September Project: Fall Inspiration

While I was hesitant to say “Au Revoir!” to summer because it was just way too much fun, I’m warming up quickly to the approaching fall season. Fall is my favorite, and I’m very fortunate and appreciative that I get to experience a healthy couple months of beautifully changing scenery here at home in Michigan. Fall is also a special time where memories of our engagement and marriage are celebrated and delightfully reminisced. I just love this time of year.

 

Fall is also my favorite decorating season. There is nothing like a cozy home, and I believe fall endorses the comfort, companionship, and restfulness of a welcoming space. The warm colors, the toasty nights wrapped in a blanket, the steaming drink in your mug. And the smells, yes, the smells are decadent. This cozy state of mind bleeds into the snug and warm nights during the holiday season. September kicks things off.

 

As I was trading bins marked “summer” for those labeled “fall”, carefully organizing light florals and bubble wrapping spring breakables in bins set for storage and dusting off pumpkins and gourds to display I realized one piece of decor didn’t fit in this new autumn space. You might remember I worked on a summer “whimsical wall decor” project in June 2018. I love that wall piece but noticed the clash of colors right away. Keeping that whimsical aura in my home is priority so I decided it’s time for a new project.

 

The original piece had florals elegantly draping off three curtain rods. Here’s a photo to remind of what this summer project looked like.

 

I wanted this fall project to mimic the summer one in feel, but with, of course, different floral arrangements. My current TV setup (beneath the wall project) is decked out in reds, oranges, and some green hues. My focus was on pulling the reds and oranges from the display below and incorporating some wheat.

 

Here are my materials:

The florals purchased for this project were from Michael’s. I wanted to stay true to the typical fall color palette: reds, oranges, and yellows. I decided to pick up this dreamy burnt orange bush because it matched two of the same kind but in different colors in my summer project. It feels whimsical and romantic to me, which was the intention of the original summer project, so I knew I needed to include a similar floral to my fall project.

This particular bush was regular $14.99. I only purchased one, and it was 40% off.

Discounted Price: $8.99

*All of the florals I used were 40% off.

 

 

In my mind, it’s hard to complete a fall project without incorporating leaves. Because I wanted to pull red and orange from the display on my “entertainment center” below this project, I picked up a bushel of Maple leaves of the same colors. I also grabbed two stems with red and orangey/yellowish beads.

Leaves Original Price: $5.99 (1 Purchased)

Leaves Discounted Price: $3.59

Beaded Stem Original Price: $4.99 (2 Purchased, 1 of each color)

Beaded Stem Discounted Price: $2.99 Each

One of my favorite components to this project and an idea I had from the beginning was to add wheat to bring in the “yellow” and tan that we see around in the fall. I found these two stems and didn’t hesitate to pick them up.

Wheat Stem Original Price: $4.99 (2 Purchased)

Wheat Stem Discounted Price: $2.99 Each

 

I also purchased 3 of the same curtain rods (the exact ones I used in my summer project) from Walmart. I already had the wire on hand used to adhere everything to the rods.

Curtain Rod Price: $28.21 (3 at $8.87 + $1.60 in tax)

 

Like my last project, I tested out different combinations and placements before adhering. I then disassembled the leaves from their long stem, trimmed down the stems of the others and wired them to the curtain rods. Everything was already in place and laid out so it was just a matter of wiring, but it seemed to be a longer process this go around. Here is what I came up with:

 

I wasn’t totally in love with what I came up with. After awhile I started to warm up to it, but eventually ended up tearing it down and reconstructing it. The reconstruction phase took some time, but in the end, I like this version better. Check it out below.

 

I was happy to leave the project as is, but decided a nice fall sign might be the final touch it needs, so I picked up this “Welcome Home” pumpkin sign from Meijer. While it’s not my ideal color to coordinate with the rest of the piece, it works for now.

Meijer Sign: Original Price: $9.99

Discounted Price: $6.35 ($5.99 + .36 tax)

This project was fun to put together! Even with the setback of having to undo, rethink, and then redo because it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, it was still fun to create.

The final cost of this project was: $60.57

Florals Total with Tax: $26.01

Curtain Rods Total with Tax: $28.21

Wood Sign Total with Tax: $6.35

 

What project have you started and had to stop, undo, and then start from scratch again? What kind of projects are you working on this fall? I’d love to hear about them; let me know in the comments!

 

Cheers!

 

 

*This post is not sponsored by Michaels, Walmart, or Meijer. Materials were just purchased there.