Fall mantel makeover

This weekend we were finally home and able to do household chores that we've been neglecting like grocery shopping, laundry, and weeding.

You know you've been slacking on yard work when you pull a weed that is the same height as you.

Yikes...

I also got a chance to pay attention to our living room mantel and decorate it for the fall season.

Instead of using typical orange decorations for fall that would clash with the grays and blues of our living room, I tried to use accessories that were neutral.

Both the candle holder and candle are garage sale finds but Pottery Barn has the same candles here (and they're on sale).

The two boxwood topiaries are also from a garage sale but I also found them here for about $20.

These are actually acorns and I picked up a bunch of them in the produce aisle to decorate with while I was doing our grocery shopping. 

Edible decor!

All of the books are from garage sales and were about a buck a piece.

Who's Gus the Great? 

I have no idea but I think the cover looks cool.

I wanted to give some height to the mantel so I just collected some fallen branches outside and stuck them in this garage sale vase.

I did some more fall decorating in the house that I'll share with you later.

Have a great week!

- Caitlin

Build it right with Ana White

My husband hasn't always been a handy-man. 

In fact, when it came to changing light bulbs and unclogging sinks, it was more my job than his. 

Things have definitely turned around though. 

Since moving out of our cramped apartment in Hoboken, NJ, Chris has had more space to learn how to become more handy and has even made some furniture like this bar:

It was modeled after this Pottery Barn one and we used it this summer for his 30th birthday party. 

So, how did he know how to build it? 

Let me introduce you to Ana White and her ah-mazing website:

The site allows you to search for furniture you want to build (end tables, beds, dressers, benches, etc.) and even organizes it all by skill level. 

So if you are a beginner builder like Chris, you can find something that you can actually do.

When you find what you want to build, the site provides you with a shopping list and a cut list of exactly what you need. 

All you have to do is bring the list to Home Depot and they will even inexpensively cut the wood for you.

And if while building your furniture, you find out that you don't know how to drill a pocket hole or use a circular saw for example, there are video tutorials that explain it all:

Another cool thing about the site is that it has what are called "brags", which are basically pictures that people have uploaded of furniture they have built following Ana White's plans:

So now that you know about Ana White, what are you going to build this weekend?

- Caitlin

How much is that hutch??

I haven't shown much of our dining room mainly because there isn't really anything exciting to see yet.

Our dining table is sort of temporary, I'm still looking for the right chairs, and we need to get a new light fixture.

The only thing that is feeling together in the dining room is this hutch, which get ready for this...

was a garage sale find for only $250! What a steal, right?

Okay I can't take all of the credit. My mom was the one that found it at a sale. When she texted me a picture of it with the dimensions, I loved it but was afraid it wasn't going to fit so I sadly told her we'd pass on it. 

Naturally, she ignored me and bought it anyway. Luckily though when we got it to the house, it cleared the ceiling and fit in the dining room (just barely). 

I'm trying to fill the hutch with mostly white things and have been using pictures like these ones below for inspiration:

     

Most of what I have on there so far is from garage sales. 

Anytime I see something white, I buy it for the hutch.

I added these gourds and pumpkins for a touch of fall.

Thank you for reading :)

- Caitlin

The porch: feeling like fall

We squeezed in the last of summer this weekend in Montauk, NY for a cousin's wedding.

It was such an awesome wedding and weekend full of sun, surfing, reggae, family, fish tacos, 

and a few too many jalapeno margaritas.

When got home on Sunday (which was also the first official day of fall) I looked at our porch and decided it was time to put away the summer accessories and start decorating for fall.

Most of the accessories we already had with the exception of a few pumpkins and mums.

This copper pumpkin (which is actually the largest of three nesting ones) is a couple years old from Pottery Barn.

Also on the table is a striped runner, a white pumpkin, and some corn stalks in a bowl.

On each side of the table we have a set of white chairs (garage sale finds).

I bought the pillows last spring from Home Goods but recently saw this sale on One Kings Lane with similar prints and colors.

The knit throw on the other chair can be found here on sale from Target.

I think it adds a nice cozy feel to the porch and will come in handy during these chilly fall nights.

We had this bar cart (garage sale find) on the porch all summer.

I decided to keep it there but switched out some of the accessories to look more fall-like.

Here are some other fall touches I've added so far to the outside of the house:

I plan on doing some more fall decorating inside of the house this weekend.

But so far, I've put the smaller of the nesting pumpkins in the alcove behind our kitchen sink:

I'll share what else I do for fall around the house soon.

Happy Harvest!

- Caitlin