Happy Fall! My fall home tour is a bit late this year, but so is the fall weather! We are getting our first cold front tomorrow, and I cannot wait to have coffee on the porch in the morning to enjoy it. There are so many things on our fall bucket list-local festivals, a haunted corn maze, and s'mores around the fire pit. Pumpkin patches and trick-or-treating are out this year since the boys are getting older, but there is still plenty for us to do as a family!
I am in love with these new fall wreaths! They were a semi-DIY. I already had one dried magnolia wreath from last year. It wasn't my favorite because it was so flat and plain. I decided to add real elements like feathers and dried florals with a hot glue gun hoping it would perk it up. It did! I bought everything I needed from Hobby Lobby including the green and brown ribbon.
I later added the grapevine garland and lights. I'm not sure if I'm going to add any Halloween decor to it. We'll see if the kids ask for it!
On to the foyer, which is my favorite this year! I was inspired by these pretty, lavender mums. I knew they would look great paired with white pumpkins somewhere inside or outside the house.
I'll be honest, I just used what I had already on hand for this year's table. All I added was this Greek key ribbon to tie the napkins. It's a great inexpensive alternative to napkin rings.
It was important to decorate the pool area again this year because Dylan and his girlfriend took homecoming photos out here yesterday.
Can you believe this is the same little boy from when I first started blogging? He was only 10 back then and now he's 17! I would be sad, but he's grown into such a handsome, great kid that I can't be anything but proud.
I feel like my foyer is your favorite room in my house! There's been a "bring it" mentality that goes on in my head because of it. I actually thank you for that because I can get a little lackadaisical if I don't have motivation. My design clients get treated to well thought out designs, but when it comes to my own personal spaces I will procrastinate on what I know that needs to be done. I get excited about my home all over again just by bringing in a few new things or even moving items in from other rooms during the holidays. It's exactly what I do for my staging clients so it's nice to give myself the same treatment.
This year I was motivated by these beautiful lavender mums. I didn't know where I was going to put them, but I immediately wanted to pair them with white and light green pumpkins somewhere. My design approach during the holidays is to combine different colors/styles until I get the exact combination that resonates with me at that moment. Besides the color scheme, I knew I wanted something a bit romantic. I've been shying away from transitional decor and more into a pretty, French look lately. I'm sure this will pass, but I want that feel for now.
I wanted a garden stool next to this chair as soon as I started putting this together. I found something online within ten minutes, and had it delivered two days later. I still find this technology amazing. I had a pager in high school for goodness sake!
I am working on my backyard and kitchen next before I give you the full fall tour next week. I am anxious to be done because it's going to be so busy with homecoming for my older son. He has a parade, he's nominated for homecoming court, a football game and a dance to go to all next week. Then there are so many festivals at home and at our beach house in Galveston. I also want to make all of those pinned fall recipes you can find on my Pinterest board under "food." I know you follow me for interior design, but I consider myself a homemaker first. I honestly believe that makes me the best at my job!
There are only a few more days until the beginning of fall! We're kicking it off in Houston with a tropical storm. Hopefully, the flooding is minimal and we'll just get some much needed rain. There's also our beach house in Galveston to worry about. I'm watching The Weather Channel meteorlogists on TV a few miles down the beach from our house there. That's one good way to keep an eye on it! Thankfully, it looks perfectly fine so far.
The temperature is much cooler because of the rain. I made apple cider tea, lit a pumpkin candle and plopped myself right here in the living room to enjoy the fall decor and candlelight. My fall decor is much lighter this year. I love the way these peach roses and pumpkins look with the blue and gray decor. It doesn't really get cool here until it's time to break out the Christmas decorations so a lighter color scheme works well with our climate too.
I kept it simple with fresh florals, pumpkins and candlelight. I don't have much fall decor, but I love the few glass pumpkins I have. I buy most of mine at Homegoods.
I love how the colors fit right in with the rest of the room. It still semi-traditional in color to make the kids happy. I'm almost finished with the other areas of the house that I will be showing you soon!
When my clients moved into their new construction home several months ago they contacted me for help designing the entire great room from scratch. They had asked for a pretty, modern farmhouse with a blue and gray color scheme. I decided upon a timeless French farmhouse design updated with contemporary elements.
The living room is very large and called for an extra long sofa. I happened to find a customizable one that I could also cover in a performance fabric. The homeowner's knew they wanted a light sofa, and I knew that a family friendly fabric was a must with their three young children.
I balanced the traditional furniture with a contemporary coffee table. Neoclassical elements on the coffee table marry traditional and contemporary decor.
The light wood of the armchairs and end tables give this room the farmhouse look the family had asked for in the initial consultation.
A pop of pink!
In the next phase of this project the niche will hold a built-in bar!
These pendants are even more amazing in person! They are large and perfect for the extra tall ceilings. They are hung a little higher than normal due to the ceiling height.
Every coffee drinker needs a coffee bar!
The breakfast room also has a mix of contemporary and rustic decor.
I recently went to a make-up artist to get a course on technique, products and colors. I was happy to say I was mostly on track or I would have been really confused with how many products and techniques she used! Thankfully, most of the items in my make-up bag were great colors for me. I did a big Sephora and Ulta shop for the items I did not have the next day. It was great because I already knew I loved them before I bought them. If you want to get what a professional make-up artist recommends without the cost this post is for you!
Techniques-
I have a prominent brow bone. Instead of putting a dark color in my crease we raised it to the brow bone. Basically, put the darker color where you want minimizing to happen!
I wasn't going far enough out from my eye with my shadow. Draw a line from the outside corner of your eye up toward the end of your eyebrow.
Instead of using eyeliner use an angled brush with a darker brown color.
Use a black eye liner to connect the lashes. It's the area between your waterline and the outside of your eye. It seriously turned my hazel eyes bright green!
Contour just below your cheekbones, sides of your nose, at your jawline and on your hairline.
Use short strokes on your brows instead of drawing them in.
Add a little shine between your eyebrows, the tip of your nose, above your cheekbone and your chin.
Products-
I found out that the moisturizers, serums and primers are the most important if you want your makeup to go on smoothly. This was where I was seriously lacking!
I love this lipstick! I didn't even need a liner. It also stays on all day without drying my lips out.
We started with a hydrating lip masque. This might be my favorite product. I always have chapped lips because of allergies. This is the first time in so many years that I have not had chapped lips!
This new mascara is awesome! It has the best brush to get all of your lashes coated.