Someday, when I’m a grown up, I’ll meal plan. I’ll clean as I go. I’ll wake up before the kids. I’ll stop eating when I’m full. I’ll drop birthday cards in the mail so they arrive on the occasion. I’ll decorate all-out for each season.
But today? I stay up too late and still kind of hope if I hide under the covers, the kids will go back to sleep in the morning. I clean my dessert plate and go back for seconds. I usually don’t put the toilet paper roll back on the holder and I can’t even explain why because this is not a hard task! What excuse have I?! And I’m a home blogger who barely decorated for fall.
Since I like to be way out of my league, I agreed to join in a fall home tour hosted by Kristen F. Davis Designs & the White Buffalo Styling Co. These girls are stylish, like extremely stylish. Every day a different blogger has shared some jaw-dropping fall decorations and I’ve been more than a smidge intimidated to follow that kind of talent. If you want to see some gorgeous fall decorations, you should just stop what you’re reading and head over to those other blogs, linked at the bottom of this post.
Okay, you can finish reading here first.
I love you.
Fall is good in my house because it makes my very fall-inspired dining room look seasonably appropriate temporarily. Kinda like when you don’t change your clocks for daylight savings time, so they’re wrong for half the year, then magically they’re right again. Same idea.
The fall leaf art lives there year-round, but I put a bunch of fall-ish stuff on the table to tease my toddler, who can’t quite reach all those tempting breakables.
Last year I made an easy thanksgiving banner. It looked like this:
But I moved it to inside the dining room, over the windows, and I’m not kidding: I never took it down. All year. It’s still there.
I’d like to say I left it there intentionally, motivated by a pure desire to practice thankfulness, but I just never got around to taking it down. I’m thankful for that, because I didn’t have to rehang it this year. So I guess I am practicing thankfulness.
My favorite trick for transitioning the house to fall is to cozy up the textures. In the living room, I brought in some warmer textures. A little sheepskin on the ottoman never hurt anybody, and I added some new throw pillows in autumnal (love that word) colors.
The velvet pillow and sheepskin feel so fall to me! They make feel like proppin’ up my feet by the fireplace with a mug of pumpkin chai spice tea, because that exists and it is in my pantry at this moment. (Let me tell you about this. It’s in powder form from Trader Joe’s. JUST ADD WATER and you have pumpkin chai spice tea, right there in your mug. This is a thing in our world that you can own and drink any time. Let’s pause for a moment of thankfulness about that.)
My living room used to have simple white sheers underneath my DIY striped curtains:
But I switched them out for these Premium Bamboo Shades from my sponsor Payless Decor. (It’s the Java Vintage color.) I think it’s a nice added texture to make things feel cozier. I’m actually stunned at how different they made my living room look! They’re the same ones I have in my breakfast nook, and I’m a big fan. (Update: Payless Decor is offering 10 percent off to VATW readers with the code VAWTENBA13!)
Look how my money tree is
The only other thing I did to decorate for fall was my fall mantle and the watercolor pumpkins I showed you a couple weeks ago.
And I bought two pre-potted mums and set them on our deck outside.
Brilliant move, I know. Try to catch your breath. It’s never occurred to anyone to:
1. Buy mums and
2. Put them somewhere.
That’s just the kind of lifechanging inspiration you can expect here at View Along the Way.
Oh, I forgot to tell you about the velvet pillow in my living room. World Market has these guys for $9.99 each. I think I got a couple of mine for $5 on sale back in the spring. They come in all different colors, and hypothetically, you can just buy a bunch and throw them all over the place so your husband is forced to sigh heavily and move them whenever he wants to sit on the couch.
Hypothetically.
Throw pillows are Andy’s ARCH NEMESIS!
All I’m saying is: my house will be a beautiful beacon of autumn, someday when I’m a grown-up. I’ll rise before the sun, my hair beautifully tousled, do yoga, eat a sensible breakfast and transform my home into the very essence of fall, all by 7 a.m.
