Fall Decor Tips in the Family Room

October 2, 2017October 1, 20172 Comments

Good morning! It’s October! Can you believe it? We have been having some beautiful weather this past week. I’ve been able to have the windows open and feel the breeze come through the house. It’s wonderful! My school visits the pumpkin patch this week and I hope to be able to pick up a few nice colored pumpkins while I am there.

I’ve continued my fall decorating through the house. You can see the the dining room here and the living room here. As you can see I changed from my green, black and white color scheme. I went a little more traditional in here. This room is separated from the living room, so I can change it up a little bit. I still used a lot of neutrals, but I added little touches of orange too. I have a few tips or ideas that I use when decorating for fall.

My first tip: Use what you have! Many of the pieces you already own can be used in your fall decor. Lanterns, baskets, burlap, cozy blankets. These items all add great texture and coziness to your rooms.

2. Texture: I mentioned this above. Woven baskets are a great way to add texture and to store some other fall decor in. Baskets can be found everywhere from Craft and Art stores, to Walmart, to thrift stores. Baskets can be painted or left natural to fit your decor. There are woven ones or metal ones and many others in between. Burlap and nubby blankets also add texture.

3. Natural Accents: Remember those baskets? Use them to store pinecones, pumpkins, acorns, ect. Fall is the perfect time to find things outdoors to use indoors. Even a tall basket full of sticks would be perfect. Of course, fall colored leaves add just the right touch to any room.

4. Pumpkins, of course! Pumpkins in all different sizes, colors, fabrics and materials. I have pumpkins made of fabric, styrofoam and rulers, and of course, real ones too. I found these little burlap ones at the Dollar Tree. Real ones come in all sorts of colors now too. Pick from orange, white, blues and greens.

5. I didn’t use any in my family room but free printables are a great way to add small touches of fall to any room. Many bloggers offer some great designs. They can be placed in frames or on clipboards and changed out for the seasons or just your mood!

6. Lights and candles: extra lamps add soft lighting, especially with the days getting shorter. I placed a lighted fall leaf garland in the wire basket on the hearth with some burlap and pumpkins. Scented candles are wonderful and really add to the fall mood.

What else do you add to your rooms? I’m sure I missed some things. Let me know what you do for the fall season! I hope you all have a great week!

Green, Black and White-Fall in the Living Room

September 25, 201713 Comments

Good morning! Happy first week of fall! Our weather actually feels like fall right now! Amazing! Of course, next week the temperature goes back into the 90’s again. This is our typical fall weather.

I showed you my dining room last week, (you can see it here), so now I moved on to the living room. Since these two share the same room, I continued the same green, black and white theme.

Of course, the mantel is the centerpiece of the room. I added several green items and added black ribbon on the chippy bucket.

Small touches of wood and lit candles help an all-white room feel more cozy.

Adding more texture and soft blankets really brings in the feel of fall.

I found this Threshold blanket at Goodwill. Can you believe they sold it to me for $1.99!!! I couldn’t pass up those wonderful tassels!

I also found this great over-sized towel with the perfect green.

I added my falling book pages leaves to the door in the corner of the room.

You can see my barnwood wallpaper wall in the background. I also filled my driftwood bowl with flowers, acorns, pinecones and a candle. Natural items are wonderful additions to fall decor.

I hope you enjoyed the tour today! I think I have most of my decor up now, so I will be sharing more in the following weeks! Thank you so much, readers, for stopping by today!

A Not Even Close to Amazing Party!

September 11, 2017September 10, 2017Leave a comment

Good morning! Can you believe it is already the second week of September? My class is going well so far and so enjoyable. We have been able to paint and have do some fun experiments. This week will be all about apples! We taste them and we even paint with them! The kids love this one!

Last week was supposed to be at the launch party for Karianne’s book. Well, actually, the party happened, but I didn’t. My party, that is. Let me tell you about my day.

First of all, my alarm didn’t go off in the morning. Great way to start the day! I did make it to work just fine, but it’s always a little more stressful to start a day this way.

I was supposed to sign up for a class to take that day, but the person to give me the code to sign up, was off that day. So much for that!

I got home and started getting ready for the party. I baked cookies and set the table. About 3:50, I finally read a text about an auction I had won. I was supposed to pick up the auction by 4:00. Yeah, uh, not happening.

