Kicking off Fall with Our 2015 Fall Mantel ...

Happy Monday!

It's beautiful days like this that make me love this time of year and all that goes along with it!  And, to kick of the season, I'm sharing our Fall mantel.

Having just *beefed up* the area above our mantel by adding MDF panels and molding, I was excited to have a new, white backdrop for our Fall decor.  

Faux Fall branches and wheat are always an easy "go to" for me.

These candlesticks used to be white, but to give them more of a Fall look, I painted them with a little bit of leftover deck stain (ha! ... use what you have on hand, right?)  And, because I then hot glued inexpensive glass hurricanes on top of the candlesticks, I added Fall ribbon and big ol' bows to hide the evidence of dried hot glue!

Can you tell I'm a fan of symmetry?

These cardboard letters (from Hobby Lobby) also got a coat of leftover deck stain to darken them just a bit and so that they would match the candlesticks.  I then "messily" (is that word?) brushed a bit of white paint on them to give them a little bit of a weathered look.

This metal piece from Kirkland's has been sitting in our basement storage room for quite awhile so it was nice to bring it out, attach a Fall wreath to it, and let it serve as the backdrop for our seasonal mantel.  

I also brought back the beaded garland I made several years ago and added a cream solid wood beaded garland, too, along with this pretty glass acorn garland (from Home Goods) ... praying it doesn't fall and crash all over the floor!

I kept it simple on the hearth by just adding a few faux pumpkins.  

Lastly, I don't think I've shown you all yet, but I love how the beaded garland ties in with our new chandelier (from World Market) ... such a difference from our not so attractive ceiling fan.

I'll be sharing more of our Fall home in the weeks to come ... including a newly planked mantel in our sitting room AND a bit o' Halloween fun in there, too!

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A Stroll Thru Life/Inspire Me Tuesday

A New Look for Our Fireplace

Happy September, friends!

I know I've said it 1,000 times before how much I miss the fireplace in our old home (especially during the holidays) ... because we had an 18 foot vaulted ceiling in our great room, that allowed our mantel to be nice and tall!  **sniff sniff**

I knew I wanted something similar in our new great room, but on a smaller scale since our ceilings are only 9 feet tall in here.  Well, after getting a $700 estimate, we decided to try it DIY-style.  And, thanks to Cristina's awesome tutorial at her wonderful blog, Remodelando la Casa, we were able to get it done ourselves (for less than $100, to boot)!

So, here's our fireplace a few weeks ago:

And, here it is now!  YAY!

I consider it a "mini me" version of our old fireplace!  

BEFORE:

AFTER!  We might try our hand at adding a bit of molding inside, but, for now, we're thrilled!

It's amazing what a little MDF and molding can do!  

Now, to decorate it for FALL!

And, speaking of blank slates ... do you love trays as much as I do?!  When I spotted this fabulous oversized beauty at Home Goods the other day, I knew I had to grab it.  I love the size, texture and handles ... now, to add a big ol' seasonal vignette to it!

Are any of you getting your "Fall on?"  

I hope so and can't wait to be inspired by all of you!

Thanks for stopping by,

New Fabric and Prints in the Sunroom ...

Greetings!

Thanks a bunch for your kind words about the new look in our front sitting room!  As I mentioned in that post, I somewhat "stole" a few items from our sunroom to complete the sitting room.  Sooo, of course that meant I had to do a bit of tweaking in our little sunroom.

BEFORE: See my favorite fabric on the windows?  Well, since it's now in the sitting room, I couldn't leave my windows bare in here, now could I?

AFTER:  Having an open floor plan, I decided to try the same Berta Rupta fabric (IKEA) that is in our neighboring great room.  It helps to "pull" those two rooms together.

And, since I moved the silver-framed coastal prints to the front sitting room, too, that made way for these cute shoreline bird prints (Home Goods) to fly in here! 

I like how the dark frame gives them a bit of prominence.

Annnd, while I was at it, I brought in some shells ...

and added them to this oversized shell bowl from Target.  Our little coastal sunroom is now complete!

It's hard to believe that in a few short weeks, the shells will be replaced with leaves!  Yes, I've had enough of our 90+ temps and am ready for FALL!  Are you ready for Fall, too?

Thanks so much for visiting!

