Family Room Fall Decor Reveal

So...I had a really busy weekend.  I was able to get hub moving on bringing in the container which holds my Fall Decorations.  I was excited to see everything.  It's time for a change for sure.  I keep my Fall decorations up until after Thanksgiving and then Christmas decor is on its way in....which is a lot more than the Fall decor stuff.

You remember our big weekend of painting.  Once hub and Hannah got in the mood, there was no turning back on the painting.  My mind was already spinning about a new fireplace look, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do.  We both agreed that the black needed to be brought in somewhere on the fireplace.  My mind was thinking that we would just paint the top of the mantle and leave the bottom alone.  This is what it looked like...

We both stared at this for most of the afternoon.  Finally, we agreed the entire fireplace had to be painted.  This was not working.  My biggest fear was that we would have to start all over and paint over that black.


Here's a before pic....

Here's the after pic....

Nice, huh?  I really love it.  I quickly took this pic before I had removed everything off the mantle getting ready for the Fall Decor!

See this....

Found this at Goodwill and added it to the center piece in the mantle.  It sort of broke up the total blackness of the mantle.  Hub's idea....and I loved it!! 

So....I changed some things up a bit from last year.  I finally finished the mantle on Sunday afternoon and so far I'm happy with it.  Here's a pic....

Doesn't the orange Fall colors just make this mantle pop?  I'm so happy we decided to paint it.  The mantle has now turned into the primary focus in the room.  Your eyes are immediately drawn to the mantle.  The creamy white color before was satisfactory, but this little change up made a huge difference in this room.  My sign on my mirror reads...Happy Fall Ya'll!  I wouldn't be a Paula Deen fan if I didn't have that somewhere, right?

Let me show you what I did with the decor...

I added this garland all the way across the mantle.  See the metal leaf candle holder?  Another Goodwill find last year.  It looks beautiful at night lit up.  I used 3 strands of garland and this garland was found a couple of years ago from Big Lots on their clearance rack.  When's the best time shop for holiday decorations?  AFTER the holiday!!

As you can see, I left my clay potted topiary on each side of the mirror.   I added a fall wide ribbon around the clay pot.  I've used this ribbon throughout the house.  It was last years find at Walmart.  The end piece was also a clearance find at Big Lots.  It really looked perfect when I removed it from the container this year.   The pilgrim woman was another Goodwill find.  It's hard to tell, but she's made out of paper.  You can see the detailed fall ribbon on the pot below.  Just a nice touch to a plain clay pot.  I'm thinking Christmas I will be able to do the same thing with a Christmas ribbon.

This is on the other end of the mantle.  Remember it had lemons in it over the summer.  A few quick changes and it's now perfect for Fall.  I used a bag of  fall leaves, nuts and other stuff found at Dollar Tree.  That's right $1 per bag.  I bought several last year.  It was a nice find.  I've also added some pinecones to the entire mantle.  It brought a little of outside in....a nice final touch.

I placed a few more Fall decor touches around the family room.  I didn't go crazy and I only used what I already had.  I still had the kitchen, dining room and living room to go.  Here's some pics of what I've done so far with the family room...

I used the votive I had...added the ribbon and fall assortment to the inside of the glass and this turned out nice.  This sits above my computer.  Check out this monkey I found at Goodwill for $2 on Sunday!  Looks perfect with the votive.

 Just another touch of Fall...hard to see I know...but just a small cage with a tiny pumpkin in it.

Next...in my storage container I found a disaster.  One of the jars I used last year still had 2 small REAL pumpkins in it.  I thought I had taken them all out, apparently not.  YUCK and YUCK.  What a mess.  I had the task of cleaning it out and washing all the greenery inside.

 It really cleaned up nice.  I didn't have to toss out anything except for the mushy pumpkins.  But the pumpkins were...well...you can imagine.  So once this dried and I got everything back in it, I walked around the house to find it's home for the Fall.  Here's what I came up with so far...not totally convinced...but it's a start.  It's still lacking something.....I need to pull these 3 pieces together somehow....

So...as you can see...just a hint of Fall here and there throughout the family room.  The main focus is the fireplace and that's what I wanted it to be.  I have a wonderful scent throughout the family room with a scentsy candle and it's starting to feel like Fall.  If the weather would just co-operate!!

Tomorrow's post will finish off the Fall decor inside.  It looks ah-may-zing in the formal living room/dining room.  Well...to me anyway.

Be sure to stop by and visit tomorrow and I love comments!  *sniff*  You readers need to tighten up!  I want to hear from you!  Seriously!