Today I'm bringing you Part 1 of this year's Fall decor. I'm doing it in parts because 1) I don't have it all done yet, and 2) Imma just be honest here, I don't really have anything else to blog about right now so I'm gonna milk it a bit. : )
For this first part we'll be focusing on the couch and coffee table area.
This arrangement on the shelf is SO different from my style of seasonal decorating in the past, but I decided I wasn't going to "cheat" this year. Let me explain. We've lived in 5 different houses in our 10 years of marriage. At each house, the first year we were there the Fall decorating took me a good week to do to figure out where to put everything and how to arrange it, etc. Come the 2nd year, I'd just look at pictures from the year before and put everything back up exactly the same. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, done in no time. Well, this is our 2nd year here so technically this is my "cheat" year. But I decided I didn't want to do that this time around. I wanted to challenge myself to come up with some completely different things, and in more of a "junky" style - a little more understated and not so cutsie and "in-your-face-hello-my-home-is-decorated-for-FALL!" Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not ready for white pumpkins and all things burlap, I still love the warm colors of the season and I don't plan to do away with them anytime soon. I'm just going for "different" from what I've done in the past.
This framed artwork is just a page from a magazine - Family Circle maybe? I can't remember for sure now, it's from last year. And the "painting" was a recent .25 yard sale purchase.
I love the typography on these old levels. (Found at a flea market for $1 each.)
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| Remember this wooden dresser/mirror piece I got for .50 at a garage sale? |
I moved the hardware onto the front of it, flipped it over and hung it upside down from what it's supposed to be to form a frame around the artwork. It kind of mimics a miniature mantel almost.
Moving on down to the couch and coffee table we have this great old vintage wool blanket. It was a $1 estate sale find from last summer.
This cute little pillow was an after season clearance purchase from Hobby Lobby last year. I think I might have paid $2 for it.
And here's what I came up with for the coffee table. (My dog always insists on photo-bombing my pictures so this time I just let her stay.)
The tray was a .25 garage sale purchase. I layered it with a vintage hankie (.05 at a garage sale), a candle and beaded candle ring and pumpkin candy dish that I've had for a couple of years, and some scrabble tiles that were also a cheapo garage sale purchase this summer. (My 2yr old likes to rearrange them and spell things like UTUMAN, and NATUUM.)
I really love the way it turned out. It makes me smile every time I look at it. And to me that's the whole point of decorating my home. I don't do it for anyone else but my own family. It's not about keeping up with or outdoing anybody else. It's not about getting comments or traffic on my blog. It's not about showing off my creative side or showing off my garage sale deals. No...for me it's all about what makes my heart smile. I love to have a cozy home where my family feels happy, loved, well cared for, and peaceful. Part of that for me is having it decorated with things that I/we love and in such a way that it makes us happy to look at it. My blog is just a way of sharing that with others.
Whew! That was quite a rabbit trail that I hadn't planned on going down, but there ya have it.
And I'll leave you with this final picture. I was cooking dinner the other day and I just happened to walk into the living room for something. I noticed the late afternoon sun streaming in the window and illuminating my little arrangement and I couldn't resist a picture. It struck me as so beautiful. I only wish I could have captured it just as beautifully with my camera as I was seeing it with my eyes.
I'll work hard this week and do my best to get another post ready for Part 2. Then, once my mums start opening up I'll do a part 3 of the outside decor.
Stay tuned!
(And don't hold your breath for a Fun Friday Finds post. Most likely those will be few and far between now that the sales are dropping off. I'll do them on sort of an "as needed" basis.)
** Update - Part 2 can be seen {here} and part 3 is {here}.
