For years, our home was the place to be during the fall. With lots of land and a huge bon fire pit, hay rides, bon fires and s’mores welcomed our fall guests with all that autumn has to offer.

With little children at the time, each year they’d direct me to the kind of fall decor they wanted. That meant lots of kid choice, like stuffed pumpkins with faces on them, funny looking scarecrows and a hodge podge of other items, you know, the majority of the things you now see at yard sales for a quarter.

As my tastes have grown up, slowly my decorating style has as well, but since it can be an investment to switch over ones entire decor at once, I’m slowly incorporating new items which I will use the most.

I love the process of mixing what I already have, shopping for new things, and thrifting for others.

My fall decor is a perfect example of easy fall decor on a budget and I had such fun finding a few gems.

Many of you know my affinity for dishes.

How can little plates and cups and platters make me so happy? I am not sure, but they do and I find too many at thrift stores.

As I enjoyed and wandered through Pier 1, (it’s definitely one of my happy places that I love to get inspiration) dishes continued to call my name, but I decided to shop the house, use what I had out of my many plates and dress up my table settings with these gorgeous napkins.

Since I found them on clearance and they didn’t have eight of just the green, I decided to mix and match the green and yellow with a little layering. Aren’t they gorgeous? And those napkin rings? I am not just using them for napkins, that’s for sure. It’s amazing to me how linens can dress up even the most simple table setting.

When I start creating a tablescape. I begin by pulling out what I have and start playing. I begin simple and then add to it as the mood strikes. Some suggestions I stick to are highlighted in my Creating a Tablescape post and layering of varying elements is a bit part of that.

Typically, I lean towards a beautiful napkin fold, such as this Pinwheel Napkin Fold.  It’s so simple but makes such a grand statement.  Since my new napkins aren’t made of a stiff fabric, I used those napkin rings, which make this otherwise rustic look quite glam. By adding the gold candle holders, it definitely makes that overall look Rustic Glam. As soon as the leaves change in the next week, I’ll be cutting large branches for a large centerpiece and I can’t wait to create that.

Again, since I have to seat so many around my table and there weren’t enough matching napkins, this problem is easily solved by determining that the two head seats will anchor the table setting with a slightly different looks.

I love these yard sale cloches that cover the beautiful pumpkins. Again, so simple, but elegant.

If you have a predetermined mindset that everything needs to match, let it go. There’s such beauty in an eclectic look.

With such crazy, warm weather the last few weeks, our leaves are just beginning to turn, but in another week or two, this view will be breathtaking. I’d love to have you join me for some coffee out here to share a bit of life. It’s so much better than through a screen. 🙂

I’ve been wanting a dough bowl for a year and when this one popped up at a yard sale for $1, I jumped at it. Now, the irony is that under all those beautiful filler pumpkins and fall foliage is one ugly painted bottom, but one would never know, unless I told you. 🙂

I love adding fall fillers into my yard sale bowls. It so simple to create a gorgeous centerpiece on a budget just by adding in things from your yard, mixed with filler.

This is the first year with our new front porch and it will take me awhile to decorate it like I desire. Slowly but surely, it will get there. I appreciate it so much more when it takes a little bit of time.

I knew that my first priority was going to be our front door, so a large outdoor wreath was my first purchase. Like every good Southern veranda, it needed a big hay bale with some beautiful pumpkins and mum. I won’t even get on a tangent at what occurred while I was sleeping, but needless to say, our naughty dog had a field day. This is only a small remnant. GRRR!

My mantel is still a work in progress, as I need to swap out the white candles and middle picture. This year, I decided to layer a brown shutter I found at a yard sale just to give it a bit of an autumn feel. The glass candle holders are favorites because they can be dressed up for any occasion.

If you are wanting to add a few more fall touches, don’t forget the power of Spray Paint. These were some scary, plastic $0.25 jack-o-lanterns that got new life with some Rustoleum Heirloom White Spray paint. Now, I LOVE them, don’t you?

That’s just a sneak peek of some of the fall fun I’ve been having around my house.

Honestly, have you been to Pier 1 recently? It just sparks my creativity the longer I am there. Since there’s a store near where my kids take co-op classes, I’ve been popping in more frequently just because as soon as I enter, it relaxes me and gives me such a vision for my home.

Yes, I love everything in that store.