Here at Glowsly, we love the festive fall season, and trying new creative fall nails is our favorite way of celebrating it. There’s so much inspiration between the autumnal color palette, the textures of coats and blazers, the creativity behind knitted sweaters, and the ability to layer our favorite outfits. As we look to our fall nail designs, it’s no surprise that we look to these influences.
To inspire your fall mani, we have hand-picked 71 fall nail ideas, from the minimalist and modern to ones featuring crispy leaves and rich fall nail colors. These cute fall nails from professional nail artists are everything you’d want. There’s something cool for a playful, fun design for a night out on the town, and others for a classic, sophisticated look for the office. Regardless of which cute fall nails you’ll try this time of year, celebrate the harvest season on the tips of your fingers.
1. Element-Inspired Neutral Fall Nails with Falling Leaves
These subtle and cute fall nails are perfect for the gloomy season. With a combination of nude, light blue, heather gray, and subtle orange polish colors, these black- and white-outlined falling leaves look as if they are being blown by the North Wind.
2. Avant-Garde Fall Floral Nails
Who says fall is just for leaves? This fall nail art combines bright colors with earthy elements. Try adding flower nail designs and plants like ferns with simple shapes for an avant-garde fall look.
3. Hand-Sketched Fall Nails with Muted Colors
Pumpkin orange, sage green, winter blue, and white make for a lovely understated color palette perfect for the hand-sketched look of the black details. Try imitating the curl of a pumpkin stem or the curve of a fallen leaf for a subtle yet standout fall nail design.
4. Melted Leaf Nails in Ombre Orange and Yellow
These fall nails are a sophisticated yet playful ombre, perfect for everyday fall wear. The melting colors remind us of leaves, pumpkin-shaped candy corn, and bright autumnal sunsets.
5. Modern Autumnal Nails
If you love orange and pink together, this is one of the best fall nail designs for you. The organic lines created with the nail polish remind us of the natural slope of leaf-strewn hills and cloud-covered sunsets.
6. Matte Fall Nails with Leaf Ring Finger Detail
The autumn season is the perfect time to bring out matte nail polish. It gives a lovely texture that works amazing with cable knit sweaters, tweed blazers, and, of course, fall nail designs. This fall nail idea featuring sage green and burnt orange colors will pop against brown leather accessories.
7. Simple Autumnal Flower Nails
These oval nails are a perfect combination of simplicity and festive fun. These florals are amazing against a solid-colored sweater for just the right amount of detail.
8. Hauntingly Enchanted Sunset Fall Nails
For those who love a more gothic twist with their fall nail art, these matte golden yellow and black nails perfectly combine a fall sunset with the silhouettes and shadows of pomegranates. It’s a subtle nod to the mythology of Hades and Persephone, where the god of Death takes Spring to be his bride, and it makes a smart and classic statement.
9. Adorable Animal-Inclusive Fall Nails
Want something truly cute? No one would be able to resist your nails! This cute fall nail idea decorated with an illustrated hedgehog and fox brings some of our favorite autumnal animals to the forefront.
10. Neutral Nails with a Geometric Twist
While it may be getting cooler, neutrals and nudes are hot during the fall. Combine the color palette with a modern geometric spin, and you have some top-notch fall nail designs.
11. Make Halloween a Seasonal Trend Nails
Some of us wish celebrating Halloween can last longer than the day – or month of October. This matte black and orange fall nail idea is an elegant way to embrace your spooky side the rest of this fall.
12. For the Love of Pumpkin Nails
These pumpkin-inspired fall nails are the way to go for the rest of autumn. The tortoiseshell-influenced fall nail designs are perfectly preppy in a fun, understated way.
13. Leaves and Stripes Fall Nails
In this fall nail idea, the nails are each unique from their stripes to their detailed leaves to their solid colors. Be bold this autumn by giving each nail its own design.
These matte black nails with gold stars remind us of going back to school and earning our gold stars in the classroom. Embrace the chalkboard-look for a perfect style you’ll get an A+ on.
15. Whispering Leaves Fall Nails
The autumn makes us think of great gales that rustle the leaves in the trees to make them sound as if they are whispering. Be inspired by the movement of nature this season and make leaves fly across your fall nail designs and into your fashion.
