I love fall. Truly, I love it so much. And I know there are plenty of people out there searching for all the pumpkins and fall-i-fying every surface in your home.
Which is totally awesome. You get your pumpkin spice on, girl.
I may be enjoying my favorite Pumpkin Pie Blizzards at DQ like it’s going out of style, but it’s just not time to decorate for fall yet in my home.
Maybe I should have started my fall decorating in March. Or maybe I should have beat Hobby Lobby, who started putting out fall decorations in January. At times in the not distant past, I would start decorating for fall when the calendar turned to September (and sometimes before).
But that ain’t happening this year.
Since we live in the Midwest, I am learning to take my cues from what’s happening outside my windows. And right now my windows are alternating between grey, rainy gloom and hot, humid sunshine.
Neither have gotten me in the mood for fall, to be quite honest. (But don’t you dare try to take away my pumpkin pie Blizzards. I will cut you.)
Where was I?
Oh yeah. Fall.
In our home, we are in an in-between season of home decor. It’s not really feeling like summer. But it’s not quite fall.
So, I’m leaning in to the in between. And my home is happier for it. Instead of pulling out all the fall decor, I’m just enjoying some late-summer-not-quite-fallness first. I’m trying to use a lot of what I have. Adding a few things here and there. (Related: This is a way to love your home the way it is right now.)
Like on the front porch – my potted flowers were goners. Instead of adding pumpkins or mums (which would be killed in a matter of weeks), I just pulled some dried hydrangeas and poked them into the soil. It’s not perfect and it’s not fancy. But it works for the in-between.
And then some fresh greenery from my friend Live.Love.Flowers with a few drying limelight hydrangeas I picked from the plant in front. Not quite summer. Not quite fall.
The beauty of allowing myself to really decorate for the in-between is two-fold:
- It keeps my home from feeling “blah” before I get all my fall decor out. In the past, I’ve often rushed decorating for the next season just because I feel blah.
- It keeps me from getting tired of fall decor by the time October hits. (I’ll be ready for a change soon enough.)
And a bonus is that it gives my home a little time to breathe. I put all the summer, patriotic decor away and I haven’t quite added anything back in. The mantel looks practically SPARSE.
I don’t hate it.
My poor window art fell and broke in the middle of the night so it’s needing some love. But that’s okay. I just balanced a tobacco basket inside for now.
Not quite summer. Not quite fall. IN-BETWEEN.
I also love to add fresh flowers right now. I got lucky and picked up some wedding leftovers from my friend Michelle at Live.Love.Flowers. Loving these fancy arrangements in shades of white and green.
The checks and gather centerpiece are reminiscent of fall – but not quite there yet.
Our living room feel neutral and natural. Ryan built me this little C table with salvaged copper pipe from the rental. I’ll share more soon, but it’s so cute here.
I put iced coffee in my coffee cup. Because in-between season. Also, I drink iced coffee all year.
My DIY chunky shelves are basically housing everything I don’t know where to put right now. I think they’ll probably get a fall overhaul sometime in October. But, those library books stay at the bottom. It may not be Pinterest perfect, but we love our library books.
Finally, our kitchen. That silver dollar eucalyptus is EVERYTHING and I want to run away to Vegas and marry it. (Thank you again, Live.Love.Flowers.) It’s hard to find eucalyptus in my area – and don’t tell me to find it at TRADER JOE’S because we don’t have one and THAT’S JUST RUBBING IT IN.
I’m still letting black and white check have a moment in my home. It’s been about a year and I don’t see it going away anytime soon. It just looks so cute with everything.
I think the new subway tile is a star, by the way. And I’m actually going to be sad to change this area up. Because it’s filled with all my pretties.
If you are super observant, you’ll see PUMPKINS.
“But Kim,” you’ll say. “YOU SAID NO FALL. And pumpkins are fall.”
And I’ll just shrug. There are no rules, friends. And if there were, I would MAKE the rules.
Plus, these little pumpkins came from my yard and needed a home. Who was I to deny them a place in this prettiness? And those buffalo check pumpkins jumped in my cart at Hobby Lobby and wouldn’t get out.
What is a girl to do?
Give it a few weeks and I’ll be throwing pumpkins and acorns at every available surface. But for now, I’ll be happy leaning in to the in-between.
What about you? Are you already decorating for fall or waiting a bit longer?
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Courtney says
I LOVE that new side table your husband built. It’s so nice to have a small, functional space to put your coffee and such. 🙂
Courtney
Kim Woodward says
Thanks! I was growing tired of spilling my drink every day with no table. LOL. It’s a great solution – and pretty, to boot.
Ellen from Ask Away Blog says
Your home looks beautiful. I generally start fall décor October 1st since it stays warm here in PA for so dang long anymore, lol
Donna Baker says
Living in SoCA, I leave my beachy stuff out (in the house) and some red, white and blue on the porch til after 9/11. I sort of build on Fall starting with apples 🍎🍏 in Sept, adding pumpkins in Oct and leaves and nuts in Nov. But Thanksgiving weekend it all disappears and Christmas begins 🎄