I turn 30 next week so I’m expecting things to change then, just naturally. Does that sound right? When do you start being a grown up?
P.S.: For truly, truly inspiring fall decorating ideas, make sure you swing by the other blogs participating in this Modern and Fresh Fall Home Tour, going on through the end of October! Here’s the schedule:
October 1 – KFD Designs and White Buffalo Styling Co ● 2 – Sarah M. Dorsey Designs ● 3 – Retro Ranch Reno ● 4 – Brittany Makes ● 5 – Scout & Nimble ● 6 – Cuckoo 4 Design ● 7 – Sweet Chaos Home ● 8 – The Chronicles of Home ● 9 – Dwellings by Devore ● 10 – Our Fifth House ● 11 – The Hunted Interior ● 12 – This That & Life ● 13 – Décor and the Dog ● 14 – Primitive & Proper ● 15 – From the Right Bank ● 16 – Shannon Berrey Designs ● 17 – Gorgeous Shiny Things ● 18 – Bliss at Home ● 19 – Rain on a Tin Roof ● 20 – Dear Emmeline ● October 21 – (ME!)
And here’s who’s coming up the rest of the month:
October 22 – Lacquer and Linen ● 23 – A Creative Day Blog ● 24 – Royal Marigold ● 25 – Lori May Interiors ● 26 – Dimples and Tangles ● 27 – Desert Domicile ● 28 – Design Indulgence ● 29 – Lakeitha Duncan Lifestyle Blog ● 30 – A Home Full of Color and The Curtis Casa ● 31 – Number Fifty-three and Brave New Home
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
Wow, I absolutely love your dining room. Especially the curtains and chairs!
Nice tour. I’m so like you where things just don’t happen and then I wonder why? I put up 5 mercury glass extra large ornaments in my dining room window last Christmas and loved the sparkle they provided so I kept them there. So, I guess I’m ready this year! I didn’t decorate much this year…38 weeks pregnant, working full time, planning for a sub, and raising a 4 year old on top of other house and marriage stuff and decorating didn’t happen. Hey, at least my kid and hubby didn’t starve! Congrats on being on the tour, you all have amazing houses! Some day I want one too!
Kelly your home is so pretty and cozy! Happy early birthday! It’s the bog 3-0 for me this year too.
Your home looks beautiful! I love all the fall touches and the warm colors in your dining room! And those bamboo shades look so so good, they add so much good texture.
Your house looks gorgeous as is, totally does. You have touches of fall which is enough in my book. II love your table setting.
And guess what I’m guilty of not changing some of our clocks for daylight savings time. LOL. It gets really annoying when it is a cuckoo clock though.
You are full of nonsense, because your house looks amazing and perfectly, cozily autumnal. Great job, sweets! And you are still in your 20’s?!?! I feel old.
I’m totally on the “haven’t really decorated for fall” train with you. (Except for three strategically-placed pumpkins and a bowl full of scented pinecones purchased from michaels.)
Also, here’s what happens when you turn 30. (Coming from a 30 + 11 months old person.)
-back aches. (?!)
-arthritis. (?!)
-the ability to say “no”
-you finally feel the freedom to do what you want to do, rather than feeling pressure from people (hallelujah!)
-i also bought new underwear. Seriously, you can’t enter a new decade of your life with the same ol’ same ol’. Lemme lemme upgrade, y’all…
This is all so lovely! I found you via Pinterest and I love your style. My favorite is the Thanksgiving banner, I might have to swipe that!
And when you find out what age marks grownup, let me know. I am 36 and I have not gotten there yet!
Newest follower. 😀
Your house is beautiful! You are young and have years and years to sweat tiny things like toilet paper rolls! Enjoy your life, your kids, and your house!
Your house is looking might fine…as usual. I am, however, saddened to hear that you struggle with the toilet paper. I am going to host a class for you and my husband. You think I’m joking.
I love it that you left your give thanks banner up year round!! Seriously! Your home is so cute – just love it!
