Fall Decorating Part Two

I absolutely adore fall….it reminds me of my life in San Francisco with crisp mornings and chilly nights and always a coffee in my hand. I also love decorating my house for fall and unlike Tessa (this will change for her–I plan to create an easy decor storage system for her!) always tackle it in the beginning of September.  I like changing my mantle up for the seasons, but I also find it hard to create a mantle that doesn’t look too overdone.

I wanted my mantle to be simple with a hint of Fall and I definitely didn’t want to add any scarecrows (sorry but those scare me!). Here’s a photo of my first attempt …definitely not a win! So, all day yesterday I stared at it and realized that what it really needed is some variation in height.

Then I remembered what Tessa blogged about yesterday, bringing in natural elements such as leaves (and no, I don’t mean the fake kind) inside your home. Here’s a photo of my second attempt-LOVE! It looks so much better and as a bonus the leaves cover up the pesky canned light that was being reflected in the mirror.  These branches were cut down from a tree that we have in our backyard and was such a simple solution to complete my mantle.  I also always frame last year’s Halloween photo of the kiddos. Makes me remember how little my Captain America and Fairy were a year ago and how fast time flies.

I also love to do something in my deck planters although, I hesitate to spend much money on these planters because they don’t last very long. To keep costs down, I went with some mums (very inexpensive) and filled in the front with a bag of mini pumpkins and gourds. I was also able to leave the ornamental grass that is still surviving from the summer pots.

New this year are some little critters that the kids had fun placing on the stairs.

 And lastly, don’t forget a wreath for your front door.

I found this one at Target last year but I am also coveting a few from this Etsy shop such as this one:

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And now I’m off to grab a Pumpkin Spiced Latte–maybe not decor but it puts me in the spirit!