1. Color an autumn palette

Consider your existing supply of throw pillows, blankets and furnishings, and see which ones evoke that fall feeling—warm burgundies, deep oranges, soft golds and rich browns. By intentionally pairing these pieces in certain corners of your apartment, you can create pops of fall in unexpected places, adding the warmth of the season to your home with intention.

2. Celebrate the seasonal holidays

From Halloween to Thanksgiving, autumn lends itself to fun decorating ideas, transitioning your apartment from dark and spooky nights with jars of candy corn gleaming from your shelves, to pumpkins and gourds and brilliantly colored leaves. But there are other events that are quintessentially fall that you can use for design inspiration: hayrides, apple festivals, and anything to do with the harvest are particularly rich. This doesn’t mean you have to turn your living room into a corn maze (It might get a little messy!) but a tabletop display of apples (real or decorative), beautifully colored corn cobs, and a scatter of straw paired with some richly scented candles could make for a lovely touch of fall.

3. Go all out with fall scents

Candle companies live for the scents of autumn, from warm vanilla and pumpkin spice, to rich cranberry, to crisp apple pie…the options are endless. Use tiny tealights that pack a major scent, or designate a candle “safe place” away from pets or anything that might catch fire. Some apartment homes aren’t keen on you burning candles, but there’s an easy solution there, too, with scent diffusers or home sprays that can bring all the best aromas of the season into your space.

4. Light up the night

As the days get shorter, decorating with light takes on more importance. Who says you have to wait for Christmas to bring out the fairy lights. Celebrate with bright orange mini-lights woven into your table display or door wreath, or trail strands of white lights over your balcony to ward off both the shadows and the chill. It’s a welcome sight both for you and your neighbors!

5. Get your baking mitts on

This last idea may not do wonders for your waistline, but fall is made for baking cookies, brownies, bread and other warm and delicious comfort food. Even if you end up making a gift of your yummy creations, the act of baking can be incredibly cathartic and nurturing…with the added bonus of making your entire apartment smell heavenly.

Fall is the perfect time of year for transforming your apartment into a haven of comfort, coziness, and warmth—so here’s to celebrating the season from your front door to your balcony! Happy fall!

The post Apartment Decorating 101: Bringing autumn indoors appeared first on BRG Apartments Blog.

1. Batwing Peanut Butter Cups

For these fun and festive treats, assemble chocolate sandwich cookies, frosting, edible candy eyes and miniature peanut butter cups. First, remove any existing frosting from the backs of the sandwich cookies, then break each cookie side into two pieces, to create half-circle “bat wings.” Add a tiny bit of frosting to the cookies and affix the cookies to the unwrapped miniature peanut butter cups, rounded side up. Then just add two edible candy eyes and you’ve got a miniature bat party!

2. Monster Face Fruit Cups

Nothing could be easier than this! First, assemble a bowl full of grapes, several clear plastic juice cups, large marshmallows, and clear plastic wrap—and a black permanent marker. Then fill the bottom of each cup with a layer of grapes. Follow with two large marshmallows, placed on their side—these will be your monster’s “eyes”—and top with a final layer of grapes. Cover each plastic cup with plastic wrap, ideally the self-adhesive kind! Then it’s time to get creative. Draw funny faces on the side of the cup, making the marshmallows into googly-eyes and adding a goofy smile beneath.

3. Eye Popping Pudding Cups

Don’t put those plastic cups and markers away quite yet! Instead whip up several packets of colored pudding—ghostly white, ghoulish green, boo-tiful blue and pumpkin orange. Fill the clear plastic cups with the pudding, then use the markers to make spooky or funny faces on the sides of the plastic cups. For added interest, top the pudding cups in interesting ways—like using candy corn for ears or crushed chocolate cookies for a thick mop of hair. Have fun with it!

4. Wicked Witch’s Hats

At Halloween, you can never have too much chocolate. So gather the following for this indulgent treat: miniature unwrapped chocolate kisses, chocolate sandwich cookies (THIN Oreos® work best!), colored frosting (say, orange or green) and candy sprinkles. Assembly couldn’t easier: pipe a thin layer of frosting onto the cookie, press a chocolate kiss into the frosting, and dust with a layer of candy sprinkles! Hats off to you!

5. Spicy Sweet (c)Hex Mix

Okay, this one is for those of you who are truly looking for a last-minute save for your Halloween party—(c)Hex Mix for the win! Just purchase a bag of pre-made party mix (like Chex Mix®) and then add some Halloween delight: candy corn, unwrapped chocolate miniature candies or M&Ms, popcorn, nuts, whatever says Halloween to you! Bring this mix in a Halloween-themed bowl and some small plastic cups for serving and you’ll have your Halloween treat challenge solved.

This Halloween, don’t let a lack of time or cooking skills keep you from the neighborhood party—or better yet, throw a party yourself to meet the neighbors! Here’s wishing you a spooky good time.

The post Last-Minute Halloween Party? Scare up some quick and easy treats! appeared first on BRG Apartments Blog.

Ready to get started? Here’s our top three low-cost decorating ideas for fall:

1. Light up the night 

Candles aren’t always a good idea in an apartment but battery operated “flickering” candles solve this problem masterfully. Many of these candles have timers so once you set them up, they switch on every evening to set a cheerful mood! Pick up a set or two of cream colored battery-operated pillar candles or tea-lights, and you’re halfway there. Then it’s time to get creative! To tailor your candles for fall, you can:

• Purchase a small packet of cinnamon sticks and secure them to your candles with twine
• Get a small fall-themed wreath and place a large pillar candle (or 2! Or 3!) inside it
• Fill a shallow glass bowl with fake cranberries then nestle your pillar candle in the center
• Set up several tea lights on a long dish and surround them with candy corn…then try not to eat your own decorations!
• Make a mini arrangement with dried leaves, small gourds, and fake berries and position your candles in the center

2. Got Gourd?

Speaking of gourds, there simply is no other design element that so immediately conjures up thoughts of fall, than the humble pumpkin. Setting aside its association with Halloween – no jack-o-lantern carving necessary! – gourds of all sorts are fair game for fall: mini pumpkins, squash and more. You can get the real deal from farmers’ markets or health food stores or even many grocery stores, or you can find faux gourds in a variety of sizes and colors at craft and hobby retailers. Once you have an armful, get creative! Decorate the gourds with paint pens, sticker, stencils, chalk paint or glitter spray, then position them on your window sills, on your balcony or peeking out from your shelves. Whether your designs are whimsical or classic, gourds are your go-to!

3. Get hung up on fall’s magic

There’s something about hanging strands of lights and garlands of decorations that really spruces up your space, but you don’t have to wait for Christmas to light up the night! You can find low-cost strands of illuminated fall leaves or pumpkins at the hobby shop, or go no-electricity and craft your own strands of pine cones and artificial leaves and berries strung with twine. Extra points for spraying gold paint on your pine cones (or miniature pumpkins) to give them an extra pizzazz! Another great choice is to cut out squares of burlap, add stencils of letters and leaves (perhaps spelling out FALL or AUTUMN or HARVEST) and then string the burlap squares on a length of thick twine. Even coiling a strand of plain white miniature Christmas lights through a basket of pine cones can make a beautiful fall welcome next to your fireplace or front door.

With the start of fall, now’s the perfect time to add all the welcoming touches of the season to your home. Here’s to a fun—and creative—autumn!

The post The Frugal Decorator’s Guide to a festive fall! appeared first on BRG Apartments Blog.