Where do I even start with decorating for Fall?
I love following Interior Decorators on Instagram and flipping through magazines to see beautiful spaces. But because I love so many different decorating styles, I often feel stumped when it comes to my own home. I know my decorating style is changing as I get older. In our first home, the brighter and bolder the color…the better. Now, I find myself more drawn to traditional and vintage decor. I often don’t really know what I’m doing when decorating my home. But, I remember someone from the show Trading Spaces once said, “just decorate your home with what you love!” I love that advice. The reality is, I don’t want my home to look like a museum or a magazine…I want it to reflect me and my family.
So how do I then incorporate elements of design that I love with my style to make it reflect me?
My simple answer is…shop your home! What do you already have that you love? Maybe it’s something that has been given to you from family, what items in your home are personal to you? Incorporate that into your design!
Plan out your decor for the season
Are you like me and you decorate the same every year for each season? In fact, I have never decorated for fall without using the traditional fall colors of orange and yellow. I love those colors for fall, it’s just what my eye is drawn to. However this year I wanted to stretch myself a little and try something different!
When I first decided to switch up my decor, I felt stuck. Where do I find inspiration? How do designers come up with ideas and then execute them? And obviously, I don’t want to have to buy a ton of new stuff to create a completely different look. As I started asking myself those questions, I began to just notice elements of other designers fall looks that I loved. For example, I stumbled across these images below from Aly and Amber.
Blue is my favorite color. It is all over my house (another way to make your home personal…decorate with your favorite color). But I have never done an all blue and white fall theme before. When I saw those blue and white pumpkins, I knew I needed to give it a try! Aly used dollar tree pumpkins, mod podge, and paper to create them! Aren’t they so pretty?!
My eye has also been so drawn to dried florals this year. I see them all over magazines and in stores. I’ve never really decorated with dried florals, so I thought it might be fun to incorporate. As I was searching Pinterest for dried floral inspiration, I found this creative wall hanging by Amber. It was so unique and fun that I knew I wanted to try that too! So, I decided to merge the two ideas together. Below is the mantel that I came up with…
Shop the photo with my affiliate links.
How To Make A Look You Love Your Own
Isn’t it interesting how my mantel, looks nothing like those previous two looks even though it was inspired by them?! Actually, I love that! Simply by being inspired by certain elements of design, we can create something that is completely unique to us! And to be honest, when i’m loosely imitating an idea (instead of copying it)…there is so much less pressure to create an exact look that I end up enjoying the decorating process so much more!
This look was so affordable too, I just picked up some dried florals from Michaels and the white pumpkins. I already had the candles, vintage glass, and silver. I love shopping my house for personal elements I can add to my design. If you don’t have candle holders, bowls, and stands, be on the lookout for ones you love at places like Goodwill, Estate Sales, and Yard Sales! These are items that can be used differently in your home in any season!
I imagine my mantel might change more this fall because we are home so much! I get tired of the same ole same ole, easily! By not spending a ton of money on this one look, I feel good about the possibility of switching it out later, or adding something different to it (like a vintage mirror) later on!
Where are you finding inspiration from this September?
Dried Floral Hanging Tutorial
Supplies:
-Stick from a tree (however long you want your hanging to be)
Yarn or Jute Rope
Dried Florals of your choosing (I used 2 bundles of dried florals from Michaels)
Neutral dried or faux stems (I have wheat grass and eucalyptus stems in mine)
Or you can forage your yard to make this even more cost effective!
Floral wire
Wire cutters
STEP 1: Tie one end of the rope around the end of the stick. Tie the other side of the rope to the opposite side of the stick. Take note of the amount of slack in between both ends of the rope to make sure it is how long you want it to hang.
STEP 2: Take your neutral and faux stems and attach them to the stick with wire. I started by attaching the left side first and then did the same thing to the right side of the stick. This keeps your floral hanging balanced on both sides.
STEP 3: Use your dried florals to add pops of color and attach with wire.
I found it much easier to attach the florals to the stick while it was hanging. I had a nail on my mantel already and just hung it from there while attaching the florals.
