The holidays are practically here and I’ve been in denial. Suddenly the weather is starting to cool down and all the stores have pumpkins out front.
It’s almost impossible for me and my kids to pass these by and we’ve amassed quite a collection of mini (and not-so-mini) pumpkins over the past week or two. So I was thrilled when Glade® invited me to share a few of my fall decorating tips with you (hoarding justified!). It actually worked out perfectly because I had recently been thinking that that little stretch of hallway by the mudroom is a great place to display holiday decor. I was able to transform the space with a few small projects (like stripping the shelves!) and styling with inexpensive finds (including the newly designed Glade® Sense and Spray® Automatic Freshener). Now my home looks and smells like it’s ready for autumn. Here’s how I did it:
The shelves used to be painted a really dark brown and the walls were a mid-tone gold color and it felt just a little too dark.
I used stripper gel to remove the two or three layers of paint, which came off pretty easily and left behind a primed pine beam.
So far I haven’t done much with the wood after taking off the paint. I like how the light wood feels brighter and more airy, but I’m not sure I love the distressed look.
It’s fine for now though (kind of works with the fall theme, right?). And either way I won’t do too much to the shelves because they’ll likely be removed in the big kitchen remodel down the road. A darker gray wash would be easy and pretty though.
So, as for the decorating, I decided to go to Goodwill to see what they had in the way of vintage wares in golden, warm tones. It was a total jackpot thrifting day. I think most of these were from the same home – they all had a similar look. (you can see more of my finds from that day here).
I also stopped into Homegoods to grab a few baskets for the floor. Homegoods is the best place to buy storage baskets.
The cute herringbone pattern one is the perfect size for about a month’s worth of magazines – anything bigger would just allow for an unwieldy reading pile, and who needs that?
The taller basket will be used for umbrellas maybe, once we actually find the box with the umbrellas (!). I spray painted the basket gold, because everything is better gold. (with the exception of fingers).
And speaking of gold/brass, Homegoods is selling a lot of brass things right now – really cool trays and accessories like this brass-inlay dominos box set.
I mixed my new and old finds together on the shelves and put lots of pumpkins out and some books too. I think it’s a good idea to not fill every square inch of shelf space or else it can start to feel like a store display.
I love that piece of pottery here on the left.
I also think it’s a good idea to go pretty neutral with the colors on a display shelf. And if something is more colorful, try to group it with items in a similar color family.
Can you spot the freshener below? I love how it just blends in with the decor.
It’s the newly designed Sense and Spray® Automatic Freshener by Glade® that sprays every time you walk by. You set it to spray no more than every 15, 20 or 30 minutes, so it works perfectly in high-traffic areas just like in this hallway by our mudroom. The scent travels all around this side of the house.
You can choose different scents (and in fact, there’s a whole line of great, new fragrances), but my hands-down favorite is their Lavender and Vanilla. It smells really good and it’s a more complex scent than you normally find with air fresheners. This is a bit of a side note, but isn’t it weird how houses/families have a smell? I’m always wondering if our house has a smell that I’m just used to – the idea stresses me out a little bit to be honest. I think scent is a big part of the experiencing of a home and it is a huge relief for me when visitors comment that our house smells nice. And just like putting out the pumpkins, choosing a warm, inviting scent is the perfect, simple way to welcome guests and to celebrate the season. I just popped in the Cashmere Woods scent yesterday to get the warm, woodsy smell happening, and now it really feels like October! :)
And it was downright genius of the makers of Glade® to design such a pretty diffuser. How far we have come from the days of those scent cone eye sores!
So, tell me, have you started decorating for the holidays yet? Too soon? :) Our old neighbor had a rule where as soon as she saw Halloween stuff in stores she felt she could start listening to CHRISTMAS MUSIC. That is a level of holiday commitment unknown to me!
Jenny-you kill me. I've been stalking you for years, and everything you post, I instantly want to copy! You are a decorating genius! <3
I do love that air freshener! Which is totally a surprise because no matter what, they've always looked like air fresheners. That is a good one and I would consider getting one!
The decorating looks darling too. I love those little shelves seeded with Fall goodies.