16. Elegant Gray Nails with Subtle Florals
Gray is such a beautiful seasonal color. It pairs wonderfully with other muted colors – as seen here in the florals – as well as with brighter tones. This fall nail idea would be great for a work environment.
17. Modern Smashing Pumpkin Fall Nails
Want pumpkins but in a more understated way? These nails combine the gorgeous colors of orange and sage green with a more modern shape. The pumpkin curl-like black squiggles make for great fall nail designs.
18. Nude and Red Nails with Leaf Accent
The great concept of this fall nail idea is the use of red as a background to create an oval shape for the nude part of these palettes. The fallen red and yellow leaves make for a great fall nod.
19. Autumnal Red and Gold Nails with Sparkle
Don’t shy away from adding some sparkle to your fall nail designs this season. The use of the red crystals is truly eye-catching and will instantly pop against the sunset gold.
20. Modern Colors of The Wind Fall Nails
The blustery wind is such a fall mood, and we can’t help but use it for inspiration for our fall nail designs. With change and movement occurring during the autumn, let the wind blow in muted colors across your nails.
21. Retro Autumnal Nails
‘90s lovers, these fall nails are perfect for you. The combination of solid golden yellow and white with triangle blocks of color and dots is a throwback to some of the ‘90s favorite patterns.
Grunge and glamour is a combo that needs to happen more often. It’s elegant with an edge with these dark gray puddles and metallic gold leaves.
23. Simple Red-Loving Fall Nails with Silhouettes
Want something simple that packs a punch? These cute fall nails hit the nail on the head. With a lovely red shade and gorgeously sketched white and black autumnal motifs, your fall nail designs are going to stand out this season.
24. Cute Watercolor Nails with Diamond Details
Watercolor might be something we see more often in the summer, but the fall is the perfect time to use it! These fall nails are subtle yet look amazing as the colors work off one another, and the diamond shapes truly highlight them.
25. Busy Bee Fall Nails for a Productive Fall
The fall is a crazy busy time of year between back-to-back holidays and back-to-school start-ups. While you can be busy, your fall nail designs don’t have to be. Go with a simple color palette, make it fun, and add a cute detail or two.
26. Fall Fruit Nails with Some Stripey Fun
Mix up this autumn with this fall nail idea: add some vibrant fruit inspo to the tips of your fingers. Oranges and lemons are the perfect colors for the season, and mixing it up with some fun, colorful stripes will put a twist in your day.
27. Dainty Striped Fall Nails with Lovely Leaves
Stripes don’t only have to be on your clothes this season. These cute fall nail designs have normal stripes and those made of polka dots paired with big color.
28. Festive Dark Nails Perfect for Daylight Saving Time
As we fell back an hour this season, we have been seeing a lot more of the night sky. Why not copy it on your fall nail designs? This fall nail idea combines the drama of the night with the wind in the trees.
29. Dramatic Almond-Shaped Nails with Orange Accents
The fall can be dramatic with its crazy change of colors and its blustery winds. Why not copy the feeling on your fingers? Go with a longer nail shape to help push the boundaries while going with a simple orange-accented fall nail idea.
30. Minimalist Fall Nails
If you love a subtle nail design, you’re going to love this one. Combine some of your favorite colors in some avant-garde shapes, and you’ll make people’s heads turn.
31. Fall in Love with These New England Nails
Be inspired by your travels this fall and incorporate them into your fall nail designs. With animals like shrimp and cows and places to visit like lighthouses, you’ll have a fall nail art perfect for your passport photo.
32. Nude Nails with Fall Colors
People want to have fun with their nails even if they have to keep them looking professional for work. These fun fall nail designs combine the two perfectly. After coating your nail with a nude coat, add some cute simplistic leaves in some of your favorite seasonal colors.
33. Modern Nails with Warm Colors
Go for a more modern fall nail idea by playing with stripes in different directions. These warm colors make for a mesmerizing look with this fun fall nail design.