I was also smart enough to buy mums and put them somewhere, but then mine died. Plants puzzle me. They seem to have no will to live. At least not when they’re around me. So I’m finding your not dead money tree to be very impressive indeed!
True confessions? Ok….. my mantel has not changed since April and won’t till December.
Well SOMEDAY I’ll join you in doing all of those things too, glad I’m not the only one! I can’t tell you how much I love your new bamboo shades, they make your whole space look different! I think I have the same huge jug that your leaves are in on your table…just posted it on IG yesterday. Mine is cloudy inside and I’m trying to figure out how to clean it-it’s impossible to get anything down in there! I think your Fall decorating is perfectly beautiful, and just the right amount!
I don’t know what more you could do as your home is beautiful the way it is! What color are your Premium Bamboo Shades? Did you install them yourself? If so, was it difficult? Did you require a center bracket due to the width of your window? Thanks for sharing where you got your shades.
Thanks! They’re the java vintage color. We installed them ourselves and you can see how we did it here: http://viewalongway.wpengine.com/2013/03/dapper-new-window-skivvies/ It’s really easy!
I love Chai Tea, but I wasn’t sure about the Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea. It’s good, you say? I might have to pick some up tonight…
Oh Kelly… you are so humble. You are AMAZINGLY stylish! And you are a fantastic home blogger. You are far more “grown up” than I could ever pretend to be. I still eat choco-marshmallow-mateys for breakfast. It’s as horrifying as it sounds… basically coco puffs with marshmallows.
You house is lovely fallish and beautiful! Great home tour!
OMG! I love you! I think we are bff’s! (is that creepy? I swear I’m not crazy.) I feel the exact same way! I cannot wake before my kids. I pushed down my daughter on the bus this morning after waking up 10 minutes before hand and a zip lock bag of fruit loops in her hand. Mother of the year right there. Oh and the only reason my house is decorated for fall is because I did it in August. Yes, August. I love your house though, and happy early birthday!
love all the details! Reading your first paragraph, I felt like you summed up my everyday! Yes, its true its sometimes just hard to get it together! Your house looks fab! I love that banner, so cute! And I love all the textures that warm up your spaces making it feel more fall-ish!
Laura
House Envy
stop eating when you’re full? EGADS. my (very italian) family lives by one motto: What does hungry have to do with eating??
Also, I love the little artichokes on the plates, and the velvet pillows. 🙂
Gorgeous room and 30 is WONDERFUL! I’m not sure I felt like a grown-up (I still don’t quite) but I felt a confidence that I didn’t have in my 20s. Like “I’m glad I’m me” and “I’ll stand up for myself without being mean” sort of confidence. And if I still think I look best in boot cut jeans when everyone is wearing skinny–I’ll wear what I like and not bat an eyelash. My skin looks better, because I take better care of it and I eat better and exercise more, so my body is better than in my 20s. Ooh, you’re going to love being 30. (I have 7 years experience with it, so I can tell you with confidence.)
I love all your touches! I feel like my decor style is more fall-esque myself so when fall does finally roll around things make a bit more sense for a season. Pft, outta your league! I don’t believe it for a second. I always thought I’d become a grown up and start investing in long-term furniture (and shake the notion that Ikea is my price baseline) when I had kids but…that milestone came and went and I’m still wondering when I’ll grow up 😛
Simple, yet fally (if that’s even a word) and makes you feel sooo comfortable when you see it! I can’t think of a better way to decorate than that! Would love to talk more but running off to buy some potted mums to place somewhere because that idea is just the best ever!!! 😀 hehehe, still make me laugh!
Gorgeously gorgeous, Kelly! I’m obsessed with the new pillow combo. And um, I have that exact same WM pillow on my couch. *Chest bump* over our shared love of pillows and lofty ambitions. I’m sitting in sweatpants eating a Laffy Taffy, so….yeah. Love ya, girl! Awesome job!!
