’t break the bank. You don’t even need to spend lots of money to decorate for fall! Check out 5 free things I love to use every fall in my decorating!

Confession time:

I used to have so many bins of fall decor.

And bags full of faux pumpkins.

And then the bulky stuff that doesn’t fit in bins or bags…

Can anyone relate?!

Over the past couple of years, I have changed my fall decorating style a little. I actually decorate a lot more for fall but narrowed it all down to one bin and a couple bags of dried gourds.

How?

I really focused on making my fall decor more natural. I discovered that I enjoyed decorating for fall so much when I used things from nature.

(Now don’t get my wrong, I have my share of cute jack-o-lanterns that rest in the attic from November through August. And I love to pick up cute little decor pieces here and there too!)

In general, though, most of my fall decor is simply using things from nature and mixing them with my favorite, year-round decor pieces!

Best part? Most of these natural things are free!

Who’s ready to save some money and get creative?

Let’s dive in and take a look at 5 free decor items that I love to use in my fall decorating!

Free Decor Must-Have Item

Branches.

It’s true. The leaves don’t change color where I live. So my best option for real branches with real leaves that aren’t green is to find dead branches!

I was on my way home one day when I realized that my neighbor had a nice stash of dead branches. Under the cloak of darkness, I convinced my husband to help me get those back home later on that night.

Of course, it started raining on us. There were thick vines holding some of the branches together, but we managed to get that mess into our driveway and I started having fun decorating! Haha!

I am so glad he helped me and that we made the effort because those branches have made great decor all around our home! I love that the rust color of the leaves helps it feel a little more like real fall around our home rather than the usual bright green leaves!

I used the branches in a crock on my apothecary. I love how they are tall and make a dramatic statement in front of the mirror!

I cut some smaller pieces of the branches and tucked them around a big arrangement of dried gourds and around another arrangement of real pumpkins. I love how they fill in the gaps and soften the edges, as well as adding great texture and fall color!

Since I had a nice number of branches to work with this year, I tried a new way of decorating with them and I love it!

Robb helped me arrange them over the ladder and chandeliers in our back dining room. I love all the texture they add and how they give some extra dimension to the space too!

Take a little walk! If you have a wooded area around you or just forage the tree trimmings in your neighborhood, there are so many great ways you can use free branches to bring the fall vibes indoors!

#2 Free Decor Item I Always Use:

Pinecones.

We may not have leaves changing, but I always have plenty of pinecones right in my own yard! They are perfect for adding some natural texture to fall decor.

This year, Harrison gathered a big bag of pinecones on our New England trip. Our vintage Airstream campsite in Woodstock, Vermont was full of pretty pinecones.

When we got home, I added the pinecones to some of my mortar & pestle collection. By filling 3 bowls, I was able to carry the decor idea throughout the entire space while adding some pretty wood tones and texture.

Pinecones are great for winter and Christmas decor, too, so keep them around! You can tuck in a little twig of evergreen to turn your fall arrangement into a winter one!

Pinecones are a great filler for dough bowls too!

I found some gigantic pinecones at a flea market. They made perfect place card holders and a centerpiece for our Thanksgiving table one year. You could get the same look with smaller pinecones and a pretty leaf or feather!

Free Fall Decor Item

Corn husks.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen my makeshift corn husks!

Dried banana branches for the win!

Small corn husk pieces are perfect to tuck around arrangements, dried gourds, or even between pumpkins!

My favorite way that I styled them this year was to stack my pumpkins in a large vintage bowl, tucking pieces of my banana leaves around each layer.

This would also be so pretty in a large dough bowl!

If you don’t have any corn stalks, take a trip to your local pumpkin patch or a produce stand where they sell corn stalks. Chances are, there are some broken off corn husks laying around that they will let you have for free!

Maybe you haven’t thought of this free decor item

Pine needles.

Maybe you already use these in your fall decor but I just love them! Last year, I kind of forgot about using them so perhaps someone else needs a reminder too!

If you live where there are any pine trees, you have plenty of pine needles, just like I do!

Pine needles are the perfect rust/orange tones to add to fall decor and they make a great backdrop for a pumpkin stack or lining the bottom of your favorite tray or dough bowl!

Pine needles would also be so pretty spread down the center of the table, under your Thanksgiving centerpiece! You can check out some fall tablescape ideas in my e-book!

My Favorite Free Decor Item

Weeds.

Yep, weeds! And while we are on the subject, I wrote this awhile back about weeds. I needed a reminder and maybe you do today too!

Want to know a fun fact about me? It’s a little odd.

One of my favorite things to do when we travel on road trips is to observe all the weeds and flowers and plants along the way. Maybe in another life I’ll take classes and learn about them!

I love seeing how different everything looks in different parts of the country!

One blessing of Florida is that we have no lack of greenery, all year long! Sometimes I cut weeds ahead of time (these wild grapevines are some of my favorites), let them dry, then bring them in.

Sometimes I cut it fresh and bring it right inside to style. This is especially helpful when doing tablescapes and I don’t need to worry about putting it in water. I used some grapevine under and around my harvest tablescape and I loved how it turned out!

This is another opportunity to combine a hunt for some free decor with a nature walk! Harrison, especially, loves to help me clip different weeds and greens. If you have kiddos, get them involved too!

(*obviously, watch out for poisonous plants and be cautious with younger kiddos who might try to put things in their mouth!!! I am past that season of life, but I teach little ones, so I get it!)

I hope you have fun foraging for some weeds to bring in and mix with your fall decor! Fall is the season when dried out really works, so you can get away with leaving them around your arrangements for awhile too!

Happy *FREE* Decorating!

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Blessings,