How to Pumpkin Spice Up Your Fall Entertaining

Pumpkin spice up your fall entertaining with a gorgeous festive tablescape friends and family will drool over

Prepare your home for a season of fall entertaining. We have lots of easy ideas, affordable resources, and gorgeous photos to inspire all your fall entertaining. Bring it on because it’s party time!

What do we think of when we think of fall? Pumpkins, hayrides, apple pie, and pumpkin spice. As days grow shorter and temperatures begin to drop it’s time to think about getting our houses ready for the seasons ahead. Jodie and I love everything about fall. It may have something to do with the fact that we love change, so a new season is always exciting. And ok, we’ll admit it: We absolutely love decorating for fall. Adding fall colors and pumpkins is just the beginning. For us it feels like the start of the holiday season.

It won’t be long before Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around. What does this mean? It means it’s time to prepare for a season of fall entertaining, from hosting dinner parties to hosting out-of-town visitors, ’tis the season for cozy gatherings, fall festivities and holiday celebrations.

 

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s focus back on fall.  Now is the perfect time to update your home so you’re ready for guests. Jodie and I love fall entertaining and I’m hosting a Fall Harvest dinner party in October. So, it is the perfect time to “pumpkin-spice-up” my dining room. I’m always on a budget. Who isn’t these days? So I headed to my favorite source for stylish, budget-friendly decor, Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart. I can’t wait for you to see the before and after of my dining room.

Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart

Jodie and I are part of The Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart Influencer Network. We love representing a brand that provides quality style at affordable prices. We are compensated for our efforts in creating this post. Our convenient shopping links help support our blog work but add no additional cost to you.  All our opinions are authentically our own, and as always, we hope you enjoy.  There are a lot more ideas available from the talented BHG Live Better Influencer Network.

My Fall Dining Room Before and After

In preparation for my fall entertaining plans, I wanted to refresh my dining room. See the before and after photos below.

 

 

Home Updates for Fall Entertaining

As you think about your fall entertaining plans (and beyond) think about your spaces and how you can improve them. Here is a to-do list to help you create a plan to update your rooms.

Get Ready for Fall Entertaining: To-Do List

1. Identify the room(s) to update.
2. Make a list of the things that are not currently working/things you dislike about your space.
3. Put the items in order of priority.
4. Create a budget for each space.
5. Start to shop. We suggest beginning online. This will give you quick comparison ideas and prices.
6. Make your purchases.
7. Update your spaces and get ready for your fall entertaining fun.

 

Updates I Made to Prepare for Fall Entertaining

New Chairs

The four metal chairs were always meant to be temporary. They were tippy and uncomfortable. I found the ideal solution that matched my style vision and my budget at Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart.

 

What I love about my new chairs from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart:

1. Farmhouse Style. I love the spindles and overall traditional farmhouse shape of these chairs.
2. Comfort. They are much more comfortable than my old chairs. The seats are smooth and roomy. They don’t need a cushion, but I could always add for an updated look.
3. Quality. They are made of solid real wood. The paint finish is beautiful, and they feel very solid when sitting.
4. Value. As always, the value is amazing. I couldn’t believe the price. Two for $69 and free shipping. It’s hard to beat that pricing.
5. Color Choices. These chairs come in a choice of three finishes, natural wood, white and black.
6. Versatility. I love to move my furniture around. I call it “shopping my home”. When I purchase furniture, I like to know that the pieces will work in a variety of places in my home. I can see these chairs working beautifully at desks or at my kitchen table as well.

 

Pumpkin Spice Up Your Fall Entertaining

What do we mean when we say “let’s pumpkin spice it up”? What started as a drink craze by Starbucks back in the fall of 2003 has since started a cultural phenomenon. Now you can find pumpkin spice anything in stores beginning as early as August. The flavor announces the start of fall. Fall lovers associate this iconic flavor with the magic of fall.

What Exactly is Pumpkin Spice?

Pumpkin spice is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Yum. Even though it is an iconic modern cultural phenomenon we love the fact that its origins date back to early American colonists. Pumpkin spice is actually steeped in our own history and tradition.

 

How to Add the “Flavor” of Pumpkin Spice into Your Fall Entertaining

Carrying the pumpkin spice theme into fall is fun and easy. It conjures up the overall mood of fall. It has come to represent all things fall and carries with it a mood of everything we love about fall. So we think it’s the perfect modern theme for your fall entertaining. It is not only powerfully on trend with the season but it carries with it strong ties to our American history. No wonder we love it.

Since pumpkin spice refers to all things fall it’s super easy to create a pumpkin spice mood in your home. Here are some of the ways we used this theme in our fall dining room refresh.

 

 

Fall Entertaining – Adding the Scent of Fall

Pumpkin Spice Candles

Since pumpkin spice begins with flavors what better way to create a “pumpkin spice” mood then to fill your home with the aroma of pumpkin spice. We love using candles by Better Homes & Gardens. This is the second year we’ve enjoyed their candles. We love the variety of scents they come in, how well they burn, and their value price.

I’ve had their Pumpkin Spice candle burning in my home for weeks, and it gives me all the fall feels. It is an important aspect to creating the perfect fall mood in your home every day and for your fall gatherings.