Your home is so beautiful, just like I knew it’d be!! I hope I can grow up one day too… 😉
I’m sitting next to my husband reading this post and I had to read out loud about the throw pillows. Right now my husband is shaking his head in anger while I am nestled on my side of the couch among FOUR throw pillows, two of which are green velvet ones from World Market. Tell Andy he is not alone in his fury, but the battle will wage on. I can’t get enough! I’ve tried to just make pillow covers to keep down the number of actual pillows we have, but when you find a good sale, what are you gonna do?
everytime i see your dining room i get a little jealous. So gorgeous. well, so is the rest of your house. but the dining room is PERFECTION. even with all year round fall decor 😉
Your husband too?! My hubby has to move every throw pillow in the corner before he will sit on the couch. I keep telling him that you’re supposed to sit with them but apparently they aren’t comfy and I have too many. Boo.
I just started decorating for fall this year. My decor consists of a fall mantel and a wreath on the door. And I made orange pillow covers for those throw pillows that hubby insists belong on the floor. I love your simple fall decor! And you can only do so much when you have toddlers running around!
Elizabeth @ Real Inspired
You crack me up.
Last winter, I hung some pretty snowflake ornaments on twine from the curtain rods in my living room. The light would come through the window and hit them JUST SO, and it was magical.
But I’m embarrassed to admit: I never took them down. When it was 110 degrees outside this summer, my winter snowflakes were still there. But just like you, think of how much time I saved by not taking them down because now it’s October and acceptable to have snowflakes hanging in your house, and I don’t have to hang them again!
Maybe it’s a Kelly thing?
Girl, I would take your home tour just for the humor. All of the pretty decor was just an added bonus! I think I need to start a petition to get a World Market close to me because everything I see from there is lovely. Thanks for sharing your beautiful home with us, Miss Kelly! Have a wonderful week!
~Abby =)
I seriously thought your dining room was an inspiration photo from House Beautiful or something, before I read about it. It’s beautiful, Kelly! Love the wall color, so pretty! Your whole house looks very cozy and yes, autumnal. Gorgeous!
Those blinds in your family room? Fantastic. Love the texture they add. Your fall decor is simple and pretty — my favorite kind. 🙂
xo Heidi
hahaha. Throw pillows are probably the arch nemesis of every husband who has ever lived. And I had to use my inhaler after that mums thing. Breath=taken away. 😉
Your dining room looks especially beautiful with that banner (still) in it!
hm, i turn 31 on saturday. (30 is not it, gotta wait for 31!) Happy Birthday 😉
You are so silly, I love your autumn touches!! Your pumpkins are super cute and you can never go wrong with some deck mums. Great work! I guess I should start on my tour now seeing as it is tomorrow. Oh boy…
Your home is sooo cozy! I love it! I plan to grow up in all of the same ways as you someday…or at least I’m hoping it will just happen. Thanks for the pumpkin chai tip… if there were a Trader Joe’s here, I would be going RIGHT NOW… but we’re lucky to have a market attached to a gas station here in Montana. 🙂 I will have to get some mailed to me…yum!
I love your dining room so much. The color palate is divine. I think I would love it all year long too 🙂
This was my very favorite home tour by far because you are keeping in REAL! Sadly, I am about to turn 37 and none of those grown up things have happened for me yet. I hope it works out for you!
Beautiful! I’m a new follower and I LOVE your dining room. Just leave the banner up all the time. Love it! 🙂
Oh my gosh Kelly, I about died of laughter over this post!!!! The only fall decorations I got accomplished this year was my mantle, dining table, and finally I finished my porch just last week. I had a tote sitting in my entry way for over a month with a ton of Fall decorations and it just sat there, staring me in the face. I finally stuck it back in the garage and have up!!! Haha…one day!!!
Also, I’m turning 30 in March which seems CRAZY!! Happy early birthday and I hope you got all out and celebrate!!
