Neutral Nautical Fall Mantel

Woohoo! Mantel time! I am so very happy that I live in a house that has a fireplace with a mantel. Mantels are one of my favorite things to decorate because the kids can be running amuck and have toys scattered everywhere but that mantel will still be nice. It will look down on the mess from its lofty heights and laugh.

My second favorite thing to decorate is the couch, but you know all those pillows and blankets will always end up as lava or a tent.

Mantels are so much fun to decorate and fall mantels especially so!

I call the look Nautical Neutral Natural Fall Mantel. Not really, but that is how I titled the pictures when I saved them. It makes me chuckle. If it doesn't make you chuckle, well, you're probably a normal person.

7 Easy Ways to Decorate for Fall

Can you believe fall is here already! I wish it could be fall year-round! I love everything that is fall: crisp, cool air, colored leaves, sweaters, blankets, the smell of smoke, and cinnamon in my coffee. Fall is my happy.

I like to take inspiration from nature and my favorite fall outfit for fall decorating. Chunky sweaters, leather bags, moccasins, a scarf...think of taking a walk through the cool woods in the perfect fall outfit while sipping on a hot pumpkin spice latte. Autumn perfection right there. That's the feeling I want to evoke with my fall decor.

I dislike a lot of the premade, cartoon-y decor that you can find in the stores. It's not exactly the Audrey Hepburn version of home decor, if you know what I mean. I want classy, natural, touches of fall and I want to use a lot of things I already have to create that warm, cozy look. Things that I can use year-round if I want. It's really simple to create that cozy fall look with just a few elements that you probably have around you already!

Bringing Color to a Boring Hallway

I did a thing. Randomly on a whim. I really didn't think this one through. I did just enough thinking to make sure I had a clean paintbrush and a stir stick.

I painted the inside of our front door.

I have been really bored with the hallway and up the stairs. As I was pondering how to remedy the situation, I remembered that colored door trend that I had wanted to try someday. Why not now? The whole hallway needs new paint anyway, what's the worst that can happen?

You know, besides Hubby coming home from work to find me covered in paint, aggravated that I painted something instead of putting the laundry away?

Eh, details.

Here we have the before and after, my friends!

Storing the Kid Clothes

My boys' room has been overflowing with piles of clothes lately. All outgrown. These things called boys grow like crazy apparently.

I had all the clothes they weren't currently wearing stored in bins in our guestroom closet. Organized by size and everything. Unfortunately, I hadn't labeled the boxes any better than "baby clothes".

This was a problem.

Who wants to go pulling out big ol' stacked, cumbersome boxes and end up going through each one before realizing that you need the one on the very bottom?

And so, I took it upon myself to change that. Over the weekend I bought a few extra bins, grabbed a sharpie and a roll of painters tape, gave the kids to Hubby, and advanced on the piles of clothes. After eating chocolate cake. One does need their strength for such endeavors.

I sorted all the clothes by size and then filled up the bins. After each bin was full, I labeled them with the tape and sharpie. I used one strip of tape on the lid and one strip of tape on the side because I wanted to be able to see the labels even when they were stacked.

Keep Trying

Let's be real today, y'all.

These last couple weeks have been really rough and I'm really not sure why.

Can I just confess here? My house is dirty and disorganized. I don't remember the last time I dusted and I'm not sure that pee spot on my mattress from a leaky diaper has aired out sufficiently. Even after sleeping in the guest room for five days

Every bedroom is covered in laundry. Clean laundry that has yet to make it into closets and drawers. Old maternity clothes, too small shoes(darn you, pregnancy!), the boys' outgrown clothes, a random lone sock.

Our future exercise/craft/guest room is nonfunctional. Nothing has a place and, as a result, everything is out of place. This is the next room in my organizing sights.

This is just the upstairs. And I left out the bathrooms. You're welcome. Potty training is going on downstairs. 'Nuff said.

Sometimes things get away from me and I get overwhelmed trying to rein it all back in. Is it like this all the time? No, but it is usually messier than I care for it to be.

I'm not looking for you to throw me a pity party. I share this because I know there are other parents out there right now whose homes and lives are in a similar state. You may have 3 kids under 5 and no time to shower. You barely have time to eat let alone time to sit and sort through all those outgrown clothes your kid wore just once. You may have a husband that works a lot or you're going it by yourself(God bless you!).

This is for you.

It's OK. 

And I say that to myself as well as to you.

Keep waking up every morning. Keep picking up those lone socks. Keep loving your littles. Keep trying.

I know it feels like you're not making a dent in the piles. Believe me, I know. I'm there. Don't give up.

Let's keep trying to make a beautiful home that's full of love. And let's give ourselves grace when we're messy and overwhelmed. Let's do it together.

August Review {2014}

We made it through August! This makes me happy because it means that summer is almost over! I really don't like that heat, and I'm not a fan of being wet and swimming, so summer is sort of a pointless season for me. I just hang out in my air conditioned house hoping for a thunderstorm most of the time. The rest of the time I'm sitting outside watching Little Man play with the hose.

Eh, at least he's soaking wet and happy.

So what was going on in August? Me trying to organize the kids outgrown clothes while doing all the housework, while trying to work on decorating and organizing every room at once(yeah, it definitely looks like it sounds). But these posts somehow made it out of my head and onto the screen. Lucky them.

For your viewing pleasure...

My Top 5 Favorite Sources of Inspiration

3 Tips for Perfect Designer Curtains

My thrifted green chair

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Hope everyone has a great September! I know I'm looking forward to fall! I've already had my first(and second) Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season so fall is unofficially official right?

Like what you see? Follow along!

When Decorating Mistakes Aren't Mistakes

I'm still working on my style. Remember my nautical summer living room?

It was pretty. I liked it. It had that beachy cottage vibe that is definitely an important element of my style. But, you know what? I discovered that it wasn't a thing that I loved.

Sure, I loved elements of it. But totally, 100%, completely breath stopping loved? Nope.

Your gut will tell you things and you need to listen.

I recently pulled out the pillow covers that I made last fall. A burnt orange trellis pattern. And you know what? My gut said, "Yes, this is it. This is happy"

Orange isn't my favorite. It wasn't the color that got me. It was the pattern. When I saw that pattern again, my breath caught.

Discovering your perfect style is so much trial and error. My living room was nice. I liked it. But it wasn't totally me. I forgot the part of me that loves bold trellis patterns and graphic florals.

I made a decorating mistake. A mistake that wasn't really a mistake in the end because I figured out a very important part of what makes my style mine. I grew. Now I know exactly what patterns go in my home and which ones I should just pass over. Even if they are pretty and a great deal.

Your decorating mistakes won't be the same as mine. Your style is different and your house is different. Take a minute to evaluate what you have around you. Does it:

Make your heart go pitter-patter?

Take your breath away?

Bring a silly happy smile to your face every time you see it?

Remind you of good memories and special people?

What did you discover? Did you pinpoint an important part of your style? I'd love to know what it is!

Don't settle. If you love it, bring it home. If you like it, set it free. It belongs in someone else's home. Not yours.