What date do you decorate for autumn?

[justflewinfromthewindycity]

I have got some lovely autumn decorative bits but not sure what date I should start putting them out.
Is 1st September too early ?

Do what makes you happy. I have just put my kitchen windowsill summer sign away and put my autumn one in its place. In mid November that will be replaced with a small wooden Christmas tree decoration. I like doing it. It affects no one and makes me smile.

I did notice quite a big Halloween display when I was in John Lewis in Oxford Street yesterday, not just the plastic pumpkins but decorative items for the season too, so there must be a market for these things.

I had no idea 'decorating for autumn' was a 'thing'!

What a miserable bunch people are. I lived in America for a while and loved how people decorated their houses and front doors with changes in the seasons. If it makes people happy then what’s the harm. I get all the Halloween and autumn bits out on 1st October.

Never heard of this but it I had both the time and spare cash I would totally do this. I love Autumn.

“Decorate for Autumn”??????

When it gets cold I swap the lightweight duvet for a heavier one.

If I’m home for Halloween we put up suitable decorations FOR THAT DAY ONLY for the trick or treaters.

We put up Christmas decorations on the first weekend of advent and take them down at the feast of the epiphany.

We don’t decorate for seasons and I don’t know anyone who does.

Nothing wrong with bringing twigs and berries into the house for autumn - I have fir cones, dried seed heads, leaf skeletons, sticks with lichens growing on them, bowls of coloured slate and interesting pebbles on my hearth and mantelpiece all year round.

What people are concerned about is the amount of unrecyclable stuff that retailers are stocking that will eventually end up as landfill.

It's not being "miserable" or a " fun sponge" or "sneery" to be concerned about that.

Jesus, I can just about keep my house clean. Sometimes I don't even bother decorating for Christmas, so no, there is no decorating for autumn in this house 😂

Never heard of such a thing!

Whenever you're feeling autumnal?

I've been trying to have certain traditions which hit throughout the year which help me to live more mindfully. They're very personal to me tbh and can't imagine it would work for everyone. For example I have net curtains for the patio doors to keep the flies out in the summer. They're a bit of a pain though so they come down when the flies die down. The last few years I've coupled putting the nets up with also changing the duvets to a lighter tog and we've had the first strawberries of the year for pudding. Feels like the start of summer. It's just a nice way to mark it!

With Autumn I'd likely wait for the equinox, but then I don't put Christmas stuff up until the start of advent so that would be a reasonable length of time for me to enjoy the house being a bit autumnal before it becomes twinkly for the festive season.

You do you!

JaneJeffer · Today 15:10
Bahahaha

Try Rennies. That should keep it under control.

I still have a tinsel pumpkin garland up from Halloween 2 years ago if that counts?

It's 30C here today, so there will be no heated throws, candles and the like!

I think if I was decorating to mark the seasons, then I would follow what was going on outside. Harvest done, nights drawing in, leaves turning, summer flowers finishing in the garden. I think we're a couple of weeks off that here.

Could be something as simple as a bowl of conkers that you collect next time you're out walking, or (appreciate this would take time which may be a thing in short supply!) make a garland or something out of autumn leaves when they start appearing. Doesn't have to be a costly process :)

I only got round to putting summer flowers in my front door pots last week so I guess I am a touch behind!

I hear it's traditional to consult the B&M Almanac for this type of thing, or Home Bargains Book of Seasonal Household Adornment, which both state the earlier and the more abundant the better.

They also advise a year round program is the goal, rotating Christmas, Easter, Summer (especially those little hanging fake topiary balls and fake tiki torches), then of course you've got your Autumn slash Halloween bonanza, the biggy. You will need to buy costumes for your DC, and your dogs too if you really want to tick all the Social Media friendly boxes.

It's certainly enough to keep you lying awake at night and going wild in the aisles, not to mention the storage unit you'll need to rent. Have fun!

All the grumps. OP asked 'what date do YOU decorate'.
If you don't decorate, or don't understand why OP wants to do something that makes her happy you don't need to reply or be all snotty about it.

Yes, I think it’s quite common over here in Ireland to decorate the house with natural flora and fabrics as the seasons change.

I have a lot of houseplants and I change their position around the house from winter to summer. Succulents can go on the south facing windowsills as they won’t be harmed by too much sun in the autumn/winter months.

So as soon as I’m thinking about lighting the wood burner, I move everything around. At the moment, the woodburner is half hidden by the larger plants such as the cheese plant, ferns, weeping fig and a palm plant. I’ll move some of these to the French doors at the end of the sunroom and create a display there. I don’t open these doors as I use the ones in the middle of the room normally.

I also swap over and hang homemade bunting that I’ve sewn, so I’m currently doing a clean out ready to put up the Autumn colours bunting. I’ll swap this over in December for Xmas/winter bunting and cushions etc.

I had the duvet cleaned last week, does that count?

I don’t think it was for show, it was for the community. Everybody would decorate and then the neighbourhood would close the roads and we’d have a huge pig pickin.

Same for Halloween, people went all out to make it magical for the children.

I have autumn decorations, a few bits for in the house and this year I’ll prob bring them out in October. Wooden pumpkins rather than Halloween scary type things

Mine are all out 🍂

I start in September! As soon as the air bites a little bit and the leaves begin to change. Plenty of time then to enjoy it before winter/Christmas decor.

Exactly!

As a foodie and ex chef, I cook and eat seasonal produce. I grow fruits and vegetables. We keep hens and bees. Nature is incredible. In Autumn I make jams and chutneys and forage for berries and mushrooms.

As humans, we have all actually lived by the changing seasons. It's good to celebrate the changing seasons; saying goodbye to summer ('putting the garden to bed') and saying hello to Autumn. Taking notice of the planets visible in our skies at different times of the year, the changing moons, the autumn sunsets, starling murmurations (and other birds coming and going) the tides, meteor showers, aurora visibility. It's all utterly fascinating and part living on this planet.

I also happen to like crafting, and that ties in with my celebrating the seasons. It brings me joy.

Ooh we need an autumn food thread then! 🧡🤎