A Few Fall Touches Around the House

I love fall!   I think it's one of the most gorgeous times of the year.   Of course, I will probably say that about Spring too!    I don't go "all out" with any of my seasonal decorating anymore but use pretty much the same things every year now.     I used to be a "more is more" kinda girl but each year I find the "less is more" philosophy works better for me now.

With that being said, I'm happy to share some fall touches around my house.    We'll start in the sunroom.    I don't know why I don't share this room, because it's one of my favorite rooms in the house.    It has been a "holding zone" for holdovers from my mom's house when we moved her to assisted living, then from assisted living to a nursing home.    But I'm slowing working my way through either storing or disposing of them.

I ordered this colorful, soft throw from Amazon of all places.   The pillow is from Society 6 she has some beautiful things in her Etsy shop.    I have my eye on several items for the upcoming holiday season.      When the throw arrived, I loved how it looked with the pillow.

Can we talk a minute about my thrift store wicker trunk?   It was priced at $25 (which I would have gladly paid) but asked the shop owner if she'd take $20 and to my surprise she did!   Right now it's storing extra throw pillows and a blanket.   It was in near perfect condition and had no musty smell.    I really wanted to use it and the end of our sofa in the den for a place to put a drink or remote control but according to my husband it was too big (and it really was) so I put it here in the sunroom for a coffee table.    I love it in here!

 

A few years ago I decided to paint a faux pumpkin turquoise since I use that as an accent color in a couple of rooms in the house.    It got a lot of attention!    Here in the sunroom I just put it on the distressed little table next to the leather chair.

My daughter was telling me she heard that if you put a turquoise pumpkin outside your door for trick or treaters it will let the parents/kids know  that you are handing out non-food treats in recognition of food allergies.   Here's an interesting article about it.    Good to know.

I've been busy working on cleaning up areas outside....pressure washing mainly.    Our deck is in sad shape and my husband wants to tear it out and replace it but I don't know when that will happen.     So I just pressure washed the patio outside the sunroom and a small area outside the laundry room.     I'm hoping Thanksgiving day will be nice and sunny so some of us can eat outside....you just never know here in the South what it's going to do this time of the year.    So I'm trying to keep it simple outside with just a few things.

I spray painted an old urn I had flat black and set it on top of this old capital (capitol?).....I used a berry wreath and a white spray painted faux pumpkin.    I love how easy this was.   

 (I should have pressure washed the capital....it's been outside for over 20 years and it needs a "bath"!)

The pumpkin isn't that glaring white....I didn't notice how bright it looked until I downloaded these photos....it must have been the glare from the sun.    Kinda ghostly looking!!

Last year I saw these pillows on another blog (don't remember which one) where you spray painted your design on burlap.    I got a leaf and pumpkin felt thingies at the Dollar Tree.   I just placed them down on my burlap and sprayed all around them with orange spray paint.     Then my sewing machine broke and I didn't finish making them until this past fall when I decided to get the machine fixed.   

In the den I always do the same thing on my mantel....I didn't replace anything but worked around what stays up there year round.    That way I don't have to remember where I put the things I removed or how it looked (LOL)!    I just added the fall garland and the burlap "Fall" banner I made a few years ago and some white twinkle lights.  

As far as the galvanized bucket, I just used some things I pulled out of my fall bins that I didn't know what to do with.    (BTW, I have waaaay too much fall stuff, don't use but about 1/3rd of it....I keep telling myself I'm going to edit and get rid of the majority of it but so far I haven't done that).     So before packing it all back up I decided to use some "leftovers" in the bucket.    I placed a cardboard box in the bottom to elevate everything and just wrapped the garlands around the outside, then filled in with the two pumpkins and some other branches and things.    I love how it turned out!

On the coffee table I used a candle ring on top of an urn and added a silver pumpkin.    I added a little orange pumpkin too....I like how the orange and turquoise look together.    You can see how I made over this old wooden tray here by adding the typewriter burlap fabric.  (Please ignore the fan in the next room....it's still hot here people!)

On the sideboard behind the sofa I just used a boxwood wreath with a ceremic pumpkin..

Next time I'll share the kitchen and dining room.    

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween and DON'T FORGET TO TURN BACK YOUR CLOCKS TONIGHT!

A Hodgepodge of Stuff!

