Fall Nesting

Melissa over at The Inspired Room is hosting Fall Nesting Week and encouraging bloggers to get ready for fall by decorating their homes for fall.

This past weekend, I was up for the challenge. My only problem? I didn’t want to spend any money. I wanted to do it with stuff I already have. But I don’t have fall decorating stuff. Uh oh.

I tried to make do.

I went out to the yard and collected pinecones to put in this glass bowl thingy.

The top of the wall unit in our living room has been bare (minus plenty of misplaced clutter) for some time now and I decided to remedy that once and for all. I started by taking two canvases that were on walls in other rooms and wrapping them in fabric that I stapled to the back. Put those up there and then searched the house for some white stuff. I came up with a white birdcage that would look really cute with a nest in it, a big white shell (it’s Florida, seashells count as fall decorations!), and a big white pitcher that I filled with ferny things from outside.

When I think of fall, I think of a few different things. I think of colors – oranges, reds, yellows, and browns. Well, I pretty much have those covered in my home year round. I guess I didn’t realize until this exercise how cool and autumnal my living room is with it’s orange floors, yellow walls, red window treatments and brown furniture. I also think of simmering soup on the stove and hot cider. I grew up in the northeast, so fall was actually fall then – leaves crunching underfoot, cool crisp air, drinking yummy warm drinks and baking hot apple pies. Smells of cinnamon and apple coming from the kitchen, to me fall is a time for family to snuggle together, enjoy getting chilly ears while playing outside. It’s my favorite time of year to run also.

I painted this shelf white (this was my first attempt beyond spray paint at painting any piece of furniture – I think it turned out okay) then threw some stuff with the colors I wanted up there.

This wire basket with the leaf scroll pattern was in another room storing stuff so I pulled it out to use decoratively for a little touch of rusty brown.

I put this clock on the wall above the shelf because the colors all tie in with what I was using.

My dining room chairs with their fall design printed on them are a favorite of mine. The table and chairs were the ones my parents bought together many many years ago. I grew up eating at the table and sitting on these chairs. Having them part of my family today – scratched, dented, and telling stories from many family meals – is so special to me.

So there you have it, a few haphazard things thrown together for a little feel of fall. Oh, and because hubby says that I never think of him when I decorate, I did this above our sink:

We will go pumpkin hunting in the next few weeks and I will buy those and put a few around the house then. But for now, this is what I came up with without having to spend any money

My daughter and I are working on making a banner with scrapbook paper and clothesline too, but it’s not finished yet.

And I’d like to make something for my front door.