02 October 2010

autumn home tour

We've had our first glimpse of cool weather here in the Pacific Northwest, and I couldn't pass up the chance to pull out my fall decorations. I love fall. My living area is decorated in fall colors year round (because I love their warmth), but I get so excited when I can finally pull out my pumpkins and candles, and pick up some new $2 mums.

Want to come in and look around? Let's start with the front porch. One of the things I love best about having a red door is that I never question what color flowers to use in my pots. That hit of deep, rich red is always a sure thing. 

I saw a bundle of pretty sticks for $7 at the craft store last weekend. I thought they'd look nice in my bronzed vase. But then I remembered we had a pile of pruned maple branches waiting to be chipped, so I grabbed some, stripped off the leaves, and plopped them in the vase. Perfect. And free!

Oh, and while I was out there, I swept away the spider webs from my porch light. Once I finished I realized I should have left them up there–Halloween decorations.

I can't get over these mums. They are absolutely on fire when the sun hits them.

Ugh. Can you tell our house used to be yellow? Some previous owner got a little carried away with the paint sprayer. If anyone knows how to get rid of/cover up that overspray on the foundation, please PLEASE tell me.

Alright, moving on. Let's go inside!
Here's my entry wall, all dressed up for autumn. 

OK, not really. This was totally staged for this photo. It never looks this clean. But a girl can dream. This is now my inspiration photo. Some day, my house will look like this all the time.

I try to decorate subtly for the seasons/holidays. For the most part, I just change out accessories. Simple, little things, here and there:
These wall vases hold faux orange ranunculus during spring and summer; berries for fall and winter.

Note the Ghirardelli box from my antique trip. What do you think about the orange berries around the pot? It's the first time I've done that. I'm not sure if I like it or not.

The antique pitcher now with wheat, thanks to Abby from Tales and Trials. And a cute little green pumpkin I found at the grocery store last year.


A fuzzy pumpkin made by Sweetpea, and an apothecary jar full of spiders, inspired by eighteen25's Spooktacular series.


I try to let my children help with some of the decorations. While I would love my house to look like the pictures in magazines, let's face it–my kids live here, too. So we have a row of Halloween toys along the windowsill. We have preschool tissue paper pumpkins taped to the windows and snowflake pumpkins on the door. And when I set this on the dining table–
...Sweetpea decided to add her own touches–wildflowers and chocolate cosmos from the yard and a beaded candleholder from her room. She was so proud of herself. "Mommy, look! I'm helping you decorate for fall!" What could I possibly do other than give a gushing "Thank you!" and a big hug?

Well, I hope you enjoyed my autumn home tour. Thanks for visiting! (Is anyone even still there? This was a long post!) 

What's your favorite fall decoration? Feel free to link your own posts in the comment section.