Blog
Indian summer
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
There’s a “back to school” nip in the air but September often heralds an Indian summer in the south-east with warm hazy afternoons and, as the leaves change colour, it’s a great time to give your home a mini makeover, adding warmth and texture to every room. As the days become cooler towards the end of the month, small changes, such as heavier fabrics and warm lighting transform your home and it’s also a great time to give your garden some love and have it looking its best before frosts set in.
In terms of interior décor, look for rich tones of cranberry and merlot and a subtle palette of soft beige pale grey, olive green and a deep navy blue . You don’t have to redecorate every room to ring the changes – you can create an instant update with soft furnishings and accessories. Add rich layers of warm textures and colour with cushions, blankets and throws. They’ll get plenty of use on chilly autumn nights.
Late summer/autumn evenings are perfect for creating casual comfort by adding scented candles and soft lighting to your décor whether you’re indoors or lucky enough to have warm evenings to eat al fresco. Weathered wood accessories add instant impact and even before Halloween, gourds are perfect autumn decorations with their diverse shapes, sizes, and colours. Coloured crystal glasses, decorative metallic chargers and hand-painted pottery add Mediterranean opulence to a dining table. Indulge your senses with the smell of summer herbs and the sweet aromas of autumn; cinnamon, nutmeg and baked apples.
In the garden, it’s time to gather onions and autumn raspberries, divide perennials, plant spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths and hardy summer-flowering bulbs, such as lilies, alliums and crocosmia. Keep your patio plants going as long as possible by deadheading regularly to encourage further flowering. If September does turn into an Indian summer, keep watering thoroughly once or twice a week. Camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas and hydrangeas won’t flower well next season if they get too dry just now. Look after your lawn in mid-late September by killing any moss and raking well, before applying an autumn lawn feed for a lush lawn next spring.
For advice on how to add value indoors or out, or if you would like a free appraisal of your property for rental or sale purposes please contact your local Frost Partnership office.
