Fall Decor: A Tour of My Little Home

I first need to preface this post with a honest disclaimer and it is this...

I DO NOT LIVE IN A MODEL HOME.

But I wish I did.

Those who know me well, know that I have a a manic tendency to be a perfectionist when it comes to my home.  Yet it is not perfect nor do I rock magazine worthy style.  But as most of you know making a house a home is a work in progress that simply never ends. 

I will let you in on another fact-a-roo about me...I know I write a CRAFT blog but I actually used to study interior design.  Sadly, after moving here...I had to let it go and of course life takes you down a new course that you don't anticipate. And I still need to learn so much about decorating.  But I hope to add more decor content to my blog at some point in the future by sharing various projects I hope to tackle.  

Now I have to confess something.  There is something so vulnerable about sharing your STYLE.  Crafts feel safe to me because they cross over tastes and preferences.  But DECOR is such a personal, subjective thing. It says so much about you or a way of living.  So I seldom share my home on my blog because...well...I feel so exposed.  I mean, it's MY HOUSE!  My sanctuary and where I live. Of course there are a gazillion things I would change but I do love my home.

So.  I have decided to be brave.

Today I am taking the plunge to share a little of my home with you My 1600 square foot house is small but cozy.  I am not showing you bedrooms because...I don't decorate those with Fallish things. The rest is kind of one big room. And I did not clean up for my pictures.  I figured you would appreciate signs of real life since I do live one and I do not live inside this little computer and make stuff all day. :)

I also thought it would be fun for you to see a lot of these Fall DIY's I have made put into use in my home. I have a lot of photos so I put them in story boards so you won't doze off while viewing. :)

First off...note the STACK of TWO laundry baskets on that little antique bench on the right.  Yep.  That is because I am the biggest laundry procrastinator and I need two baskets just to get it all together. And the little table and chairs indicate that children do live here. See?  No model home.  Just one filled with real life and oodles of love. ♥

This is the view from my front door.  You just step in and you are in the middle of my living room.  All the Fall decorations make it so warm and inviting. Can you see some of the things I have done on the blog?  On top of the bookcases is my little Fall vignette with my fabric bird cage. And I found new homes for my little dollar tree wreaths that I swapped out for the apple baskets. I put one over the fireplace and one on my mirror in the dining room.

I will just go ahead and show you the rest of my living room.  My over sized couch and chair are almost 10 years old and I fear getting new ones because there is a real chance I will put plastic on them and make my children snuggle on what feels like saran wrap.  But if they spill on these...I don't worry about it.  And I buy pillow covers from IKEA for $5 each and just swap them out. They don't even match and I really don't care.  OK.  Yes I do.  But my chronic problem is if  a pillow goes on clearance somewhere, I buy it planning on doing something with it and then I just never get to it.  :)

Here are some close ups of little fall things around the house.  From the left going clockwise...1. The leaves hang above my dining room french doors. I attached fishing line to dollar store leaves using a needle, tied them off and hung them with scotch tape.  2. The white pumpkins are from our pumpkin patch visit.  I love the pop of green from the fresh stems since we had just cut them that day. Below the pumpkins are the leaf frames I made with the yarn wrapped gourds and pumpkins. Those frames are actually hiding speakers behind them on top of the armoire. 3. I keep my dining room table simple with a runner, some pumpkins, a vase full of orange goodness (with a little scarecrow cutie peeking out) and some velvet leaves in a long silver platter. 4. On the hearth are some stone fruit and a painting I picked up at an antique store and some orange pumpkins from the U-Pick patch. The flowers are from my sweet hubs who loves Fall as much as I do. :) 5. My fireplace can sometimes depress me since I long for a mantel. But I try to add drama when I can and I found a huge branch that fell from the big tree in my front yard during a wind storm.  The girls helped me paint it white and I made fabric leaves for it and hot glued them to it.  I hung it with fishing line as well.

And now I added my pine cone garland and it happily hangs right above the fireplace.

I am a little behind on Fall tablescape planning because it is one of my favorite things to do. You guys remember my napkin tags, right? And I get giddy when I pull out these colorful Fall bowls which I use through Thanksgiving. And this little votive was (inspired by Martha's twig vase) made with sticks from my backyard and hot glued to a glass votive.  I wrapped it with twine and faux leaves. Easy peasy!  

I have been having tons of fun with the gazillion pine cones we have found.  The girls and I painted them different colors with a fabulous mommy/daughter craft time.  I hung some up in our kitchen window by using eyelet screws (used to hang picture frames) and tying ribbon onto them. And we put some others in a simple basket on the coffee table in the living room.

And here is some handmade goodness sprinkled around the house too.  

1.  Those yarn apples are the ones I made last year for Cati's school party.  2.  A green apple made from an old sweater 3.  These pumpkins on my front porch are the fake orange ones and I painted them this pretty grey white color and distressed them with green, blue and brown to match my house. 4.  Cati is holding her paper mache pumpkin we made last year as a kid craft. 5. I don't know why but I put out that cute little dog every Fall.  And the fabric pumpkin was born of one of those days I used up some scraps and made something. 6.  The leaf and fabric pom garland is from my living room vignette.  I used coordinating fabric and made stuffie-like leaves and poms and hung it over two sliding doors that I removed from a bookshelf.

THAT CONCLUDES MY NOVEL LENGTH POST OF FALL PHOTOS.

Honest.

Well I hope you are inspired a bit with the little things I have done around the house. I had lots of fun sharing this with you and I wish I could have so many of you ladies over for coffee and a little craft-together session. Thanks for peeking around my house and truly caring about my little space in the blog world.  It means so much that you come here.

One more thing...another big breath...I am now accepting sponsors for my site. 

If you are interested please see my rates and reader stats here or email me at twoshadesof pink (at) gmail (dot) com.

Hugs and may blessings sweet friends!

♥