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There is no disputing it, autumn has arrived.

The battle of the thermostat has started and getting up for work in the dark is a grim reality. So, why not embrace the change in season and bring a little bit of autumn inside? Here are three ideas using the colourful wonders nature provides.

Leaf bunting
I’m starting with my favourite, why haven’t I seen this done before? I love it! It’s so simple. Gather an assortment of fallen leaves, look for a variety of colours and shapes. Place them between two tea towels and press them by piling heavy books on top. The longer you leave them the longer they will stay flat when strung up. Hang a sort of washing-line, using string or garden twine, where you want your bunting displayed.

Then, simply peg your leaves evenly spaced along the string. Group small leaves together so they don’t look lost among the bigger leaves. I used mini pegs I found in a craft shop as regular washing pegs are a bit too heavy. Alternatively, you could always tie a piece of ribbon around the leaf stalk and then tie that to the main string. That would give you a nice fluttery effect too.

As the leaves dry out they will curl and look less attractive. But the great thing about this bunting is that the leaves can be easily replaced. Perhaps intersperse the leaves with sprigs of eucalyptus or rosemary to give the room fragrance?

Now my my leaf bunting hangs across a window in my dining room but the best light on a grey day is to be found outside, so for photographic purposes I pinned the bunting to my garden fence.

Seasonal table centrepiece
There’s no particular reason why this should be in the centre of a table, it would look just as good on a windowsill or mantelpiece - I just happen to like a focal point to my dining table. In spring it’s flowering bulbs, in summer it’s wildflowers picked on a walk and in winter it’s holly, red berries and candles.

So to autumn. I used a glass cake stand as my base but you can use any attractive dish or bowl. A tealight in a shot glass stands in the centre, so it can be lit at night and I bought three gourds from my local farm shop to give the display a bit of oomph.

The pine cones I collected have refused to open up, I guess they feel rain in the air for more days to come, so I used more than you would need to if they were open. After piling those on, I simply filled in the remaining space with berries and leaves. The eucalyptus I had left over from last year – it’s quite brittle but still smells fantastic. The red berries and rosehips are hedgerow finds, while the orange rowan tree berries, the black honeysuckle berries and the gorgeous purple early amethyst berries all came from my garden.

Autumnal door wreath
I like homemade wreaths to look homemade, especially when you’re using decoration picked from nature. The natural world isn’t a neat place so why should my wreath be? Anyway, that’s my excuse for a rather haphazard-looking front door decoration.

You can buy basic wreath frames made of wire, oasis, moss-covered or twiggy (like mine) from florists, garden centres and some home interiors shops. I wrapped floristry wire around the wreath base to give me something to poke the branches into. Then, I just worked my way around the wreath, threading through branches of berries, covering the wire wherever possible.

The leaves are with the early amethyst berries and I like the slightly chaotic look they give to the wreath. The very dry eucalyptus snapped off when I tried to thread it through so I attached it by wrapping a length of wire around it and the wreath and then twisted the wires at the back to keep it in place.

Apart from not leaving any great empty gaps I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to make a wreath. When you’re happy with how it looks, stop and hang it up for everyone who walks by your home to enjoy too.

Read more from Gabrielle Utton at www.thegreengal.co.uk