Fall Home Finds

(I used “Fall” in the title of this blog post because I’m feeling festive, but I should clarify that this is not a “fall decor” post–no pumpkins today, team.)

I have been having so much fun setting up the new house. 

We didn’t really put much effort towards decorating our rental this last year because every month we kept thinking we were about to pack up and move again. If I had known we would end up being there almost a year, I would have made it more homey to begin with, but, you know, hindsight. 

So I’ve been nesting like crazy and loving every second of it. We still have a bunch of little things to finish up with the house. As soon as we wrap some of that stuff up, I am going to do a blog post with a bunch of before/after photos. 

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share some new home finds that I’m loving. We didn’t want to buy a ton of new furniture, but we did want to give our living room set-up a bit of a makeover for the new place. 

I’ll be the first to say that I am not a design person. I know what I like when I see it, but I don’t have that magical ability to pull a concept out of thin air like so many talented women I follow on Instagram. 

A few of my favorite follows are Amber Interiors, Becki Owens, and Chris Loves Julia. I’ve learned so much from each of them.

I was inspired by Chris Loves Julia’s Summer School series they did on their blog this summer. The lessons about purging in particular really set me off on a bender. I sold or donated a TON of stuff. It felt great to get rid of all the clutter, the things that didn’t “spark joy,” if you will (I’m sure everyone has read Marie Kondo’s book, but if not, that’s a great place to start!). 

Despite the mess we are still tackling in the garage, we moved in with the bare essentials and have a clean slate when it comes to decor. I am following Julia’s advice to “sit in the space” and have been taking my time with decorating. I love the idea of the house feeling “emptier” to start and then slowly deciding what I love and what the space needs. 

I have made a few select purchases so far and wanted to share them here today! 

1. H&M rattan basket

If there is a trend I’m all in on, it’s the rattan vibe. I feel like it brings a warm coastal feel to a home without feeling overly beachy in a cheesy way. I am going to use this basket to store toys on a lower shelf of our built in. Two birds, baby. 

2. H&M vase

I’ll use this vase on one of the upper shelves of the built in, I think. I love the unique shape and feel like this would be so cute with some dried stems in it. 

3. Amazon concrete lamp

I got this concrete lamp for our entryway table. I like using concrete as a way to bring in another material to a room. This lamp comes with a pretty linen-colored shade and provides a perfect little pocket of light for our entryway area. 

4. Chris Loves Julia x Loloi Merlot Rug

I love this rug, along with the rest of Chris Loves Julia’s collab with Loloi Rugs. We wanted something dark and bold to add dimension to the white walls/white built-in situation in our living room. The colors of this rug are rich and beautiful, and it’s actually really soft despite being quite thin. It doesn’t shed AT ALL and is easy to wipe down. We placed a thick rug pad underneath to give it some cushion, and it’s worked out perfectly. 

5. Ikea Mirror 

I have no one to blame but Facebook for this purchase. We used Ikea shelving units to make our faux “built in” in the living room, and each of our five closets in the house is decked out in Ikea’s Boaxel storage system (highly recommend, by the way!!). Since we’ve been doing so much Ikea shopping, Facebook has been hitting me HARD with the targeted ads. I saw this mirror pop up one day and had sent the “click and collect” receipt to Tyler within two minutes (he was already going that day, I swear!). I hung this in Emmie’s room over her changing table, and it looks adorable. The quality for the price point is awesome, too. 

6. H&M marble tray 

I ordered this marble tray for our entryway table to place keys and stuff on, but I *might* end up using it on our bedroom dresser instead. I love the beige tones.