Hello? Anyone still out there? I think it's pretty obvious that this blog is way down the list of priorities at this season of my life. I won't bore you with the same old excuses, suffice it to say that I spend a lot of time with my 95 year old mom at her nursing home, as well as family here and out of town. I have good intentions to post more often, just doesn't seem to happen.

Moving on.....last January my son received an awesome job promotion but he had to take it right away. It was with his same company but it meant moving from Birmingham (which was a little over a hour away from our home) to the Daphne/Spanish Fort area, about 3 hours away! BUT he could not pass up the opportunity so they moved. Let me state here that I couldn't be any more proud of him. He works hard and deserves all the accolades he's getting. They bought a beautiful home with wonderful landscaping and a pool! Plus they are only about 45 minutes from the beach....doesn't get any better than that now does it?

Here are a few photos I took back in August when we went down for our grandchildrens' joint birthdays. They are 5 years and 5 days apart so so far, my DIL has just had a joint birthday party for them. I imagine that will quickly come to an end soon as my granddaughter will be 11 next summer and won't want her little brother "bothering the big girls"....at least that's what she told me!

 Here's my little grandson "posing" in front of his baby picture.   He's so silly!
(#hurryuptakingmypicture #fakesmile #iwanttogoplay!)

Their backyard is spectacular!   The house belonged to a doctor and they had extensive landscaping put in as they hosted a backyard wedding.   This is looking out from inside toward the gazebo.   It has a TV, ceiling fan, and a sound system....we really loved sitting out here at night and watching the kids swim.

My daughter in law has done a great job getting the house unpacked and set up.   She and I are working on ideas for the den and my grandson's room.   My son has put her on a "budget" but I think that will have to change (LOL)!   But I have to give my daughter in law credit, she's really trying to stick with it, within reason.    We'll see how that turns out!    We're planning on giving them a housewarming gift so that can hopefully get her started on her vision.

We are hosting Thanksgiving here at our house this year and my husband knows I want to re-do his bathroom before then.    I'm going back and forth on the wall color....something white but not stark white.    I'd love to have plank walls in there but that ain't happening!    So I'm going to use beadboard wallpaper instead.   Basically, I want a farmhouse feel to it.    It's been the same color for almost 10 years now, which is a miracle!    Here are some of my inspiration photos from my Pinterest board:

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What's not to love about this bathroom (above).   If I could start from scratch, I'd try and duplicate this room....love the sink!

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This bathroom belongs to my sweet friend Diana at Our Vintage Home Love.   She is crazy talented.  

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The vanity in the bathroom is wood stained with a marble top.   It's pretty scratched up so I plan on painting it a pretty gray.....something similar to this one.

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I think out of all the photos I have pinned, this one is my favorite.   See those plank walls?    Love!    She gives the paint colors and I've got samples of them.    My bathroom mirror is almost identical to this one.   I even ordered the same light fixture.    But then the question is what to do about the vanity?   If I paint the beadboard wall white and the other 3 walls in the light gray, what do I do about the vanity?   I don't want it to be the same color as the gray wall.  Do I paint it a darker gray or what?  I have two different "shower" curtains to consider.    I don't use shower curtains, but full length curtains as that gives me more of a choice and the length I like.    I have a pretty gray linen and a solid white....not sure which one I'll use.

The other room on my to do list is my daughter's old bedroom.   I will get a plank wall in there....behind the bed.   I've ordered a gray upholstered headboard and the whole room will be a pretty white color.    Again, using whites and grays in there to tie in with the bathroom which is right next to the bedroom.

The other night my husband surprised me by saying he'd talked with our handy man and asked him to come by as soon as he could so that he could start work on the guest room.     He wants me to show the guy what I want so that we can get started on the planks.   I don't expect to have both rooms done by Thanksgiving but I'm so happy that it will get done sooner than later.    At least the bathroom will be done....fingers crossed!

Well, that about wraps it up for now.    Oh, one more thing.    If you read my blog you know that my daughter has 11 year old boy/girl twins.    Then last December they had a little "surprise"....another little boy!   We're having such a good time having another little baby in the family.    He's getting so big and is just about to walk.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Taylor and her baby brother taken at the hospital after he was born....she is such a good little helper

And now 10 months later.....

#ilovemybrother #ilovebeingabigsister #ilookjustlikemydaddy

Hope you all have a wonderful week!