Decorate your bedroom for autumn
- The Reston Letter Staff
- Sep 12, 2025
- 2 min read
by Erin Gibbens, Kids Section Co-Editor
Fall is the season of everything cozy (think… blankets, sweaters, and the warm colors of pumpkins, apples, and leaves). You can bring that feeling into your bedroom!
Want your space to feel like a fall hangout? All you need is a little creativity, some simple supplies, and a few fun, do-it-yourself ideas.
Nature-Inspired Art
Nature is full of fall colors, but don’t bring leaves, acorns, or sticks inside. They can carry bugs or get moldy. Instead, use them outside to make art, and then hang your art in your room.
Pine Cone Painting: Dip a pine cone into different shades of yellow, orange, and red paint. Roll it across paper to make bumpy, colorful patterns that look just like fall.
Leaf Rubbings: Place a leaf under a piece of paper and rub a crayon on top of the paper. The leaf’s shapes will appear like magic! Use red, orange, yellow, and brown crayons for the best fall look.
Dollar Store Ambiance
Dollar Stores are full of treasures in fall colors. Look for picture frames, jars, fake flowers, tissue paper, and battery-operated candles. Then, turn them into cozy decorations.
Fall Lanterns: Wrap a clear jar or vase with orange or yellow tissue paper. Glue on paper cutouts of leaves or pumpkins. Drop in a battery-powered tea light inside the jar or vase, and watch your room glow!
Leaf Frame: Buy a simple picture frame and a pack of fake fall leaves. Glue the leaves around the edges of the frame. Then, add a favorite photo or a piece of your nature-inspired fall art. You have an instant fall masterpiece!
Making Old Things New Again (Upcycling)
Upcycling means taking something old and turning it into something totally new and useful.
Sweater Pillow: Find a sweater or blanket that your family no longer uses. Ask if you can cut it into two squares. Then glue (using fabric glue) or sew three sides, stuff it with pillow filling, then close the last side. You’ve got a cozy fall pillow for your bed!
Pencil Holder or Organizer: Save an empty can (make sure an adult helps you smooth out the edges so you don’t get cut). Wrap it in fall-colored fabric, tissue paper, or brown paper bag strips. Draw pumpkins, apples, or leaves, and tie a ribbon or twine at the top. Put it on your desk or shelf to hold pencils, markers, or paintbrushes.
Decorating is all about using your imagination. Look around, think about which colors and textures remind you of fall, and try making something new. Happy fall crafting!
Such a fun guide — the Fall Lanterns idea with tissue paper and a battery-powered tea light is the kind of project that actually looks impressive for how simple it is, and that "watch your room glow" moment is exactly what makes DIY decorating worth it. That same instinct carries into other hobbies too. LEGO builders who want their bedroom display shelf to glow the same way often look at a light kit for lego — plug-in LEDs designed for specific set numbers that make finished builds glow from within, no crafting required. Same cozy fall bedroom energy, different medium. Happy decorating!
Such a lovely set of ideas — the sweater pillow upcycle especially, because the best bedroom decorations are the ones you made yourself and actually feel proud to display. One more to add to the handmade shelf category for kids aged 8 and up is a crochet penguin kit: it comes pre-started with everything included, yarn, hook, stuffing, and video tutorials for both hands, so there's no frustrating cold start even for complete beginners. The finished little penguin companion sits perfectly on a bedroom shelf alongside the leaf frame and fall lanterns — something handmade that lasts well beyond the season.