decorating inspiration

if you have a room that is bland, but you think you can't possibly do anything to freshen it up, check out these pictures! you can see how just a little paint and some textile upgrades do everything to make the space warm, welcoming, and fun!

before, the room was almost ALL beige - safe, but boring. i don't know about you, but i wouldn't feel truly comfortable here - i can't imagine myself stretched out on that sofa reading a book.

...but now THIS is welcoming! i could spend hours relaxing or reading in this room. updating the sofa with some pillows (a cheap way to decorate, plus you can change these with the seasons or whenever you feel like it) makes the sofa pop. the blue walls make a huge difference and warm up the space. the striped curtains tie this all together. another upgrade: taking advantage of the space where the table is (above) and desk is (below). painting that back wall a complementary color makes that area its own space.

before: all beige!

after: painting the hallway a complementary color (and a color that is used in the living room) helps simultaneously tie the spaces together yet makes them distinct. adding the striped curtains around the french doors tie all the colors together and is a nice touch.

understated fall decorating

my husband and I don't have kids (yet!) and we don't want to leave things out that our dogs will destroy...so we are not big into the full-blown decorating for Halloween thing. but, I still want my house to look like fall and have a warm look to it this time of year. I can't do the whole fake-cobwebs-and-witch-cutouts thing, but I do like a touch of fall indoors.

I think every home should have a wreath on the front door during the fall season! I love berry wreaths like this one - and if you use red berries, this wreath can go from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas.

i think the easiest way to add some fall color to a room is by a centerpiece like this (wouldn't this look great on a dining room table?), or, smaller versions of this for side tables. collections like this aren't overwhelming, but they add warmth.

this is a creative use of a pumpkin without being too cutesy. you could use the pumpkin as a vase, as above, or as a planter on your front porch.

if you don't want to replace your centerpieces, vases, collections, etc with small pumpkins and the like, but still want an update for fall, use branches!! they are incredibly versatile, and you can use them in your existing arrangements, but they just have that "fall" look about them that makes you want to curl up in front of the fire and read a good book. branches are inexpensive, and you can place them all around your home in just a few short minutes. done and done!

another GREAT versatile decorating tool that will take you from halloween to christmas: pinecones! as a centerpiece or in a side bowl, you can mix pinecones with pumpkins for halloween, with gourds for thanksgiving, and with red berries and fir for christmas. a pinecone placed on a napkin - as above - looks great on a deep orange or brown napkin for thanksgiving dinner, or a red or green napkin for a christmas feast. it can't get any easier than that!