I wanted to print out cute little tags for the boxes the cookies were in. I created them and tried to print them, but, alas, no colored ink. Oh my. My mom to the rescue!

Lauren and I talked and she figured she should be able to make it to the house in time for the party. But when she checked again, we realized we had the wrong time for the party. We were off by an hour and had missed the whole thing. 😦

I was devastated!! I so wanted to party with Karianne! Wah! The day felt like such a failure!

But then I remembered what the book was all about. We are all amazing. Maybe not that particular moment or day, but we are all special. “It’s about grace and forgiveness and learning from mistakes and rejoicing and celebrating in every victory, no matter how small.” So even though I missed the party, I love how my party table turned out. And the snickerdoodles were delicious!

I know we have all had days like this. Let’s give ourselves a little forgiveness and realize just how special we are. Thank you, my friends, for visiting this blog and for continuing to support Lauren and I. Someday’s are harder than others, but we all have amazing-ness inside of us!

So Close To Amazing! Book Giveaway

September 5, 2017September 4, 2017Leave a comment

Today is the big day!!! It’s book launch day!! And guess what? I’m doing a giveaway! Karianne was sweet enough to send me a signed copy of her book and now I want to pass it on to one of you! Just fill out the questions below and I will let you know on Friday, September 8. If you would like to order the book, here is the Amazon link.

Here is a summery of the book:

“This is a book celebrating the incredible, awesome, special individual within each of us. It’s also a book for anyone who has ever mismatched her shoes or trimmed her own bangs when a professional might have been a better choice or added too much soap to the washer and watched it overflow.

(Not that KariAnne Wood has ever done any of these things.)

A debut memoir from the beloved Thistlewood Farms blogger, So Close to Amazing is a collection of hilarious and heartfelt reflections on getting it almost right—and how, instead of giving up, we can choose to simply embrace our real selves right where we are. It’s a story of transparency and honesty and recognizing that perfection is completely overemphasized and overrated. It’s about grace and learning from mistakes and rejoicing in every victory, no matter how small. Because when you find joy in the “you” God created you to be, you’ll discover the amazing that was there all along.”

Also, there is a Virtual Book Launch Party tonight over at Facebook! Here is the link if you would like to join in- : https://www.facebook.com/groups/102045557097787/ . Just head to the page and ask to join. It’s that simple!! There will be a bunch of us partying together!

(Giveaway is Open to Residents of the USA, 18 years or older only.)

You have 3 chances to win this giveaway.

Leave me a comment letting me know how your So Close to Amazing moment.
Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment on Facebook about this giveaway.
Follow me on Instagram and leave a comment below with your name on Instagram.

I can’t wait to party with you!!

Grey, White and Blue Master Bath Refresh

September 4, 2017September 3, 20174 Comments

Good morning! Well, I survived my first week back at school. Actually, it went pretty well! I have a rather small class this time and it sure helps with the noise level! Last year, they could hear my class all the way down the hall! Anyways, I think we are off to a good start.

I am back today with my Master Bath Refresh! I didn’t completely tear out the whole room and start over, but instead, tried to make it work with what was already there.

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Here are a couple of before pictures. The paint was very white and and there was a lot of paint scraped off on the cabinet. The mirror and cabinet were circa 1970.

The floor was part carpet (#gross) and part linoleum.

Now: the new and improved! Sorry the pictures aren’t the best. The room has no natural light. The walls and cabinets were painted Benjamin Moore Simply White. I kept the same silver knobs and handles. You can see I added one of my beachy bar stools, which is the perfect spot to set your towel or clothing. The hook above it holds my hanging clothes.

I finally found a shower curtain I thought would work with the blue tile. It’s really long so I had to hang it up high, but I love how it looks!

I was able to replace the dated light fixture and the mirror. I found the light fixture for only $20 on clearance at Lowes and the mirror I found at Hobby Lobby.

We added the 12 inch grey tile to the floor. What a difference! I love how all the grey, blue and white tie together.

I used the top section of a bed headboard ( I think!) to make the towel rack. I cleaned it up, painted it and added some black hooks. I hung a weathered seahorse above it.

I hung two floating shelves above the toilet and added a few decor pieces-a candle, a plant, a silver dish. I also found a Sand Dollar sign to hang above the shelves.