Blessings,
Kayla
Lol, Kelly, I’ll be 50 in a few months, & still prefer to snuggle up, under the covers. Yoga happens when the mood strikes (read that 2 or 3 times a year…maybe), the kids (granted, mine are relatively self-sufficient teens) are long gone, by the time I finally give up my snugly blankets, & some seasons see no decor changes, whatsoever, in our tiny apartment. But, (until I just outed myself) almost noone even seems to notice. Well, sometimes hubby gets jealous that I can sleep, when his internal alarm goes off after just a few hours after his eyes close, but that’s all. You’re good to go!
Oh my goodness! Your dining room looks fabulous! I love it!
Well, I am still a child at 40 something, so you are really just an infant 🙂 LOVE your dining room. It’s perfect any time of year! You have a fabulous home and sense of humor.
You crack me up! Being an adult is totally overrated. Let’s just stay in our PJs all day and eat candy while we watch Netflix all the days.
You’re home looks so fall and gorgeous as always.
Pardon me for having to annotate my own comment, but:
1. Your autumnal* home is beautiful. 🙂
2. The best reason to buy many throw pillows is just “so your husband is forced to sigh heavily and move them whenever he wants to sit on the couch.” Seriously, doesn’t that make it worth it all? **
3. I sometimes imagine myself waking up early, cleaning the house, perfecting a yoga pose, and preparing a sensible breakfast (and lunches) for my family before the roosters crow. ***
* I have also loved that word, ever since I heard Nigella Lawson breathe it into glorious existence when speaking about a dish on NPR.)
** Not like I go out of my way to watch my husband get frustrated, or anything.
*** Then I wake up and realize it was all a dream, because I knew I really didn’t look so good in real life doing yoga and NOT falling on my behind (in public…like I never did, ever… in front of calm, veteran yoga practitioners… nope.)
**** (The invisible notation underscoring my comment: Thank you for the fun!)
Bwahahahah!! I swear I can never ever get through even one of your posts without a laughter tear welling up at least once! You should really take your show on the road. You’re freakin hilarious! Great move on the Give Thanks banner. You totally saved yourself a ton of time not having to rehang it this year:) I honestly love your dining room. Its beautiful and I love how simple and cozy your living room is. Im 31 and I never decorate for the seasons, and Ive been telling myself for two years to go take the free yoga class up the street…hasn’t happened yet. I swear girl my tour is in 9 days and you wanna know how much autumn is happenin around here….um how bout nada! I need to get on that. Oh and the mums…mind. blown. Love it!
Number One: Thank you for calling me stylish! You’re too sweet. Number Two: You are absolutely as stylish. Number Three: You rocked this fall tour! Way to go, lady!
Ummmm…#1 you are hilarious. #2 you are crazy #3 your house is ridiculously gorgeous and very Fall #4 now I’m just numbering my thoughts and not so much as trying to make a point. :/ But, I love your Fall touches and your photos??? Magazine-worthy. Seeeeriously.
Kelly! Love it 🙂 Your dining room looks like a magazine! xo Kristin
grown up schmown up. your house is gorgeous and cozy and perfect! and you are a grown up already! those are just those silly stereotypes we associate with being a true grown up…. but you, you are raising kids, loving your husband, and making a home. you are a grown up.
Everything is just beautiful. Your dining room is wonderful!
I don’t know, I am still wondering when I am going to grow up and I have few years on ya! 😉
Those shots of your dining room look professional! So crisp and clear. I turned 30 in June and my husband still sighs and moves the throw cushions. So that does not change.
This is so good! I love your writing style… so funny and personable. Your home is beautiful. That dining photo is like right out of a magazine!
I’m turning 50 next year and fully expect for a full blown adult onset to spontaneously occur on that date. ‘Cause it dang sure ain’t happened in the past 49 years, that’s fer sure! I will admit to getting up tousled hair(wierd cowlick sticking up in back) and getting lots done before 9:00am (going to walmart, actually unloading everything and getting it actually put away) in (relatively) clean clothes……what can I say? I’m a beacon of hope in the ‘style your life’ kinda way. (NOT!) Oh well. If it happens for you at 30, please let me know. It’ll give me something to hope for on the big five oh!
