When days get shorter, temperatures dip and the rainy seasons starts, our designers like to get cozy. See how they used some of our favorite living and dining room furniture and decor staples, along with a few well-chosen seasonal touches, to create a warm, inviting feel.

Getting Your Living Room Ready for Cozy Season

One of the best parts of fall is getting to cuddle up on a soft, inviting couch. But how can we balance the practical side of of coziness with the polish and sophistication of intentional design? We asked City Home designers Francisco and Julia to create inspirational autumnal lounge vignettes at our Portland and Lake Oswego furniture showrooms—here's what they came up with!

Portland Showroom: Natural Inspiration & Inviting Textures

Featuring mahogany-toned leather and sage velvet, City Home designer Francisco Ortega's cozy fall living room vignette is equal parts down-to-earth and comfortable. "I was inspired by earth tones and natural textures," he says, noting that "mixing in a variety of textures and colors" is key to setting the right mood for your living space.

While details like accessories and fabric are important, true coziness requires a comfortable place to lay back and relax. According to Francisco, the star of the show in this arrangement is the leather couch, a timeless and dependable style choice that will anchor your living room and provide comfort all year round.

All of our modern furniture showrooms in Oregon and Washington carry a variety of leather sofas for you to choose from, all featuring top-quality construction with sustainable, natural materials. The leather couch featured in Francisco's design is built to last, with a solid-wood frame supporting spring down cushions that use a blend of down, feathers and natural fibers to create a luxurious, cocoon-like feel. Thoughtful details like a special interior ticking to keep feathers in place add to the quality and comfort of every piece of furniture we carry. Features like this, Francisco notes, "provide superior comfort combined with great resiliency." That's just the right blend of features to make your cozy furniture stand the test of time.

Lake Oswego Showroom: Seasonal Colors & Luxurious Mood

green velvet sofa with marble top table

Over in Lake Oswego, City Home designer Julia Domogalla used the Kelsey sectional sofa in a beautiful sage green to bring a soft sense of elegance to the living room. Sectionals are a great cozy couch option because they provide enough space for the whole family to snuggle up, or for you and a friend to both spread out while you chat or watch a movie. Julia opted to add throw pillows in a variety of different soft textures, plus a signature blanket from Pendleton as an extra inviting touch.

Beyond seating, Julia points out that having versatile display pieces in your lounge area can help enhance your seasonal style. Bookcases with multiple shelving tiers create, in Julia's words, "ample styling opportunities to add touches of fall like pumpkins and decor." She also suggests using faux stems to bring in elements of the outdoors. As Julia notes, "faux stems require no maintenance and can last for seasons to come," meaning you can swap out different options throughout the year to maintain the right ambiance. Other textural elements, like the metallic gold taper candleholders she styled on the marble-topped coffee table, add warmth and textural contrast to her design. Finding the right balance of these elements is the key to polished design.

Dining Room Decor for Fall: Thanksgiving and Beyond

Dining table in fall color scheme

Coziness isn't always about laying back and relaxing. Sometimes, it's about inviting all your loved ones to gather together and enjoy a great dinner. Whether for Thanksgiving or a regular autumnal evening, bringing a cozy feel to your dining room is a fun way to celebrate the season. Over at our Portland showroom, Francisco created an additional vignette using a beautiful Four Hands dining table and more nature-inspired accessories.

You can take inspiration from Francisco's imaginative design and translate it to your own home by considering the way materials enhance the seasonal feel. For example, the warm golden dining chair feels like a classic fall color when paired with the velvet pumpkins and other items that recall the color of falling leaves. However, that same color chair can easily transition to other seasons by swapping out accessories. For example, the rug pictured here could be swapped for a darker color and thicker texture for winter, and the centerpiece can focus on fruit and florals for spring and summer.

More Advice For Fall Home Decor

For most of us in the Pacific Northwest, fall is a time to start nesting and making your home a welcoming oasis. Purchasing new anchor pieces for your living and dining rooms—including sofas, sectionals, armchairs and dining tables—can be a great way of transitioning into the rainy season. But you don't need to replace your furniture to make the shift into cool-weather coziness. Francisco and Julia have some additional tips on how to use accessories and decor to make your space feel more like fall:

  • Throw pillows are an easy way to take your living room throughout the seasons. Velvet is a great choice for cooler months, adding visual dimension and an inviting feel.
  • Rugs are another great option for a quick change that can really change the tone of the room without taking up too much space between seasons. Consider rugs with a deeper pile for colder seasons to add extra warmth and comfort.
  • Think about whether the lighting in your space is optimal for the change in seasons. If you rely on natural lighting during the summer months, you may want to bring in some additional lamps or chandeliers to make sure your living spaces are bright enough for fall. Use warm rather than cool-toned lightbulbs to help create an inviting ambiance.

Want more help getting your home ready for a seasonal change? Come visit your local City Home showroom for ideas and inspiration, or get in touch with our Design Services team for a free, customized design plan.