Come on in! Fall home tour, 2022.

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! It's no secret that October is my second favorite month of the year. (December will always hold the number one spot in my heart.) For as far back as I can remember, some of my fondest childhood memories had to do with seasonal décor. I always loved carving pumpkins, I loved trick-or-treating each year, I loved seeing our house always dressed up for the holidays. My mom wasn't so much of a pumpkin type person, but you should see her love of Christmas. It runs deep, friends, and she is one of the most talented people I have ever met. There's nothing she can't do! I love to decorate as well, though I definitely have my own unique style. I love seeing people's homes and what makes them who they are—that being said, that's where I like to share these posts. I like to look back on them from year to year and see how my taste has changed, but I also love the thought of inspiring someone to enjoy making their house a home. I wish I could invite all of you over for an afternoon of lunch and coffee, but since I can't do that, I figured this would be the next best thing. 

Come on in!

Is there anything better than I nicely manicured lawn? I don't think so. 

(Pretend there are pumpkins around this mum. This picture is not recent, but from two years ago! I haven't bought pumpkins yet and honestly at this point, I may not. We'll see.)

And here is last year's porch. Like I said, just pretend that's recent. 

Four years later and I still love my pumpkin door hanger. I bought it from my favorite little shop on our town square, CJ Lilly. 

I always think it's funny that the boys like to eat in the dining room. When they're home for lunch or if they go and get dinner and bring it back home, this is where they sit to eat. Maybe it's the cozy space, maybe it's the chairs with arms...who knows? But they always like to sit in here and eat. The table makes into a bigger table, but I like it without the leaf and in this cute round shape. This was my mom's dining room furniture that she gave to us. One of these days I'll paint the hutch and freshen the room up with a more bold color. The lighting makes it hard to tell, but it's a green called Happy Camper. 

I love to use lamp lighting for ambiance. Are you this way? I rarely ever turn on overhead lighting. I bought the little arrangement by the kitchen lamp from Home Goods...isn't it cute? I also move things around from year to year, partly because I can't remember what went where and I'm too lazy to look here and also because I like to change things up. I also bought this pumpkin hanging on the door into the laundry room this year, from Hobby Lobby. They had their fall decorations 40% off very early in August this year. I also still love my tiered stand here in the kitchen. I've had it for several years and I love changing out the stuff on it from season to season. 

This is our hall bath downstairs. I love these little whimsical people my mom gave me several years ago. I always keep the arrangement there until Christmas, then I use something else there, but I like to keep books in the bathroom for people. It's a captive audience, what can I say? This is a tiny space, so ease I have a basket that I keep stocked with extra toilet paper and room spray. 

I love to mix in nostalgic things with my seasonal décor. For instance, the lamp with the rocks inside of it? Those are rocks that my boys have given me over the years. And a lot of the books that I keep out to use are books either from my childhood or some that the boys loved when they were little. I use other things, like lots of blankets and candles to keep the house smelling good, because we do have four dogs living in the house. 

I love ambient lighting, like I already mentioned, and I love twinkling lights and keep them out year round, like these that I keep on in our bedroom. 

We are not fancy, complicated people and I love what I love because most of it means something to me. I don't think an ugly home exists, because I believe that everyone adds their little touches to it that makes it home. And home is a beautiful thing to behold, not because of what's inside of it, the size of it or where it's located. What makes it home are the people who live in it with you and the memories that have been made there or that will be made there. I think it's also important to remind ourselves not to compare what we have with what other people have. Social media and blogs can make that really hard from time to time, but it's something we all have to remember, otherwise we would be miserable and bitter people. I love to "shop" on fun days out with my mom and sisters, but I have to be careful with what I buy, because I don't want to buy something for the wrong reason. For instance, am I buying it to make our home seem more than what it actually is, or will it enhance our lives in some way? I do buy things, don't get me wrong, but I rarely make large and expensive purchases. I'm all about a fifty percent off sale from Hobby Lobby! When I do make larger purchases, like the pumpkin door hanger you saw earlier in the post, it lasts for years. I think that was probably around $30, but it's at least four years old. Other things I have are things that have been handed down to me that someone else didn't want anymore, even though there's nothing wrong with it.

Like I said, I have to be careful that my perspective is in the right place. I don't really want to be known for what I have or the way my house looks. I'd rather be known for how we make the people who come in feel. I have a sign hanging right at the front door that I purposefully hung there as a reminder to anyone who walks out—it simply says, "You are dearly loved." And that's true! I want us to love people well. More than that I want us to share the love of Jesus with everyone who enters our door. I want them to feel His love, His presence and the peace that He gives to us. I want them to feel welcome and like they can go rummage through our pantry if they're in need of a snack. I want us as a family to represent Jesus well. We are His image bearers, after all, and some people will only see Him through us who belong to Him. That's one of my ultimate prayers. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post! I hope it inspires you in some way, whether it's in decorating your home, finding your own personal style or considering your perspective as you go about life. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.