Love the house by the way! And who can blame a chick for leaving up a festive banner?????
Love how antlers and fur make an instant warm + cozy fall statement.
Glad I found your blog.
Your home looks great! I love all of the jewel tones! Never realized how much of a difference bamboo shades made either! I’m kind of kicking myself for getting white wooden blinds now…
Haha! Everytime I visit here I love you more! It looks great!!! 😀
Your home looks lovely and oh-so cozy.
I can’t wait to hear how grown up you become on your 30th. I’m thinking it will happen for me, too.
Or not. Still planning to hide under covers.
I love how your living room looks now with the bamboo shades!
Things I LOVE in this post: your new bamboo shades (perfect), the word autumnal (so fun), your dining room (very stylish), and simple potted mums to celebrate fall (classic).
Oh shoot Kelly, I still have those someday visions and I’m 35… Was kinda thinking it kicks in at 40?!? I think you have simply proven how simple fall decor can be to still look warm and beautiful. Perfect:)
Quick question about your world market pillows… I’ve been eyeing some of the solid pillows you got but I wanted to know if the purple one pictured, is the “fig” colored pillow? I’ve been looking for a nice purple pillow and the fig looked too red for me but if it’s really more purple in person like it appears in your picture, I clearly need it, like yesterday! Thanks so much!
You know what? I have no idea! The one I have doesn’t look as red as the “fig” color on their website, but then I don’t see one on their site that looks as purple as the one I have. I wonder if they might have different colors in store vs online? Sorry I can’t help more!
Oh girl, your autumnal decorating is on par with mine! I have a few things – my front porch has some stuff, my front entry table, and my dining room table. Good ‘nuf! I’ve always loved your dining room, looks so pretty all autumnaled out! I like that word too. 🙂 Do you remember the color you got for those bamboo shades? I love the shades we have in our bedroom and kind of want to do them in our living room now but I think the price on the payless site is even better than what we got. The bamboo shades add to the whole autumnal feel too. There – autumnal said 3 times in this comment. Now 4. Stop me now. xoxo
Okay, first of all, I love you! (hope that didn’t scare you, a declaration of love from a complete stranger) You absolutely crack me up. So fun to read your posts, they always inject a little giggle into my day. And I love the subtle approach to fall decorating. And I love that your “give thanks” banner was up all year. Something I would do. 😉 Your home is beautiful. Have a great weekend, Kelly! Oh and congrats on This Old House, just saw you in there the other day.
I just stumbled upon your blog and i died laughing this entire post. SO TRUE and relate-able! Keep bringing it to us real style! So refreshing!
Oh, and do you know where you got the gorgeous blue/pink floral pillow nestled next to the yellow velvet?
Yes! We got it on ebay from this seller: http://www.ebay.com/sch/eyesofindia/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= Only $6, shipped! It was SO cheap, but it arrived with a broken zipper so the quality is definitely not great. 🙂
Your dining room is so elegant! I love the chairs and the contrast on the walls. Stunning!
Just did a quick “stalk” on your blog site … love the video of you and Andy and all the things you have done in your home. Found you through Design Indulgence and the Fall Home Tour. Your blog made me smile and you can feel the love you put into everything! Nice to meet you!! xo
I love those velvet pillows from WM….have used them in projects before! Aren’t you lucky that your colors go so nicely with fall….and great job with placing those mums on your patio:)
Just found your blog and I love it! Throw pillows are my husband’s arch nemesis too! In the bedroom…on the couch… he hates them! Muahahahahaha!
Ok I seriously cannot stop laughing at your post! I want to break it to you though…I’m 40 and still do all the things you do and wonder if I’ll ever be a full fledged grown up! Regardless your house looks absolutely beautiful!!