Fall Home Tour: Front Porch and Fall Mantle Inspiration

I love Fall.  I love the bright colors of the leaves as they change.  I love the cooler weather.  I love pumpkins and cornstalks and sunflowers.  So it should come as no surprise that these are the things I use and think about as I decorate my home for the change of season from summer to fall.  I've teamed up with At Home (who has graciously sponsored this post) to bring you some fall inspiration for your home.

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Hallway Table Makeover

Before I had my daughter, I worked for a digital scrapbooking company in their home office.  Below the main office, there was a warehouse that was rented out by a furniture store to hold their stock.  Occasionally they would have a sale on pieces that were slightly damaged or missing parts and they would invite us to come and take a look.  It was during one of these sales that I found a cute little wood table for about $20.  It had a couple of tiny scratches on the top but was otherwise in perfect condition.  So I bought it and brought it home to my husband who looked at me like I'd bought the ugliest thing in the world.

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Cabinet Door Makeover

A few months ago while I was browsing around a store, I found this awesome serving plate that had all the colors that I wanted to decorate my kitchen in.  The design was fun, the colors were bright and I think it cost me about $6.  Done and done.  Since buying that plate and putting it above my kitchen cabinets, I've slowly started filling in the space.  However, I've run into a few snags because of the way our ceiling slopes above the cabinets so the height varies a lot.

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How To Stain Wood

About a month or so ago I was wandering around one of my favorite home decor stores (The Wood Connection) and I saw a cute shadow box with the patriotic decor that had been stained.  The result was a more antique look to the wood since you could see the grain.  Now, up to this point, I'd never stained anything.  Paint is my go-to and wood stain was totally foreign to me.  I decided it was time to add it to my skill set and took it up to the front to pay for it, along with the shadow box.  I talked to the ladies up front and got a couple of tips and went on my way.

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Summer Pallet Art

I was looking at my spring mantle this week and realizing that it was time to start thinking about summer decor.  So I looked through my summer decorations and noticed a serious lack of summer-y-ness (totally a word) in my collection.  A few months ago I picked up a 12x12 unfinished pallet board at Walmart without knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it but thought it would come in handy one day.  (This is a habit that drives my husband crazy, but sometimes I just can't help myself.  *wink*)

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My Favorite {Free} Kitchen Printables

Over the last few months I've been working on redecorating our kitchen.  I got rid of a few items above our cabinets that I'd had forever and didn't like anymore and picked up a new color scheme that flowed better between our living room and kitchen.  To replace one of the items I got rid of above the cabinet, I decided to print out a cute kitchen quote.  I found a lot of free kitchen printables, but many of them came in a group and I don't have a lot of wall space in my kitchen so I settled on a single print.

While I wasn't able to use all the printables I found, I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you in case you are looking for a simple and inexpensive way to add a little something to your kitchen decor.  Simply click on the link below the picture and it will take you to the website where you can download and print the file.  I hope you find one you love!

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Spring/Easter Mantle Inspiration

So I've had my spring/Easter "mantle" up for a couple of weeks, but I've added a couple of pieces to it that I love and I didn't want to show it to you until I was happy with how it looks.  You'll notice I put "mantle" in quotes because I don't actually have a real mantle to decorate.  Instead, we have a "credenza" which is basically a narrow table with storage cabinets.  But I couldn't very well title this post "Spring/Easter Credenza Inspiration".  So mantle it is.  And I hope you'll forgive me if you think the title is misleading and look at all the cute things I have to show you instead. *wink*

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St. Patrick's Day FREE Printable

Ahhh...  Spring is in the air.  We've been enjoying some beautiful 50 degree weather the last few days, which is a welcome change from 30s and a week and a half long inversion.  Yuck!  Thankfully the weather seems inclined to stay nice, at least for the next week or so.

And can you believe that St. Patrick's Day is already around the corner?  With February being such a short month, it seems to come even faster.  To get you in the green spirit, I've created a fun printable for you!  There are two different colors and they each come in either an 8x10 or a 5x7 size.  Just click on the link below the picture to open the file.  Then print it out and display it.  Who knows?  You just might get a kiss or two!

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Valentine's Rag Wreath

When my husband and I moved into our home almost 5 years ago, one of the things I was most excited about (besides an attached garage of course) was having a front door to hang cute wreaths on.  Oh sure, we'd had front doors in our previous apartments, but all of them had been basement apartments and not very big so we didn't have company over very often.  And in my opinion, part of the fun of having a wreath on your door is so people can see it.  Right?

With Valentine's Day coming up, I love decorating in the lovely shades of pink, red, purple and white that accompany the holiday.  I didn't have a Valentine's wreath for my door so I decided to remedy that problem with a cute new rag wreath!  Rag wreaths are so easy and inexpensive.  They store well and fluff up easily when you pull them out of storage.

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How to Make a Holiday Glass Block

Over the last few years, I've been working on discovering my own personal home decorating style and slowly but surely things are coming together.  This has, of course, extended into my holiday decor.  Each year, I've been getting rid of decorations that I no longer like or use and buying or making some that contribute to the overall cohesiveness of the look I'm going for.

A while back I was browsing through a local boutique that was closing their business.  They had a back room with tons of random items I wouldn't have expected to find there considering it was a clothing and jewelry boutique.  Out of everything in the store, I didn't buy jewelry or clothing--I bought glass blocks.  They only had three of them but I took them all and at a killer price.  I had the best of intentions to make something cute out of them for my home but never got around to it.  (This happens fairly regularly and it drives my husband crazy.  But I do get around to it eventually. *wink*)

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DIY Dollar Store Hurricane Vases

When it comes to home decor, I have a hard time committing.  I can find colors that I like, but figuring out the details can be challenging.  Or I find a knick-knack that I love but I'm not sure it's the right fit for my house.  (This is probably partially due to the fact that I am still trying to nail down my own personal style.)  However, I do have a few items that I consider classic pieces.  One of these is hurricane vases.  I love them because I can easily change out what I put inside to match whatever decor I have up, whether seasonal or part of my everyday home decor.  There are various sizes, shapes and even colors to fit any style.

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DIY No-Sew Burlap Table Runner with Tassels

With the changing of seasons, I've been swapping out my summer decor for more fall themed decor.  I was looking around the house today and noticed that the credenza (fancy word for table) in the front room was looking a little bare and I had two words pop into my head: burlap and runner.  I ran downstairs and grabbed some burlap remnant I'd bought who knows how long ago thinking it would be nice to have on hand.  (I have a hard time resisting the remnants bin.  It's a problem...)  Turns out that I had the perfect amount to make a cute and easy table runner.

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