The New Look in our Sitting Room

Greeting, friends!

Recently, my husband and I did a little DIY project in our sitting room that I wanted to share!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love decorating mantels.  And, while we have a fireplace in our great room that I love to decorate, I have wanted to create the "illusion" of one in our sitting room, too ... giving me another spot to have fun with for the seasons and/or holidays.

After weeks of scouring Craigslist, this gem came home with us!

Admittedly, we were pretty clueless how to "properly" attach this heavy surround to the wall.  But, after getting a $400 estimate from a contractor to do it for us (um, no thanks), we decided we needed to learn and turned to good ol' Youtube, finding a super easy tutorial.  

That's when my husband got to work.  He first used his Dremel to cut out the base molding on the back wall so that the surround would sit flush against it.  I then placed a thin piece of birch wood on the floor to resemble a hearth. 

I then nailed a piece of faux brick panel to the wall, and then my husband mounted three 1" x 36" pieces of wood (or mounting strips) to the wall.  He then screwed the surround into the mounting strips ... and voila!

After he was finished, I then painted the faux brick panel with Annie Sloane's "Pure White" chalk paint and added 4" trim panels beside and below the legs and header.

Here is the result!  Well the "almost" end result.

I couldn't wait to decorate it ... naturally, a coastal-themed *mantelscape* was in order.

I was happy to dust off our boat for its "maiden voyage" onto our new mantel!

Silver candlesticks from IKEA paired with natural branches finished it off.

And, for the crowning touch above the mirror, I made a little sign ... 

encouraging you to "relax" a bit in here.

Over on the left, I placed our duck egg accent chest in front of the window and framed it with my favorite curtains that used to hang in our sunroom.

Another ship came floating in to complete this little vignette:

Over on the right (where the blue accent chest used to sit), I pushed our antique "chalk painted" secretary in from the foyer to balance the weight of the windows on the left side.

After my pieces were all in place, I realized the room needed *something* else ... that's when the bright coral pillows appeared.

I then layered summery floral pillows over them just for fun.  

You might have noticed that I brought the seascape prints in from our sunroom, too!  Of course, this means that changes had to be made in that room now that I had left it bare ... oops.  I'll share those changes soon.

I can't thank my sweet husband enough for helping my vision come to life and, admittedly, can't wait to splash Fall on it and add cozy candles on the hearth ... is that bad?!

So, if you've wanted to add a "fireplace," you can always add the illusion of one by mounting a surround to your wall ... Youtube will teach you how to do it!  ;)

Thanks for stopping by ...

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Savvy Southern Style/WUW

Feeling "Blue" in our Summer Great Room

Greetings!

Isn't it funny how our tastes change?  Admittedly, I feel as though mine changes more than the average gal.  One minute, I love red, the next ... not so much.  One day, I tell myself I'll never use navy blue in our main rooms again, and then ... this.

I'm just going to blame it on our white sofa.  It just calls out to play with different colors since it's such the perfect backdrop ... for me, anyway.

I'm also going to blame it on Home Goods.  It seems as though they've been overloaded this season (or year) with blue, blue, blue.  And, I found myself drawn to it.

Like this pillow ... how could I resist it (?) since the blue ties in with the solid blue pillows; the burlap ties in with our white with burlap trimmed pillows; and the black lettering ties in with our black frames ... and, most importantly, the price tied in with my budget!

And, then there was pretty vase calling out to me on "aisle 9" of Home Goods ... of course, I was bummed it didn't have a twin because you must "know" how addicted to symmetry I am.  I decided to scoop it up, anyway and am glad I did!

How have I forgotten how pretty and crisp blue and white are mixed together?!

Of course, I have to always dress our mantel up for the season, and, somehow, a little blue and white found its way over there, too.

Wanna guess where I found the cute matching vases?

I'll give you a hint ... it's the "same" place I found this awesome blanket!

Feel free to come "GATHER" with me while you figure out the answer!

Shame on you Home Goods ... shaaaame!  

I love how these colors all play so well together and can't believe it took me almost 15 years to incorporate navy back into our great room decor!  I might have to keep around for awhile ...

and figure out where "else" can I add it?  Just please don't let me go back to Home Goods for awhile!

Thanks for stopping by,