Our Fall Dining Room

TGIF....Thank Goodness It's Fall!  I adore everything that comes with Fall....cool breezes, falling leaves, cute boots, fires, hayrides, pumpkins, and most of all - decorating!  Oh yeah, our house is decked out with fall decor as soon as possible and I've enjoyed having an entire house to decorate this year along with two porches.  Today I am featuring our fall dining room. Each piece of furniture in our dining room has a great story and I hope you're ready to hear all about it...

 

Now don't kid yourself...if you know us you know our table is not set like this all of the time.  Considering we eat together at the table each and every night, it is usually completely cleared of dishes and lonely place mats wait for us at dinner time.  But just like when you take family photos...you gotta jazz it up people! 

 

Our buffet was a vintage bookshelf in it's earlier life.  I actually bought it off of my cousin last year and it had to wait patiently in a garage at mom's house until we could show it some love.  The hubs and my dad spent a couple of hours on it this summer reinforcing it and adding some details.  After our move I painted it and moved it in!  I really enjoy having a place to display all of our Fiesta Ware, Granny Annie dishes, and our white china.  I will post some before and after photos later.  Of course, I would like a nicer buffet someday but....it works for now!  This cost us about $75 total.  Remember, we "decorate for now".

 

Remember my MIM chalkboard tutorial?  I found a quote on a blog I follow, Dear Lillie, and had to have it on our chalkboard for fall.

I had to add some natural touches to the room for fall.  I scored this 3-tier stand last week at our local TJ Maxx for only $20.  Then I decided to be a nerd and collect acorns, pine cones, and hickory nuts from the dog park while the pups played.  The pine cones shown are actually from a huge pine tree that the owner had cut down last month out of the front yard of the house.  I was very sad to see it go so I kept some pine cones to remember the long lost tree.  

Did someone say CANDY CORN?  FYI...I am obsessed with candy corn during the month of October.  I keep it in the house to please my sweet tooth and there is just something about the look of it in a jar...I LOVE IT!

Cute pumpkins tend to accumulate year after year around our house.  I usually find them after the fall season on clearance in various stores such as Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or even Target.  Loved using my crystal candlesticks for something other than candles!  That fabulous wooden tray?  A $3 goodwill score during my college days in Louisville...and I have two.  LOVE IT!

Here comes two good stories....I've wanted some fine china ever since I was a little girl.  I've had this set of china and silverware since I was a teenager when it was gifted to my Hope Chest.  Wonderful right?  Well you aren't going to believe that it was never opened until last month!  That's right, over ten years in the original box because I was always afraid of moving it.  How silly.  Lesson learned?  Live a little!  If you can't use it, you shouldn't have it.  I am a big fan of white because I feel it goes with everything, no matter the season, and I can always accent with seasonal items.  

How about that farmhouse table?  My talented hubs made that.  Yep, you heard it right.  He had three months off of medical school before we moved this summer so I put him to work!  He worked hard to produce the desk he wanted to make and it turned out so well I asked him to build a table!  How lucky I am....props to the hubs though.  I think he did an amazing job for his second carpentry project ever.  We even have extenders to go in each side of the table for when we have lots of guests.  He will correct me if I am wrong but the table and bench cost him about $150 to make.  Go to Ana White to find all sorts of plans to build your own!

 

We stumbled upon these two black chairs in between visiting our families in our hometown.  How much you ask?  $15 a piece, oh yeah, high five on that.

 

I've decided to keep this wreath up all year long and simply accent with decor according to the season.  I will have a tutorial on this simple wreath in a upcoming post but guess what........I MIM (made it myself), kind of.

A simple fall centerpiece for a table that gets much use.  I found this little crate at a home decor consignment store and filled it with chic fall accents.  Sometimes you just need to keep it simple.

 

The curtains came from.....drumroll please.....Lowe's!  I never knew Lowe's carried such stylish curtains, I'm a newbie I guess.  If I remember correctly these cost about $25 a panel.  I love the pattern and color it brings to the room.  I'm also digging the natural light in the house!  You'll notice this window's blind is always pulled up 1/4 of the way....Murphy (the giant schnauzer) says it is a must.  He likes to make nose art for us on this window while patrolling the driveway outside.   

 

That's it for the fall dining room!  I hope you enjoyed the photos and stories about the pieces in our "good for now" room.  Do you decorate for fall?  If you do, fabulous!  Not so much?  Hopefully I've inspired you to add some small touches to your space and you can see that it can be easy and inexpensive.  

Peace Out!