Of course, I love the smell of candles but I also love the glow almost as much. Lighting candles strategically throughout your home adds instant ambiance. I love, love, love dimming all the lights and having candles create a magical look in every space.

 

 

Fall Entertaining Guide

Create Your Perfect Fall Tablescape

Step 1:  Choose Your Linens

With your color scheme and dishes in mind decide if you will cover your table and how.

• You can cover it completely with a tablecloth.
• Choose a table runner.
• Or do what I did and use a table scarf. I love the one I chose because it’s the best of all worlds. It shows a bit of my farmhouse table, exposing the rich wood that I love and also showing the rustic metal bands that make my table unique. I love the colors of the scarf, the fun plaid look, and most of all, the fringe. This scarf starts my table off perfectly with a stylish statement

 

Step 2:  Create Your Centerpiece

As you can see, I added plenty of faux fall foliage to my dining room. In order to add all the colors of fall to a room it’s important to first create a neutral backdrop. I removed all the other colors from my dining room in order to make room for the colors of fall:  shades of orange, amber, green, magenta, and brown.

1. Faux leaves. I sprinkled faux leaves in the center of the dining table and in several vignettes around the room.
2. Add a few leaves to any vignette to easily create a fall look.
3. Faux leaves are inexpensive, can be used year after year, and don’t take up a lot of storage space. They can be used in a dozen different ways.
4. Faux foliage branches are equally useful.
5. I used a mixture of fall foliage branches to create a dynamic centerpiece in my beautiful white farmhouse pitcher from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart.

Designer Tip: Branches create drama and a 3-D affect. Leaves lay flat. Branches are more dimensional. Use both to create the look you want.

Step 3: Choose Your Place Settings

The next step in creating your perfect fall tablescape is putting your place settings together.

• Dishes

The main focal point of your settings is of course your dishes. I couldn’t wait to use my new dishes from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart. I saw these dishes online and thought they looked pretty. But in person they far exceeded my expectations. The quality, pattern, and soft colors in these plates is simply stunning. I’ve already received so many compliments.

• Big Bowls

Serve soup or chili on your fall menu. These big soup bowls are perfect for fall entertaining. I love that my new dish collection included the perfect bowls.

• Beautiful Mugs

This Better Homes & Gardens Ruskin dinnerware set also comes with matching mugs. They make serving seasonal hot beverages like spiced apple cider, hot chocolate or our favorite, pumpkin space lattes the perfect choice. They are stunning on their own or as part of the table setting. I know I’ll get a ton of use out of these beautiful, detailed mugs.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Speaking of Pumpkin Spice Lattes here is my own version of this classic seasonal favorite.  It’s so simple to make and doesn’t take any special ingredients or extra time!

Ingredients:

• Coffee
• Foamed or Frothed Milk
• Sugar
• Pumpkin Pie Spice

What I do:

• I make my usual Nespresso coffee.
• Then I heat and froth whole milk in my Nespresso frother.
• Next, I add one teaspoon of sugar.
• Then I shake about three shakes of Pumpkin Pie Spice into my coffee and stir.
• Lastly, I pour in the desired frothed milk and spoon in the foam to top it off.

It takes just moments to make this seasonal tasty treat.

 

 

More Pumpkin Spice recipes and Fall Decorating Tips:

• The Ultimate Easy Pumpkin Spice Recipes Perfect for Fall
• Welcome Fall with Easy and Affordable Decor
• Fall Decorating Tips to Create Creative Cozy Home
• Wishing You a Warm Welcome to My Festive Fall Home
• 23 Inviting and Inspiring Fall Porches to Love
• Want 3 Fresh Ideas to Make Fall Decor Fabulous?
• How to Decorate For Fall Like a Professional

 

Chargers

If you have chargers, you can add these under your place settings as well. I love to add layers, so I own plenty of chargers. For this tablescape I chose copper chargers I already owned. They complement my new dishes and add the perfect fall color to each place setting.

Great Charger Options:

 

Fall Entertaining To Do List

• First, shop your house. As all you budget-savvy friends know this is our best place to start. It doesn’t have to be new to be amazing. If you keep your seasonal decor organized it’s even easier to shop your house. Do this before shopping anywhere else.
• After you have seen what you already own determine what’s missing.
• Create your vision using inspiration from our blog. (Well done, you’re here!)
• Head to our Instagram feeds @julie.thedesigntwins and @jodie.thedesigntwins for tons of seasonal inspiration every day.
• Next, create a shopping list. This might have specific items if you have a clear vision, or it might have vague items like “something to use as a centerpiece”. Either way, make that list, so you won’t get distracted as you shop.
• Shop online to stay focused.

Jodie and I love the ease and convenience of shopping Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart online. While there are plenty of items in store, there is a much larger selection online. Also, it helps us stay focused on our list and what we truly need. Our husbands love it because we are always on budget. (It’s important to keep them happy too.)

 

Fall Entertaining Shopping Guide

Shop the exact Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart items below. Simply click on the photo to shop.

Shop more of our favorites from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart.

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and last but not least:

 

 

Friends, do what we did. Get a head start and update your home now for fall entertaining. You’ll be ready for all the holiday festivities which are right around the corner. You’ll be more relaxed and able to truly enjoy. With effortless online shopping and free delivery from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart your to do list just got done.

Happy Entertaining!