Fall at the RadPad

It's October, which means only one thing.

Actually, I'm sure it means a lot of different things, but for our purposes, it means only one thing.

Fall Decor.

There are two schools of thought concerning switching up your fall decor. The first is that on September 1st you are free to switch out that summer citrus for those mini pumpkins! The other is that you wait until the first day of Fall on September 21st.  I, obviously, identify with the former of these two schools and before the earth cools from the summer heat, I've branded my home with the aura of Fall.

In celebration of my favorite season, I've got an entire post devoted to all the awesome things I found gathering Fall decor and a quick lap of my main living area all decked out!

Let's start with the absolutely gorgeous stuff that I found out in the world. This portion of the post brought to you by preschool….because there is no way I could've done this with kids in tow. I had a lovely morning sauntering the aisles of Hobby Lobby enjoying beautiful things Ruby would have shattered instantly.

 

Hobby Lobby:

These are so cute! I bought all three but ended up taking the first two back because I didn't have a place for them. A good lesson to be learned at this junction, even if it's gorgeous, it doesn't mean it's right for your space. The last one worked so well in a place that I wanted a wreath, I went back for a second.

I'm a sucker for all things pumpkin and these are so fun. They are rustic and imperfect and everything my heart loves.

Did I mention that I love pumpkins? I especially love real pumpkins. But they always always ALWAYS start to rot before Thanksgiving. So I've invested in some fakes this year to make it to the holiday.

I host 2 Thanksgivings each year and each year no matter the number of people we eat on real plates, just like the pilgrims. :) I do this with the help of my mom and her tableware; I do not actually own 35 place settings. In my dreams do I own 35 place settings. When it comes to appetizers and desserts, however, we use paper. Hobby Lobby has the cutest paper plates and napkins, and they were 40% off. They probably still are…it is Hobby Lobby after all.

Some awesome fall mugs. Treat yo' Self.

Come on how cute are these? They would be great on a fall wreath or stuck in a fall arrangement. I bought these but ended up taking them back because they didn't go where I have envisioned them.

An entire wall of pumpkins…my dream. I especially like ones made out of…tree bark?

BY far my FAVORITE thing this year are these wooden beads. Drape them, hang them, toss them about. They are SO pretty. I can't wait to show you what I did with them later.

 

Lowes:

I was not expecting to find such cute stuff at Lowes. Okay, I was not expecting to find ANY cute Fall stuff at Lowes, we were there for lightbulbs.

While I'm not a fan of Halloween decorations, how stinking cute are these? I'm going to use the big bucket for Halloween candy because we always leave candy out on Halloween while we trick or treat in my parents' neighborhood. (Read: We eat chili and donuts at my mom's house and walk to a couple of neighbors we know and love.)

These outdoor pillows will look so cute on my wicker chairs on my front porch! I love those pumpkins.

 

JoAnns:

JoAnns won the season for me. I was unsure of what to do on my fireplace in the new house, and JoAnns provided the inspiration I needed to create something that was very me.

So if you are looking for a Fall sign, look no further than JoAnns. I mean, jeez.

Here are a few I liked:

 

 

Here is where I found my mantle. Joanns had a considerable section of fabric covered pumpkins that ROCKED. I started with one in my cart, and then that very quickly grew until…well, I'll wait to show you until a bit later. Hint: it was more than 5, or 10, or 20!

I grabbed a bag of these, naturally. I liked the ones in the middle row left column, but as you can see, they have some that will match a variety of motifs.

That's right, I said motif.

I'm not a fan of potpourri because I have a house full of allergic people and dead plants don't help that.

However, if I were, I would be all over this because HOW CUTE!?

Fill these wire pumpkins with your potpourri. Or smaller pumpkins and really give into the mania.

I'm not a fan of fake fall foliage on wreaths, and I've only ever seen a few that don't look super fake. These are some good options that would look great with a fall ribbon or some sprigs of twiggy berries.

I wish I had a spot for these. They are so cute. In fact, I had three of them in my cart for the longest time, thinking that I would just find a spot for them when I got home. But, alas, reason won out, and I returned them to the shelf with a heavy heart.

I LOVE the hexagon mirror in this picture. I should have bought it for my master bedroom. Dang it. The long fall sign would be cute on a front porch. My favorite of all the signs is the pumpkin that says welcome. Layered on a fall wreath, it would make a super cute fall door. I wish I would have grabbed it.

The copper and concrete milk jugs were to DIE FOR, but they were too heavy for the places that I wanted to put them. I settled for the copper lantern next to them. Equally cute and a much better fit for my purposes. Even though I wake up everyday wishing for those milk jugs.

Everyday….

Those are my super fun fall finds out in the world!! I did my annual trip to Yankee Candle for Apple Pumpkin candles, and that concluded my fall shopping. I arrived home and set everything on the counter so that in 48 hours when the calendar read September 1st, I would be ready to go!

