Fall Decorating Home Tour with Shaw Floors

I have a confession to make…

sometimes I talk to inanimate objects.

Case in point, over the weekend I began packing away the last remnants of my summer decor to make way for all of the fall-ness to come, and as I placed a bag of seashells in the plastic summer decorating bin I whispered to them, “See you next year guys!”

And, I know that when it comes time to open the lid of the box of Christmas ornaments I will gaze down at them and quietly say, “Hello, old friends!”

This is totally normal, right? Right? Because, I’m not sure I really have any control over it. It just comes over me.

This need to bid farewell or say hello to my seasonal decor.

Maybe, it’s just because it all seems to come and go so quickly these days. One minute I’m filling up bowls with seashells and the next I’m stringing lights and hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree.

So, I think that taking that moment, that pause in the midst of the shuffling of things to acknowledge it, helps me to mentally and emotionally make that transition.

Because, friends, I’m having a hard time lately with how fast life is going! My babies aren’t babies anymore and my appointments to get my hair colored are getting closer together and my husband and I are celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary next month and I’m pretty sure summer just started so I don’t know how on earth it can be time to decorate for fall already. I even saw a Christmas commercial on tv the other day. That’s too soon even for me!

But, as I began to sort through the bins in the attic and pull out the pumpkins and the wheat wreath and the pinecones, I could feel that shift beginning to happen in my spirit. And as I puttered around adding a fall touch here and a fall touch there, it was as if my home was telling me that it was ready even if I wasn’t.

It was ready to rise up to the deeper colors and the richer tones.

It was ready for pumpkins and wheat stalks and plums in a bowl that you try and get photos of before your plum-loving family devours them.

It was ready to see how all of the fall-ness would look with our new Shaw floors because last year at this time these were just a mere twinkle in my eye and now I have gorgeous Epic Plus Arden Oak floors in my family room, breakfast room and kitchen. If floors could clap their hands, these floors would have because they were pretty much made to enhance all of the beautiful fall-ness I added.

It was almost too simple this year. As my home seemed to rise up to embrace the changing season, I felt myself adding the layers and the textures without even putting very much thought into it.

It was like by some innate instinct, my house and I knew what needed to go where in order to celebrate Autumn more simply. Less, ‘fall threw up all over my house’ and more ‘fall came knocking gently on the door and I invited her to come and sit a spell.’

The longer we live here, the longer I feel like my home and I have a kind of rhythm going. We get each other. And we’ve come to understand each other better and better over the years.

As we’ve made big changes to this house over the years, changes like painting the cabinets and installing new flooring and purchasing new furniture, I’ve found that when it comes to seasonal decorating, I so love the backdrop that I’ve created I don’t feel like I need to ‘frou-frou’ it up all that much.

Simple hints here and there are enough for me these days.

And did you know that there isn’t a fall candle in the whole world that will make your house smell as amazing as a freshly baked loaf of pumpkin bread?

Now, at the beginning of this blog post, I know I asked you if it was normal for me to talk to inanimate objects, but the truth is that it doesn’t really matter what you think and I’ll tell you why.

The other night my husband came home from work and, per usual, came into the kitchen where I was making dinner to greet me and chat for a few minutes before heading upstairs to say hello to the kids and change out of his work clothes.

When he re-emerged he was wearing his comfiest of comfy sweats and we talked about how weird it was to suddenly have these cooler temperatures that would warrant breaking out all of our favorite oversized, elastic waistband apparel.

And then he said it…

“Want to know something?”, he asked.

“Of course!”, I replied.

“It’s totally weird but, well, when I pulled out these sweats that I haven’t worn since last winter, I said to them ‘hello, old friends’.”

My heart went pitter-patter and right then and there I fell even more in love with this man I’ve been with for 21 years.

Because, he gets it. He gets me.

So, I told him that I had whispered goodbye to the seashells that morning and greeted the fall decor like the old friends that they are.

And he smiled and put his arm around me and we didn’t even need words because we understood each other in all of our weirdness so perfectly.

We both understand that in the midst of the glaring indications of the changing season, the falling leaves and the pumpkin-spice everything and the shorter days, there are these lovely little indications too.

Like seeing the first fog hanging over the fields as we drive to school.

Following behind a truck filled to the brim with freshly harvested corn.

Zipping up boots that haven’t seen the light of day in many months.

Pulling on those sweatpants that are so wonderfully soft and broken in.

And lovingly greeting those inanimate objects that you know you’ll be packing away again all too soon.

I’m so thrilled that you could join me for the tour of my home all dressed up for Fall and I want to say a big thank you to Shaw Floors for hosting this week long Fall extravaganza as we’ve taken the tour of all of the homes of the Shaw Styleboard Team! Visit them all for more beautiful Fall ideas and inspiration!

 Heather At the Picket Fence

Brittany from Addison’s Wonderland

Cassity from Remodelaholic

Beth at Home Stories A to Z

Rhoda from Southern Hospitality

Roeshel from DIY Showoff

Amy from The Blissful Bee

*I am compensated by Shaw Floors but all opinions are 100% my own