Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right?  Okay, well, when it comes to seasonal decorating, I admit it: I have a problem.  I don’t have the same problem that most ladies seem to have, I have the opposite problem.  I’m a minimalist.  I have a complicated psychological explanation for my minimalism.  (Seriously, I do.  Email me if you want it.)  Being a minimalist is good in some respects (less stuff to dust! and I save money!) but when it comes to decorating for the holidays, it’s just sad.

For example: here’s how I decorated my dining room for fall.

Oh, did you not see the two partially used pumpkin candles from five years ago?  My bad.

Pathet… that’s Sanskrit for “really cool way to live.”

Oh, and that’s my mantle.  TWO candles.  A little busy, no?  It’s not that I don’t WANT to decorate my house for the seasons.  I’m always drooling over the new seasonal items at Crate & Barrel and Williams-Sonoma.  But I just can’t seem to pull the trigger.  I’m a little better at Christmas – my mom loves the holiday and she always goes all-out decorating for it, so I’ve picked up my game a bit post-Thanksgiving.  By which I mean, I have a tree, a wreath, stockings, and a Christmas village.  Last year I got a Nativity scene after literally years of wanting one but being unable to decide what I liked.

I think that qualifies as an improvement, yes?  Here’s what I did, in a nutshell: first, I thought about what theme I wanted the mantle to reflect.  I’m a girl who loves the outdoors and nature, so I went for some natural elements – the river rocks around the pillar candle and under the wheat (which coordinate with a candle holder my mom gave me that involves river rocks – keep reading), the wheat, the branches from my backyard and the acorn-shaped candle holder.  I also wanted to keep it relatively sleek and modern with a muted color palette.  So I stuck to creams, yellows and reds to call to mind the changing leaves.  Finally, I pulled a few items from around the house that went with my color palette – some red books from my bookshelf, which I turned around to show their cream-colored pages, a pale yellow glassybaby votive from the dining room, and my Angel of Autumn, which normally lives in the guest bedroom.  She’s holding a sheaf of wheat, so I plopped her next to the wheat “bouquet.”  I tried to create a sense of balance by placing taller elements on the outside and gradually shorter elements toward the center of my display, while keeping it interesting and modern by including different items on each side.

From left to right…

Hurricane candle holder – Smith & Hawken for Target
Honeysuckle scented pillar candle – Smith & Hawken for Target
River Rocks vase filler – Target
Acorn candle holder – Crate & Barrel (several years ago)
Natural branches – messy backyard
Books – messy bookshelves
Votive – glassybaby
Angel of Autumn – Willow Tree
Tall vase – Michael’s
Natural dried wheat – Michael’s
Gratitude Garland – Homemade for the Pinterest Challenge II

My mom gave me this candleholder years ago – she has an identical one in her house.  I love it and it’s always out on my coffee table in the family room.  To spruce it up for fall I swapped out the old white pillar candles for some golden yellow ones – the same golden yellow as the pillar in the hurricane on the left-hand side of the mantle.

I gave the dining room a little spruce as well – moved the two tall candles over to the dining table and set them in between my partially-burnt pumpkin candles from several seasons ago.  I’m all about using what I have.

And for some fun, I brought out the Cider House and Farm Stand from my Department 56 village (New England, if anyone’s curious) and set them up on my buffet, flanked by some more glassybaby votives.  This is just a taste of things to come, by the way.  I have big plans for this buffet come Christmas.  Stay tuned…

How are you decorating your house for fall?