The following is a guest post from one of my fellow counterparts at Coldwell Banker, Marlene Fernandez.

I don’t know about your house, but in my home the last few weekends have been crazy. Whether it was closing the pool, buying my son cozy new sweaters or shopping with my daughter for the perfect pair of leather boots, I’ve barely had any time to relax and just take everything in. The other day, though, as I walked to my car in the brisk morning air, it finally hit me: fall is finally here.

Between the relief from the blistering summer heat and the leaves changing colors and swirling in the breeze, fall has always been my favorite season. It’s the time for fragrant apple pies and pumpkin spice lattes, for heavier jackets and equally heavier bedding. It’s the time when a few small details can make your home match the rich vibrancy of the autumnal season—the kind of home seemingly made for recounting your day with your family by the fireplace, or for drinking a glass of wine as a seasonal candle burns in the background. It’s a time of beauty, of serenity and of a warmth much different from the heat that summer brings. 

For some homeowners, though, fall can sometimes mean closing up their much loved summer homes. But what if they decided to extend their stay? After all, a vacation home need not expire when the temperature drops. With the right touch, a vacation home, just like the trees outside in the coming weeks, can turn a new leaf.

The Wall Street Journal had a great piece on this very concept of turning a summer home into a fall retreat. I never thought of it before but why should the joy of a summer home be limited to one season. WSJ shares some simple design tips that can turn the feel of that July getaway house into a warm November escape. Click here for the full story from the Wall Street Journal.

Header image courtesy of Flickr user Ulf Bodin