Photo gallery: How to decorate your home for fall

Get your home ready for fall

Something changes in the air with September's arrival. There's a buzz as Canadians across the country prepare for the back-to-school season. For many of us, September is like the beginning of a new year, and with this comes the sense that it's time to get organized at home and prepare for the winter ahead.

It's the perfect time of year to rejuvenate your decor. The trends for fall 2009 run the gamut from mixing modern and traditional design to incorporating bold and deep-toned colours into your existing decor.

We checked in with design expert and Style at Home magazine's contributing style editor Karl Lohnes for the inside scoop on decorating for fall. (You can visit Karl Lohnes' decorating blog by visiting: ctv.ca/karllohnes.)

Fall decorating tips
Karl Lohnes shares his tips for achieving a stylish and on-trend home this fall:

We can expect to see a mix of very traditional with very modern. Imagine a very fancy Queen Anne mirror being hung over a modern console table or modern dining chairs placed around a traditional mahogany table. The key to pulling off this look is to go extreme: very modern and very traditional.

Grey is the new neutral, making brown take a back seat as a second choice. From pale, bluish-grey to deep charcoal grey, it is the new neutral for the next three to five years. It can be warmed and softened up with pale wheat tones, which help layer another neutral into the scheme.

Colours are bold and deep toned. Sunflower yellow, kelly green and dark lavender will all be popular, but not used together.

Hot colour combinations: pale bluish grey and deep brown, bright yellow and pale grey, black and deep lavender.

Must-have accessories: big-scale traditional mirrors, anything embedded with crystals and salt-washed wood for a more country look. Animal skins are still hot.

4 decorating dos
Do mix styles.
Do add a punch of colour.
Do think luxe when choosing accessories.
Do think of repainting a room.

10 fall home decor finds we love!
Needle felted apples
Fresh-picked apples evoke a feeling of fall. These needle-felted apples are a sweet accent for a living room side table or make a lovely dining table centerpiece. And, they won't rot!
Available at: etsy.com
Price: $42, set of 3