Fall is a season that begs for for remodeling and home décor projects. Summer is over, there’s a chill in the air and Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. You’re probably going to start spending more time indoors, and you might as well love your space. You can stock up on decorations by making them yourself. Using spray paint is an ideal way to produce professional-looking results even if you don’t have a lot of experience.

What You Should Know About Spray Paint

It’s incredible what a layer of fresh paint can do to spruce up your home. There are many types of spray paint, including those with a matte, glossy or metallic finish. Plus, spray paint is extremely versatile. Most types of aerosol spray paints can be used on a variety of surfaces, including wood, metal and plastic. There are even spray paints for fabric.

Some other surfaces that can be spray painted include:
• Fiberglass
• Glass
• Tin
• Ceramic
• Terra cotta
• Glass
• Plaster
• MDF
• Laminate
• Particle board

You should avoid spraying surfaces that will come in contact with food, like plates and forks, however.

Spray paint tends to go on more quickly than paint that must be brushed on. Plus, you avoid brush strokes and get a smooth, solid finish.

You should always use spray paint in a ventilated environment. Place projects on cardboard or drop cloths to avoid painting the surfaces behind them.

Mercury Glass Pumpkins

Jack-o-lanterns look great sitting on your stoop, but carving them can be a messy hassle. Also, once you set a carved pumpkin outside, it only lasts for a few days in many climates. You can decorate with pretty pumpkins indoors or out when you spray paint them.

One popular trend, according to Innovations Interior Design, is mercury glass. Houzz says that mercury glass can look traditional, modern or contemporary depending on how you decorate with it. It also warms up your house for the cooler months, especially when it’s combined with intentional lighting, such as votives, explains Deliciously Organized. Spraying pumpkins with paint to make them look like mercury glass is a classy way to bring metallic style into your home.

Mercury glass is textured. This makes it easy to replicate with aerosol spray paint even if you’re not an expert at applying it. Drips and cracks add to its character.

To make DIY mercury glass pumpkins, you’ll need the following materials:
• Real or artificial pumpkins with a smooth surface
• Mirror-effect spray paint
• Dark gray glossy spray paint
• Lint-proof rags
• Spray bottle
• Water
• White vinegar

Instructions for Mercury Glass Pumpkins:
1. Give the pumpkins a base coat using the dark gray spray paint. Wait for the paint to dry completely.
2. Mix equal amounts of water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Shake it, and spray the pumpkin with the mixture. You want water droplets to bead up on the pumpkins without running off.
3. Lightly spray the pumpkins with a coat of mirror-effect paint. Use a gentle touch so that you don’t disturb the water droplets.
4. In one or two minutes, use a soft cloth to wipe the surface. The paint won’t stick to the water droplets, giving your pumpkins a distressed appearance.
5. Repeat this process two or three times until you have the finish that you want.

This project looks most authentic when you use glass or ceramic pumpkins, but you can experiment with different materials to come up with the one that works best for your needs.

Milk Glass Pumpkins

Another vintage fashion that’s coming back into style is milk glass. You can make smooth pumpkins look like milk glass with a combination of glue gun texture and aerosol paints. Valspar makes a line of paints with the perfect color to capture the appeal of milk glass. You can also use a glossy white spray paint.

To make milk glass pumpkins, you’ll need the following materials:
• Real or artificial pumpkins with a smooth finish
• Glue gun or puffy paint
• Spray paint in pastel colors

Instructions for Milk Glass Pumpkins:
1. Spray the pumpkin with the paint as a base coat.
2. Create a pattern of raised dots using a puffy paint or glue gun. You can find a good example of the raised dot pattern at The Festive Farmhouse.
3. When the puffy paint or glue is dry, coat the pumpkin with more spray paint. Make sure that you handle the piece by the stem until it is fully dry.

Replace Flowers With Branches

If you love the look of freshly cut flowers arranged throughout your home, you may be disappointed when things stop blooming. You can bring color and nature indoors in the fall with one of the simplest spray paint projects.

To make colorful fall branches for home décor, you’ll need the following materials:
• Thin sticks and branches
• Colorful spray paint

Instructions for Colorful Branches:
1. Spray paint branches.
2. Arrange branches in vases, and place them around your home.

You can get as creative as you want with this project by using different colors or containers. A monochrome color palette using white, black, silver or gold is elegant. Warm autumn tones, such as orange, red and yellow, bring a touch of the season inside.

Indoor Herb Garden

Bring the tastiest part of the garden indoors for the winter with a DIY herb garden. You can turn soup or coffee cans into sophisticated planters, as Katie from Spray Paint and Chardonnay did.

To make pots for an indoor herb garden, you’ll need the following materials:
• Tin cans
• Nail
• Hammer
• Chalky finish spray paint
• Metallic spray paint
• Paint pens (optional)
• Painter’s tape

Instructions for Indoor Herb Garden:
1. Empty, wash and dry tin cans. Remove any adhesive from the outside using olive oil, adhesive remover or rubbing alcohol.
2. Punch holes in the bottom of the can for drainage by hammering a nail into the base several times.
3. Paint the can with chalky finish aerosol paints in a color of your choosing. Wait 24 hours for it to dry.
4. Place painter’s tape on the can to cover the areas that you don’t want to cover with the metallic paint. Then, spray metallic paint on the exposed area. Allow it to dry.
5. If you desire, label the cans with the name of the herb using a paint pen.