I LOVE everything that I did for Fall. There were multiple times during the decor switch, I told Dave that this house was SO working for me. For someone that had to forego Fall decor in our little apartment last year as we built this house, this seasonal decor was something I've been waiting for and dreaming about quite a while.

I have 7 spots in my house that I decorate per season. Let's start with my FAVORITE.

1. The Mantle

I started with my "gather" sign that I used to hang on my shutters at the old house.

I miss my shutters. Aw, sad feeling.

The sad feeling is gone! Because LOOK AT THIS MANTLE!!

I flanked the sign with two small wreaths (remember those). I loved the smaller size because it kept the whole thing balanced and clean. Had I used full-sized wreaths, it would have looked entirely unbalanced.

I finished the mantle off with 27 fabric pumpkins. Yes, 27!! I took a risk, and it totally paid off. It was precisely the look that I was going for. All the colors are my favorite fall colors, all the textures work together perfectly, and the weight of it under the simple sign just feels right.

Funny story, I did not properly secure the sign the first time, and it fell taking half the pumpkins with it. It was…scary.

 

2. Living Room Shelves

I have two small shelves to the right of my TV. These shelves hold some sort of foliage on the top shelf and my family's Bibles with a few old classics I have collected. Building on those staples, I decorate. Remember to try your hardest to decorate in odd numbers. On top, I used a concrete planter from the Magnolia collection at Target. I keep that there all year and just switch out the foliage. It's always fake too, the foliage. I try to keep it twiggy so that it doesn't look as fake. I said foliage a lot in that paragraph.

I paired that with one of the two copper lanterns from Joann's and a black IKEA candle holder with a fall design…. I think it's a pinecone.

The bottom shelf has the books and a clock I usually just keep there. I added this cute little wheat pot that I've had for years and a concrete pumpkin from Hobby Lobby that I love so deeply.

SO. VERY. DEEPLY.

 

3. Kitchen Island

We have a large island in our kitchen that is the majority of my counter space. While most of it is covered in school projects, papers, Ruby's pants that she sheds by 3pm each day; the end has this wooden cake platter (Target Magnolia collection) that I decorate. It always holds a white pitcher given to me by my sweet friend Allison as a housewarming gift, and a milk bottle I've had forever. Then I do a seasonal candle as my third thing. In the pitcher, I draped my wooden beads. OBSESSED. And in the milk bottle, I let a handful of twiggy orange berries take up residence. I found this super cute fall candle holder that holds my Apple Pumpkin Yankee candles perfectly. I mean, PERFECTLY.

It's simple, it's clean, and it works.

 

4. Egg Spot

This is the spot on the kitchen counter that always has my eggs. The only thing I switch out here is the pumpkin trivet. Obviously, for fall the pumpkin trivet stays. So far the only other thing that it has been an aloe vera plant.

5. Kitchen/Dining Shelves

These are new, Dave put them up for me the night of the decor switch, and I love them. I plan on putting a little church pew under them for extra seating around the table if needed. And also timeouts. I'll let you guess what it will be used for most often. 

The top shelf is the other copper lantern with Pussy Willow branches from my Aunt Karen's garden. She's one of the loveliest people I know, and I love having a piece of her house in my house.

Standing next to that is a little bouquet of wheat that I bought 4 years ago on clearance at Home Goods. Three more fabric pumpkins found a home on the top shelf along with a generic white pitcher from Hobby Lobby.

The tobacco baskets I got from a website called decorsteals.com that I love. 80% of the time I don't buy what they have on sale, but I've gotten some of my favorite pieces from them. You just need to hone your style enough to be able to say no when cute stuff comes along that will not work in your space.

The bottom shelf holds my fall mugs, a handled cutting board with the word "gather" burned into it (my thematic word for this season), and two cake plates stacked on each other. On the cake plates are 3 pumpkin napkin rings that I love but were too expensive to buy a whole set. I draped the other string of wooden beads on the cake plates to fill the space.

Finally, the antique printing press letters that spell out "Gather" finish the whole thing out.

6. Sofa Table

I keep this stone tray on my sofa table to corral remotes. There I placed an orange bottle with the same twiggy orange berries as the kitchen island, a wooden candlestick holder (sans candle), and this super cute wooden carved pumpkin that works perfectly there.

There it is, the RadPad ready for fall!!

How are you decorating your house this Fall? What are some of your favorite items to decorate with each year? Comment below to share your ideas and questions with our little community here on Nothing Fancy.

Remember that whatever you do, you have to love it. Decorating your home is for you and your family. Do what works for the colors in your house, use the colors that you like, and use items that mean something to you. If it speaks to you, buy it and use it as a starting place to build your style. That's what happened with my mantle this year. The pumpkins spoke to me, and I listened. It doesn't matter if it is farmhouse, modern, minimalist, rustic, whatever the heck is trending. It matters that you love it.

Nothing Fancy.