34. Go Circular This Fall
Circles are the shape for fall from round pumpkins to the setting sun. Take that inspiration and put it on your fall nails with a variety of warm autumnal colors.
35. Get Your Squiggle on With These Fun Fall Nails
Squiggles and waves are the perfect way to visualize the blowing breeze of autumn. Try this fall nail idea for a fun twist, including the half-naked, half-painted look.
36. Nails with One Sketch Across Multiple Nail Plates
When it comes to minimalist fall nail designs with a twist, consider trying this nail art and take a sketch and paint it across multiple nail plates. It’s creative, unique, yet simple and spontaneous.
37. Apple-Inspired Fall Nails Perfect for Apple Picking
As you get ready to go to an orchard and pick some delicious apples, paint some onto your nails. This fun fall nail idea combines not only apple colors such as the solid red but also some cute apple designs.
38. Nature Fall Nails That You Should Take on a Hike
As the leaves change colors and the weather grows colder, many go for hikes in the mountains. These nature-inspired fall nails with bug motifs are a fun treat when you wear your comfy hiking clothes.
39. Bird of Paradise Nails with an Autumn Focus
The bird of paradise plant is one that blossoms in the colder months. Embrace the excitement of this beautiful plant by bringing it into your cute fall nail designs.
40. Fall Festival Nails Inspired by The Garden
With reds, yellows, and greens, it’s easy to see how our fall nail designs can be inspired by the fall harvest. So many fruits and vegetables become readily available. Take some of that inspiration and be creative with it on your nails.
41. Bouncing Balloon Nails Perfect for Parties
There is plenty to celebrate in the fall between the holidays – the changing environment, pumpkins everywhere, and the sweet goodies we get to indulge in. Bless your fall nail designs with some balloon imagery for some celebration fun.
42. Spectacular Half-Painted Fall Nails
These cute fall nail designs are sophisticated with the half-painted nail style. Switch the colors around to purple, yellow, or red for your own personal style this autumn.
43. Fall Feather-Inspired Nails for Friendsgiving
Birds’ feathers have some of the most amazing prints. Check out the game that is outside your window or take inspiration from birds like pheasants for some awesome fall nail designs. Peaco*cks are out. Make way for the pheasant.
44. Favorite Print Nails with a Simple Color Palette
Just like how different patterns can be pulled together with a simple color palette, fall nail designs can be done the same way. These fall nails pull from different favorites, including Garfield and a modern plaid, but it’s the use of orange, black, nude, and white colors that makes this varied pattern work.
45. Speckled Wheat Nails
Wheat is one of those crops you can see grow across the hills as you leave the city and enter the country. It’s not just a perfect sight for a fall road trip – it can also inspire this speckled fall nail idea.
46. Love Ladybugs This Fall with Your Nails
Ladybugs are one of those creatures we can’t help but love. This fall, switch the red color palette for a dark orange and spot those fall nails up for a cute look.
47. Artistic Fall Nails Featuring Your BFFs
Take your best friends everywhere you go – on your fall nail designs. Autumn is the time to be thankful for each other, so why not show it on your nails? Your besties will thank you for your creativity.
48. Go Buggy This Fall with These Insect Crawling Nails
We love the outdoors in the fall. Its cool weather is truly inviting, and animals thrive in it. These fall nails appreciate your creepy crawly friends as they flutter along your fingers.
49. Fall Festival Nails with Mushrooms
Embrace mushrooms this fall with their red caps with white specks! These super cute motifs are perfect to pair with pumpkins.
50. Plaid Fall Nails with Cat-titude
Autumn is the time for warm plaids and fleecy flannels. Take that classic pattern and put it on your nails in muted colors. Don’t forget the cute cat detail!
51. Geometric Purple Nails with Ombre Colors
We love a good purple nail here at Glowsly. Take a couple of shades, and instead of making them flow from one into another in an ombre style, try some geometric patterns for a cool, confident fall nail idea.
52. Fun Squiggle Nails in Warm Colors
Play around with this fun fall nail design! Pair up some warm matte colors with standout squiggles for a joyous combination that will put a bounce in your step.
