2015 Fall Home Tour: Part Two

I know you can’t see me right now, but I’m doing cartwheels. I’m so thrilled and honored to be a part of the Fall Into Home tour with a group of incredibly talented bloggers who I’ve admired for so long. You can see the beginning of the tour from yesterday over at Maison de Pax. Rachel was so sweet to invite me along for the fun this week.

If you’ve never mosied over to my corner of the blogosphere before, my name is Lauren and I’m excited to have you here! It’s so nice to “meet” you!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for a great Cinderella story. You know where the underdog wins? The ugly duckling ends up becoming the beautiful swan? That kind.

I wouldn’t call our house a beautiful swan just yet, but we’re growing and changing very quickly around here. And well…if you’ve never seen our humble beginnings, you should check it out sometime.

I never would have imagined that a year and a half ago when my husband, daughter, and I first moved into our very blank cookie cutter house that it would look like this. It was completely bare, and we hardly owned anything to put in it.

 This really is the first year I’ve ever full-blown decorated for fall. I busted out all of the thrifty tricks I could muster.

Probably my favorite, easy way to make any space cozy is to lay out a warm blanket along with a hot cup of cider and a good book.

And maybe a snack if I ever feel like hanging out on our thrifted wicker set.

 My husband and I built those rustic shutters on either side of our front door for an easy way to add some character out here. HOA is strict in our neighborhood, so it was a way to work around that. (Do y’all deal with that challenge in your neck of the woods too?)

Right through our front door is the latest room to get a makeover. I smile every time I walk into our house when I see our modern farmhouse foyer. It feels great to start checking entire rooms off of our to-do list!

I didn’t want to detract from the DIY botanical art in here, so just a couple of pumpkins, some wheat stalks, and pinecones do the trick.

And then this fun guy…

The former English teacher in me rejoiced at finding this old typewriter for $9 at Goodwill, and I love tucking in quotes appropriate for the season.

Our dining room sees the most action in the fall with birthday parties and a big family Thanksgiving, so I gave it some decor lovin’.

Every single piece in this space is thrifted or DIYed too.

I couldn’t resist keeping the green and neutral tones in here. It is still so warm here in the Carolinas that throwing in bright orange pumpkins seemed like a shock to the system.

Since it’s still pretty much summer here, real pumpkins are hard to come by. So mine are all fake at the moment until that cool fall breeze decides it’s here to stay.

I picked up a couple of white mums for around $6 each that help bring some life in here.

For our hallway, y’all have no idea how happy I was to finally decorate this wagon bench like I’ve been wanting to since finding it on Craigslist almost a year ago. Our board and batten has perked this place up a ton!

Those hooks and wire baskets will really come in handy now as a place to toss things like gloves and scarves when we walk in the door.

Our daughter likes to sneak over here and grab an apple to munch on every now and then. We really have just left them hanging out on this bench. And, hey, I can’t complain. The kid is eating something other than PB&J for once!

Across from our bench is this adorable little spot that I love changing with the seasons.

This window came out of my husband’s childhood home that was built in 1904. I love putting Bible scriptures, song lyrics, quotes, poems, whatever inspires me on that chalkboard.

Our living room is still a bit of a work in progress, but we’re so proud of our very first big home improvement project from last summer- this huge faux fireplace that we built for under $600.

My husband won out in the TV placement, so it’s a challenge decorating around that big black screen. I make it work the best I can. A leafy grapevine and a few pumpkins give it just enough of a fall perk.

Probably my favorite furniture piece of all is this card catalog style coffee table trunk I found and madeover.

I still kept things neutral in here, and I love playing with textures in the cooler months. That faux fur throw is always traveling around our house.

In our coffee table tray, I just used a white ceramic pumpkin and this old miner’s helmet light that once belonged to my uncle who was a coal miner in West Virginia. It even still works!

Over in our breakfast room is where we eat almost all of our meals, and having the table set always makes them extra special.

If you’re seeing that wood beam doorway, you can read more about it here. It has added tons of character to our house, and I love it!

I’m so ready for Thanksgiving after coming up with this centerpiece. (I know, I know. It’s only September. Get control of yourself, Lauren.)

You can find more details about this fall tablescape in this post. It’s amazing what some Walmart items and a couple of thrift store trips can do.

Upstairs is still mostly a blank slate besides our master bathroom and daughter’s bedroom. Most of the walls are still even plain primer white since I’m a focus-on-one-room-at-a-time kinda gal.

But I did manage to bring a little fall foliage into our bathroom.

The plank wall behind our tub and factory window shower door I made completely transformed this once plain, builder grade bathroom. This space is our little oasis.

I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did!

Shop this Post:  (Some affiliate links are provided below. See my full disclosure for more info.)

• Plaid throw – Ikea
• French postal stamp pillow – Homegoods (similar linked)
• Sweater pillow – Homegoods (similar linked)
• Front door wreath – Two Inspire You Etsy shop
• Faux pumpkins – Michaels and Walmart
• Dining room wreath – Target
• Mantel magnolia garland – Michaels
• Mantel lanterns – Kirkland’s
• Log basket – Target
• Driftwood chargers – World Market
• Placemats – Homegoods (similar linked)

Peace, love, and pumpkins, y’all!