Today, I’m excited for you to hear from my friend Jen. I asked her to share about decorating for fall because she has such an eye for it (and I don’t). Jen is someone who I always end up squealing with on the phone because she has one of those personalities, and I appreciate her so much. I think you will, too!
I had all the good intentions of going out for a walk when I got home from work. I changed my clothes, walked down the driveway and then realized that I’d rather die than be out walking. It was predicted to be 95 degrees today, and quite frankly, a walk in 95 degree heat when you are nearly 6 months pregnant and already exhausted sounds like an absolute nightmare. What sounded a lot better was going home, sitting on our couch (which my hubs and I both say is the devil because it makes you fall asleep the second you sit on it past 9pm) and writing about something I’m passionate about… “fashionably budget conscious” decorating.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I first ate a Fudgesicle as “brain food” before starting to write.
Let’s talk about fall decorating… for mantles in particular. If you don’t have a mantle don’t tune me out… you can work this idea into any area like a shelf, a desk in an entryway, etc.
My goal for my fall mantle was not to spend a dime so I shopped my house and yard! Fall is such a fabulous time for doing lo-bo (low budget) decorating. Acorns and branches with some amazing texture cost nothing. A bag of whole walnuts at my grocery store is about $3 and everything else you use can either be found for free or probably in another spot in your home.
My mantle for the fall is going to be very simple… it’ll be in the brown and off white family to reflect the colors of fall and blend in with our living room but it’ll also reflect AJ and I.
Here’s what I have:
- Off white candles we had upstairs
- Stacks of books with the covers and binding ripped off and tied with twine (I saw this idea in a display at Restoration Hardware.)
- An old tape measure from years ago that AJ inherited when his Grandma died
Challenge for You
In the above photos I didn’t have the accents yet… it is a very clean looking, but honestly, boring, mantle. It needed a little more pizzazz….So here is a simple mantle, what can you do to make it look autumnal and reflect you?
Here’s what I did because the typical colors of fall (the reds, oranges and yellows) don’t go with our color scheme:
- Placed dried blue / pink hydrangeas within the displays to add color and texture.
- Removed the photo with the black frame above the mantle and replaced it with an old window with the white paint sort of flaking off
- Surrounded the candles with acorns (walnuts also work beautifully, but I can’t find my bag of walnuts, we’re renovating the kitchen!) to bring in the dark brown color.
This post is part of Fall Mantle Party hosted by Nesting Place
I do hope that despite my sporadic posting through these chapters, you have enjoyed learning about your role as a mother (or future mother!). 