53. Fall in Love with Florals Matte Nails
Almond-shaped nails are perfect for the fall season. Combine a floral print in some of your favorite matte colors for a classy, preppy vibe.
54. Radically Painted Fall Nails for a Subtle Rebellious Spin
Rebel this fall from flowers and leaves with your fall nail designs! This avant-garde look will make people want to look at your nails and wonder how you made it look so effortless.
55. Radish-Inspired Fall Nails Perfect for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is all about the food. Dress up your nails with one of your favorite veggies or fruits like these radishes. This fall nail idea is different, unique, and totally appropriate for the harvest holiday.
56. Neutral Fall Nails with a Coffee-Loving Twist
Pumpkin spice latte lovers, this one’s for you! We know you love your coffee, so bring some neutral browns, whites, and golds into the mix for your fall nail designs. It’ll go great against your coffee cup.
57. Navy Fall Nails with Golden Harvest Print
Gold and navy might not be the first autumnal color combination that will be thought of. But when the golden leaves on the trees and the deep navy of the night come together, it makes for beautiful inspiration for cute fall nail designs. Play around with these colors in matte and shape up some fall leaves for an inspiring fall nail idea.
58. Bright Preppy Fall Nails
Bright colors shouldn’t be just for spring and summer. Use them during the fall too! This preppy stripe and solid combo brings the lovely bright fall colors to the forefront.
59. Geode Nails for Nature-Lovers
Geodes come in all different shapes and sizes. When they’re cracked open, they can show a variety of lovely colors. These fall nails are no different. With the black edging and the myriad of colors in the center, this creative take on the geode is fantastic.
60. Tortoiseshell Nails
Tortoiseshell is a hot fall design combo that is as classic as it is cool. We see it in sunglasses to details on the purses we love. Try combining different browns and blacks to imitate the material and play with a French manicure look with it.
61. Silhouette Plant-Inspired Fall Nails for Early Mornings
Dusk and dawn are beautiful times to see the silhouettes of plants. Combine a few favorite flat colors and draw some of your favorite plants for a cute fall nail idea.
62. Fall Nails with Lovely Crocus Flowers
Crocuses are enchanting flowers that appear from spring into fall. This sketch-like fall nail idea on them really blooms against the light yellow while the bright green pops.
63. Cheetah Fall Nails That Prove Prints Can Be a Neutral
This cheetah print is so much fun – especially with just the stripe of it. This fall print has been popular for years and adds just enough excitement without being too wild.
64. Classic Fall Nails with Painterly Flowers
Have a nail stand out from the solid rest with a bold pattern of flowers! To give some depth to your fall nail designs, let the flowers be painterly and have some roundness in their coloring.
65. Ombre Fall Nails with a River-Like Effect
These creamsicle orange nails with a white ombre are perfect to wear beyond Thanksgiving. The standout nail that features a river-like effect both switches up the pattern and adds some depth to the design.
66. Houndstooth Nails That Will Make Your Closet Jealous
Houndstooth is such a classic pattern, as seen on coats and blazers. Bring this preppy pattern to the forefront by adding it to your fall nail designs – that way, you always have a fun pattern on you when you want to keep your outfit simple.
67. Mocha Nails for Your Fall Afternoon
Keep your fall nail designs flying against the keyboard with some help from our favorite fall flavor. Mocha is a flavorful drink, and its colors can be truly inspirational for when you need a zing of focus.
68. Dragon Fruit Fall Nails to Bring out Your Inner Dragon
Be inspired by the tropical dragon fruit, a lovely plant that is big on color and flavor. Add some sweetness to your fall nail designs with a drawing of it that will remind you to be bold this fall.
69. Teal Fall Nails
Teal is a bright and bold green that is a wonderful fall color. Add it to your leaf details or to a full nail palette. No matter how you add it, the color will make your fall nail designs total stand out.
70. Bold White Fall Nails with Florals
White is a striking color when the fall tones come out to play. Go against the colorful trends with a white nail with a creative edge and some florals.
71. Watercolor Fall Nails for Some Flowing Texture
Try for a watercolor effect this fall as you experiment with creative fall nail designs! It will add a nice, rounded coloring to your flowers and details.
Photos via Instagram
