Fall Home Decor: Entryway Console Table

As I type this, I am sitting in a comfy chair next to our very first fire in our fireplace! And it's September!! It has been raining for a few days now, and the temperature has cooled enough for me to create a fire to cozy up by. Granted, the windows are open. This helps it not to get too warm, but more so that I can hear the constant tinkling of the rain.

September 15 was the day I bargained with the hubs for to decorate for fall. It worked out even better due to the recent weather-- it feels like fall is here to stay! Although we know this won't last much longer, the dreary weather made the fall decorating more enjoyable. I'm going to show you the transformation of our home for fall in segments so that it is not one long post-- so I don't feel bad about writing a lot! :)

I didn't have much in my "Fall/Halloween" decor box. When I got it down from the attic, I was able to drag it down the ladder myself- that's how light it was. But, I looked at fall decorating differently this year, had a few ideas planned from Pinterest or other blogs, and did minimal shopping. I simply tried to convert pieces I already had for the season by adding small touches to them. This not only saves money, but made me happy because I love a lot of the decor pieces in our home, especially the vintage, comfortable feel. I didn't wan to replace them with gaudy, over-colored items that are not my style.

I started by getting out the box of decor I had. I surveyed what was in there and considered what I wanted to do. Then I looked around the house and considered our space. In reality, I didn't need a lot to make it feel more like fall-- no need to go crazy. I wanted it to stay simple, meaning just replacing or altering decor that was already in a space, not making things more cluttered. Like I said, I looked at fall decor differently this year. I wanted a natural, rustic, simple look, to remind us of the outdoors that put on a beautiful show this time of year.

I will start with discussing the console table decor because it is what you see when you first walk in the house. I recently posted about the artificial topiaries that typically adorn the table, but you won't see them here now. I'll explain why later. 

I don't think I have talked much about this table until now. This table is awesome. It was given to us by my husband's step-brother and his at-the-time-gf-now-fiancée. It was theirs and they no longer had use for it, so gave it to us! Holla! It is a beautiful dark wood with a simple, yet elegant, shape, including slightly concave legs. It has three little drawers that we keep random small things in like batteries, candles, chalk, etc.. In our apartment before this, our microwave sat on the console table in the kitchen-area, but I longed for it to be used for its true purpose, as it is now. 

For the fall decor on the console table, I started with a hurricane I already had and filled it with pinecones (no, we don't have pine trees here, they were bought in-store). I then nestled a white candle on top of the pinecones. I used smaller, thinner pinecones around the candle to fill the rest of the hurricane.

I love the look of this. It feels rustic and natural with the pinecones, but refined by the curves of the glass and cleanliness of the white candle. Perfect.

I originally just removed the frame that was between the topiaries and put the hurricane in its place. But the height of the three were too similar. I like to vary the height when creating a vignette, so I moved the topiaries. Don't worry, you will see them again soon! My roomie Katie and I went shopping, after inventorying and before decorating, for fall decor. I gave myself a budget of $10. Yup, $10. We were going to go to a local second hand store, but it was already closed. So we went to Target. "Target?!" You may say. "No way you can only spend $10 there." In fact, I only spent $5 on fall decor! Last year I had gotten a few things from the Dollar Spot, and hoped to be as fortunate again.

They did not fail us. There were a lot of cute things, many even ended up in my hand basket. But, with consideration to how much I would actually use them (felt napkin rings) and if it would just get covered up (felt placemat used under a centerpiece), we landed on two owl lanterns and a picket sign for the front yard.

Whoops! The picket is a little crooked! darn rain...

Out of 4 options, I chose this picket because the bright color is easily visible, it is useful for several months (as opposed to a Thanksgiving-themed one), and it has an owl. I like owls, as this shopping trip shows. Actually, these are my first owl purchases. But you know my love for birds... must be something about the avian line of animals.

At $2.50 each (we each bought one) these lanterns are adorable! Perfect for fall with dark warm metal and an owl di-cut. Adorable! And they are the perfect height to go on either side of the hurricane on the console table.

After I had it all on there, the lanterns looked too dark against the wood of the table. But the height worked so well I took a minute to consider my options. Then I remembered I had some scraps of burlap from other projects, cut a length of the natural tan, and made it a runner. This helped to brighten up the table and make the lanterns more visible, all while maintaining the rustic, natural, fall look I was going for.

Katie had several fall-inspired candles, so I used 2 orange pumpkin-scented ones between the hurricane and lanterns for a bit of color. Now it not only looks great, it smells great too!!

I love the instant burst of fall you get when walking into our home. It perfectly achieved my hopes for the decor-- it is natural, simple, beautiful, and cheap. A gentle reminder of the beautiful season where nature comes alive again with color!

Have you started decorating for fall yet? Where do you get inspiration from? Any great finds when shopping? I would love to hear about it in a comment!