Interior Decorating: Thanksgiving Interior Decorating on a Budget

Time flies and before you know it, Thanksgiving will be upon us. For many of us, that means a house full of company. It also means cooking and cleaning as well as trying to change the house from summer decorations to autumn.

With minimal effort and expense, you can easily dress your home both inside and out for the season.

Don't have a sofa that fits well with fall colors? Drape a throw over the back and add some pillows in fall colors or if you enjoy sewing, look for material (I always look for material on sale) and make a cover you can toss across the sofa. There are so many gorgeous fall fabrics out now.

Group candles together with small gourds. Use grapevine swags to decorate the backs of kitchen chairs or if you want to keep them away from little ones, place them over the top of curtains.

Kids can get involved with the decorating by making their own fall placemats. Use heavy card stock in light cream or brown. Gather leaves from the backyard or local park--my kids always enjoyed doing this. Put a small piece of two sided tape on the back of the leaves. Have children arrange the leaves on top of the card stock. Cover the leaves and card stock carefully with clear contact paper. The results are cute placemats that wipe off easily.

In the bathroom, hang brown towels and put out orange, brown and green decorator soaps.

Hearty mums and gourds by the front door make a nice splash of fall color and the squirrels won't eat them.

Happy Decorating!