You can plant herbs in the pots by purchasing starts from a nursery or grocery store. You can also buy potting soil and plant seeds. Leave the cans on a windowsill and watch the herbs grow. Snip what you need using scissors every time you need to add flavor to a recipe.

Leaf Bowls

Watching leaves change colors is one of the most delightful parts of the season. As the leaves fall, fashion them into delicate bowls to use as centerpieces or home décor.

To make leaf bowls, you’ll need the following materials:
• Leaves – They can be real or artificial, but they should be soft and not crumbly.
• Mod Podge
• Paintbrush
• Balloon
• Bowl to hold balloon
• Scissors
• Spray paint in color of your choice

Instructions for Leaf Bowls:
1. Once you have collected leaves, blow up a balloon to the size of the final bowl.
2. Place the tied end of the balloon into a bowl to support it as you work. You won’t be placing leaves on this end.
3. Brush Mod Podge onto one side of a leaf. Press that leaf to the balloon, and apply more Mod Podge to the outside of the leaf. Continue to apply leaves in this manner.
4. Let the leaves dry completely. This can take up to 24 hours.
5. Once the bowl is dry, pop the balloon by snipping a small hole in it with scissors. Release the air slowly.
6. The leaf bowl may become misshapen as the balloon deflates. Don’t worry. After the balloon is completely deflated, pull it gently off of the leaf bowl and reshape the bowl.
7. Coat the bowl with a few layers of spray paint.

You can apply the leaves in a thick, overlapping pattern, as this Instructable shows. You can also create a more delicate look by using fewer leaves and allowing for more space in between them.

Leaf Garlands

While you’re collecting leaves, save some to use for other spray paint projects. This is one of the easiest and fastest fall décor projects that you can create.

To make leaf garlands, you’ll need the following materials:
• Leaves – These can be real or artificial.
• Spray paint
• Length of string or twine
• Glue gun (optional)

Instructions for Leaf Garlands
1. Spread the leaves in a single layer on newspaper or cardboard.
2. Lightly spray with paint, adding more coats if necessary.
3. Glue or tie the leaves to the string, spacing them evenly. Hang the garland over your mantel.
You can also use spread colored leaves across the center of a table as an easy, laid-back centerpiece.

Paint It Black

A fun way to prepare for Halloween is to paint things black. This is a creative and subtle way to make your home look creepy without going overboard.

To make black home décor for Halloween, you’ll need the following materials:
• Black spray paint
• A variety of objects to paint – We’ve included some ideas below.

Instructions for Making Black Home Décor
1. This aerosol spray paint project is one of the easiest. Simply gather objects, paint them black, wait for them to dry, and place them around your house.

Some ideas for items that you can spray paint black include:
• Bottles with taper candles inserted into the openings
• Plastic or metal buckets
• Lanterns
• Vases
• Leaves
• Wreaths
• Empty picture frames
• Chandeliers
• Toy animal figurines
• Broom
• Wooden letters spelling out something spooky
• Candlesticks

Put the items on windowsills, mantels, shelves or your front steps. You can also hang small pumpkins, picture frames or chandeliers from trees outside if you use outdoor spray paint.

Fall Tablecloth

Make a tablecloth to decorate your eating area throughout the season. It will have hand-painted charm, and no one needs to know that you simplified the project by using spray paint instead of a paint brush.

To make a fall tablecloth, you’ll need the following materials:
• Spray paint in your choice of colors
• Large stencils or vinyl cut-outs
• Large piece of canvas or clean canvas drop cloth
• Iron
• Large work area
• Binder clips, clamps, or heavy stones
• Newspaper
• Masking tape

Instructions for Fall Tablecloth:
1. Choose a piece of canvas or a hemmed drop cloth that fits your table.
2. Iron the canvas.
3. Spread the canvas on a smooth surface so that you can see it all at once. Use binder clips or clamps to attach it to a table, or place heavy stones on the edges to keep it from folding over.
4. Lay the stencils on the cloth, and tape them down.
5. Tape down newspaper to the areas of the cloth that you don’t want to paint.
6. Spray the open areas with paint. Allow them to dry. Move the stencils and masking tape as necessary, and continue to spray the design.
7. Once the tablecloth has dried for 72 hours, iron it on the reverse side to set the paint.

Update Outdoor Furniture

By the end of the summer, outdoor upholstery has gotten its fair share of moisture and UV damage. You could reupholster it, but that takes a great deal of time. Plus, outdoor upholstery fabric can be expensive.

Revitalize the fabric on outdoor pillows and cushions with a few coats of spray paint instead. You’ll have to make sure that you purchase spray paint that is designed for use on fabrics. This sinks into the material instead of creating a coating on top, which can be rough and scratchy.

The Happier Homemaker explains how to use Spray It New’s Simply Spray Fabric Paint on outdoor furniture. You’ll need multiple coats to produce an even appearance. This means that you might go through more paint than you expect.

If you tackle this project in the fall, you’ll be able to enjoy your comfortable outdoor furniture during the few months when the weather is cool, crisp and beautiful.

To spray paint your outdoor upholstery, you’ll need:
• Cushions and pillows to paint
• Spray paint designed for fabrics

Instructions for spray painting outdoor cushions:
1. Vacuum cushions and make sure that they’re free of debris.
2. Coat the fabric with spray paint, using light layers.
3. Allow to dry fully before using.

HGTV says that curated collections are a trendy way to display fun items. You can tie together random objects by spray painting them. A carefully selected color palette can also unify items from various eras. This works for fall decorations as well as items that you show off throughout the year.