Of course you and your family have a "smell". That doesn't necessitate that it is BAD. Smells trigger memories, and if you life resembles your blog, then your house is full of wonderful smells, and beautiful loving memories.
Loving the remodel!
How do you do it? Everytime I feel so inspired and I'm so delighted with the things I see here! :) So tell me, how?
I cannot believe the way those shelves have been transformed just from removing the paint and changing the wall color!! I'm blown away.
Absolutely love your shelving! And your fall decor of course.
Zelle
A Southern Style
Love all of this — especially the painted gold basket!
What a difference stripping the paint off of the shelves made! Looking good :)
http://www.ahealthymrs.com
This came together really nicely! I actually just posted some simple Halloween decor this morning as well.
I agree about the house smell thing. I don't think that my house or my clothes smell like anything, but I know they do based on the fact that everyone else's does! That really is a nice looking air freshener, it's nice to see companies keeping aesthetics in mind.
Before I reached the part of your post that showed the air freshener, I thought that it was some cool vessel that you had found thrifting! But yippee, now I can get one too! :)
Lovely! When I started to look through the pictures I honestly had no idea where the air freshener was until you blatantly pointed it out. Very stylish!
I don't know if I've ever really thought to spray paint a basket like that before, but now I'm going to have to. What a great idea! I have been loving gold a lot lately, so I'm definitely going to have to pick up a can of gold spray paint and cover everything with it that doesn't move.
-Jen
yourstrulyjen.com
Talk about making lemonade out of lemons… beautiful!
Although I doubt you'd replace these shelve if they fell apart tomorrow, they are definitely much nicer to look at now and better yet. functional!
That air freshener is kinda cool, it looks nice and isn't a fire hazard…Wait. What is gel-stripper?! I think I need to investigate!
So cute!
I love that you have inspired me to spray paint yet something else gold!! A basket, who would have thought?!
Love it!!
http://reuschinteriordesign.blogspot.com
I would have never guessed that was an air frshener! I just figured it was another funky Jenny find.
Funny thing about house smells: Just last weekend, I was visiting my cousin's new place and she asked me if her house smelled. Then she went on to say that since they bought a house, she's paranoid that her "house smell" smells bad to everyone else, but she's just used to it. I assured her it was fine.
Mine, however, still smells like badly renovated rental. Alas.
I can't decide what I love most – doggy cameos or gold basket. I've got some ikea baskets I've been pondering spray painting now and you've def convinced me of that…perhaps I'll have to go crazy and make some doggy cameos too – embrace the kitsch is going to be my motto on those if anyone asks!
Very cute and practical. Seeing those dog silhouettes makes me wonder about Linus. How is he enjoying Arizona?
The whole thing looks great! I know what you mean about houses and families having a scent… I'm going to have to try to get one of these Glade thingies.
I like the shelves unpainted.
That is so funny about the smell thing. I never used to worry about it until we got a dog. I used to know someone whose house literally stunk because of her dog and I was so worried about it! But, after asking a few people, I have been assured ours doesn't smell bad at all. Phew! I don't like air fresheners because we have a lot of allergies/asthma in our house and we don't need the chemical injection in the air but, if they ever decided to use only natural non allergenic type scents I would love to have a freshener that looks like that. Thank heavens they are starting to design for aesthetics because, traditionally, those things have been butt ugly. Can't believe the transformation you did on that wall. Just amazing and it isn't even the finished product yet.
When you revealed what the air freshener was, I was shocked! It looks like an incredible object rather than a functional item.
What brand of stripper gel do you use?
Looks great, as usual!
I'm buying this because YOU recommended it!
What brand of gel stripper do you recommend?
I'm looking to strip several layers of paint from some wainscotting and molding in my foyer and I'm not sure how to get in to the nooks and crannies. Do you have any recommendations for what kind of tool to use to get in there?
Thanks!
It looks so good, absolutely stunning. I like your style!
Many greetings,
Susann
Hi Jenny! Love this post. I just wanted to throw another vote out there for more info on the gel-stripper when you get a moment, but also generally, when would you strip paint off before repainting vs. just painting over it? We have some hideous colors to paint over (window trim, door trim, baseboards) in our master suite and I am having a panic attack thinking that I'll need to strip them all before painting. Help? Thank you!!