60+ Quick Fall Kitchen Decor Ideas That Take 5 Minutes or Less

Try these 60+ quick fall kitchen decor ideas to make the heart of your home feel warm and cozy for autumn in 5 minutes or less.

I remember a time when I had two children to take of, a full time job, dinner to get on the table, laundry that never seemed to end, and about a million other things on my to-do list.

Back then, finding even just a couple of hours to decorate our home for a new season was not realistic.

I wish I could go back and tell my 20-30 year old self,

“Heidi, you don’t need a couple of hours!”

You don’t need to spend your entire weekend off, decorating your home for fall.

You don’t need to pull all of the fall bins out of the attic.

And as the saying goes, with old age comes wisdom.

In my 40’s this is one of the things I’ve learned…

Sometimes five minutes is enough.

Hang a plaid towel from the oven.

Fill a bowl with red apples.

Turn on a little lamp in the corner of the counter.

None of those things are big changes, but that’s exactly the point.

Making your home feel cozy for a new season doesn’t have to mean completely redecorating it.

So, I put together more than 60 of my favorite quick fall kitchen decor ideas you can do in minutes.

Pick one idea when you have five minutes today, try another tomorrow, and maybe another next week.

Before you know it, your kitchen will be feeling a whole lot cozier for fall, and you never had to give up an entire Saturday to make it happen.

Why I Love Decorating Our Kitchen for Fall

Our kitchen is the heart of our home, so it only makes sense that it’s my favorite room to make cozier for fall.

It’s where we make dinner, gather around the island, unpack groceries, bake something on a Sunday afternoon, and make about a hundred trips to the refrigerator every day.

Because we spend so much time here, even the smallest seasonal changes are things we actually get to see and enjoy.

I don’t need pumpkins covering every surface or a bunch of decorations that get in the way.

I’ll take a bowl of apples, a plaid dish towel, a tea kettle on the stove, and a candle that smells like something delicious baking in the oven any day of the week.

Those simple little things make an ordinary room we use every single day feel warmer and cozier for autumn.

60+ Quick Fall Kitchen Decor Ideas You Can Do in Under 5 Minutes

Ok, so are you ready to start decorating?

Here are over 60 of my favorite easy kitchen decor ideas to make your cooking space feel cozier this fall season.

Most of these ideas use simple things you probably have around your home already and can literally be done in five minutes or less.

Add Something From Nature

This is an easy way to start because Mother Nature has already done most of the decorating for you.

Bring in something seasonal from outside or grab something pretty from the produce section on your next grocery store run.

1. Fill a bowl with red apples.
2. Add pears to a wooden plate.
3. Clip a few branches from your yard.
4. Bring in hydrangeas from the garden.
5. Fill a vintage ironstone pitcher with dried hydrangeas.
6. Place a small mum in a pretty pot next to your kitchen sink.
7. Fill a pitcher with fall flowers.
8. Gather acorns in a little bowl.
9. Add pine cones to a basket.
10. Fill a crock with dried wheat or grasses.
11. Put a few mini white pumpkins on a vintage plate.
12. Add a rosemary plant to the windowsill.
13. Mix apples and pears together in a large wooden bowl.

Swap Your Textiles

Changing the linens in our kitchen seasonally, is one of my favorite things to do because it’s so easy.

A simple swap of a dish towel, rug, table runner, or even cafe curtains can bring in warmer colors, cozy patterns, and a little more texture without adding any extra “stuff” to the room.

14. Hang a plaid towel from your oven handle.
15. Swap a summer dish towel for gingham.
16. Choose a towel in rust, brown, olive, burgundy, or mustard.
17. Drape a pretty tea towel over the sink.
18. Add a vintage-inspired rug in front of the sink.
19. Hang cafe curtains on the window above your kitchen sink (if you have one).
20. Place gingham chair pads on your chairs or counter stools for extra comfort.
21. Add a plaid or linen table runner.
22. Lay a tablecloth on a breakfast table.
23. Fold linen napkins inside of a woven basket on your kitchen counter.
24. Drape an apron over the back of a chair.

Warm Up Your Kitchen Countertops

When I talk about decorating your kitchen counters, I am not talking about covering every inch of them with pumpkins, signs, and seasonal decor.

I’m talking about making a few small changes with things that are both pretty and useful so your counters still feel functional and not cluttered.

The last thing you want is to have to move a bunch of decorations every time you need to make dinner or wipe the counters down.

25. Lean a wood cutting board against the backsplash.
26. Layer two or three cutting boards together.
27. Put wooden spoons in a stoneware crock or pitcher.
28. Bring out a vintage breadboard.
29. Stack a few of your favorite cookbooks for fall baking.
30. Prop open a favorite fall cookbook.
31. Add a rattan basket to corral everyday items like keys and mail.
32. Put butter in a pretty butter dish.
33. Add a small salt cellar beside the stove.
34. Place a candle on a vintage saucer.
35. Add a small framed landscape against the backsplash.
36. Display a little piece of vintage fall art.
37. Add a small lamp to the counter.
38. Swap the lampshade for plaid, pleated, or patterned.
39. Style your hand and dish soap together on a small tray.

Decorate With the Things You Already Use

Nope, you don’t need to haul your fall bins out of the attic or head to the store to decorate your kitchen.

Usually everything you need is already hiding in your cabinets, drawers, or pantry.

40. Display a pretty fall plate on a plate stand.
41. Lean brown transferware against the backsplash.
42. Bring out amber glassware.
43. Make magnets using inexpensive butter pats and hang them on your fridge.
44. Stack stoneware bowls on an open shelf.
45. Place your favorite fall mug beside the coffee maker.
46. Hang pretty mugs from hooks.
47. Put baking supplies in glass canisters on your kitchen counter.
48. Place vintage tea cups inside the glass canisters to act as scoops.
49. Display a vintage soup tureen.
50. Bring out a wood or stoneware serving bowl.
51. Fill a leaf or pumpkin shaped serving dish with fall colored candies.
52. Hang ironstone plates on your kitchen walls.
53. Bring out copper cookware.
54. Fill a pitcher with wooden utensils.
55. Place a dutch oven on your stove so it’s ready to use at anytime for cozy comfort food.

Make Your Kitchen Smell Like Fall

Our sense of smell has a huge impact on how a home feels, which means you can technically decorate your kitchen for fall without changing how it looks at all!

56. Light an apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, or vanilla candle.
57. Simmer a fall simmer pot on the stove.
58. Fill a marble bowl with cinnamon scented pinecones.
59. Bake a loaf of maple, apple, or pumpkin bread.
60. Brew a pot of cinnamon or pumpkin flavored coffee.
61. Add a fall scented hand or dish soap by the sink.
62. Whip up a batch of homemade potpourri.
63. Make apple butter in your crock pot.
64. Grab a cinnamon broom from Trader Joe’s…you’ll thank me later!

Lighting is Key to a Cozy Kitchen

As the days get shorter, lighting makes a big difference in how your kitchen feels.

I’m a big believer that you can never have too many lamps, and yes, that includes in the kitchen.

Warm lighting makes a space feel more inviting, especially on those dark fall mornings and early evenings.

You don’t need to change your light fixtures or do anything complicated either.

65. Turn off the overhead lights.
66. Turn on a small counter lamp.
67. Swap out your lightbulbs to GE Reveal LED HD Light (link to shop here). They’re the only bulbs we use in our house.
68. Add taper candles to the kitchen table.
69. Tuck a battery-operated candle onto a shelf.

A Few Quick & Easy Fall Kitchen Decorating Formulas to Try

Now you might be slightly overwhelmed by all of these ideas so here’s my trick.

Instead of thinking about decorating our entire kitchen all at once, I choose just one spot to focus on.

Trust me on this, a small fall moment can change the look and feeling of the entire room.

Here are a few easy formulas to try…

• By the Sink: Fall Soap + Plaid Kitchen Towel + Clipped Stems in a Vintage Creamer
• On the Island: Bowl of Apples + Vase of Flowers + Set of Salt & Pepper Shakers
• By the Stove: Wooden Cutting Board + Crock of Wooden Spoons + Vintage Art
• Coffee Corner: Fall Mug + Cinnamon Sticks + Glass Jars of Coffee Supplies
• On the Table: Pitcher of Branches + Taper Candles
• On a Shelf: Brown Transferware + Fall Landscape Print + Amber Glass
• In a Hutch: Stoneware + Dried Hydrangeas + Battery Operated LED Candles

Remember to Shop Your Home for Fall Decor

Before you buy anything new, walk around your house for a few minutes and look for pieces like…

• Baskets
• Wood Bowls
• Vintage Artwork
• Old Crocks
• Pitchers
• Cutting Boards
• Amber Bottles
• Brass Candleholders
• Plaid or Gingham Kitchen Linens
• Cookbooks
• Stoneware
• Copper
• Anything Red, Brown, Olive, Burgundy, Mustard, or Cream

Move a few things into your kitchen and see what happens.

Sometimes something you’ve looked at for years feels completely new simply because you put it in a different room.

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I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to enjoy simple cozy living!

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xoxo, Heidi