Day 12 of 31 Day Spooktacular- Fall Mantel

Today I'm excited to have a special guest! 

Hi guys! I’m so happy to be here today on Coley’s blog! Isn’t she great? I’m loving her Spooktacular series so far and am excited to be a part of it. I’m here today to share my Fall mantel with you.

I’m Katie from Newcomb Home. I live with my husband and two furry roommates in Portland, Oregon, and blog about all things related to my house and our life renovating it – great tips for home improvement, easy decorating ideas, and what to do when your water main starts flooding the garage :) We’re new homeowners and learning as we go, so my hope is that others can learn from our mistakes!

That's the husband and me, with wine and carbs. Its ok, we were on vacation!

Okay, thanks for letting me introduce myself, now back to business :) I wanted to share my Fall mantel decor and give you a few easy tips for decorating a space like a mantel, shelf, hutch, etc.

 

As you’ll commonly hear from many bloggers, work with what you’ve got. There is no need to buy a bunch of new stuff each season (or at all). Little changes here and there can really update your decor.
Plus, don’t you feel less pressure when you  “just threw together a bunch of stuff from home” instead of “Oh no, this better look fabulous; I just spent a bunch of money at …” ?
Other than trying not to break the bank, I generally look at three things when I’m decorating: scale, texture, and color.

Scale is important so your mantel feels balanced and your eyes scan the entire thing rather than focusing in one area. I love the pumpkins I snaggged from the produce section of the grocery store. 

 

I wanted the little ones to be noticed so I put them on top of little ceramic stands. This helps with the scale by balancing out the height of the ornamental corn on the left (and the stands were only 99 cents each at Michaels).

I have a really hard time with scale because our mantel is so big and deep, but I just do my best and am happy with not-perfect.

A lot of what I have around the house are shiny ceramic or glass items, so I also tried to vary the texture with the paper-covered books, pumpkins, and ornamental corn.

 

And the best part of seasonal decorating?
Color :)  Seasonal decor is an excuse to use new, fun colors that don’t necessarily go with your room. I mean, they shouldn’t downright clash, but its definitely ok to think outside the box a little. So have fun!

 

My husband thinks its too early for Halloween just yet. I can’t wait to add in some fun Halloween details like spiders and their webs and spooky titles on the books.

 
Or maybe frightening cats?


Diego is such a ham, I can’t ever take pics without his help :)

What ‘rules’ do you think about when decorating? Please leave a comment if you have any tips, I’m always interested in learning more.
I’d love for you to stop by Newcomb Home and check out my blog!
Thank you so much Coley for having me over today! Its been fun introducing myself to your readers. Happy Fall!

Katie, thank you so much for sharing with us today!  You have wonderful advice and always crack me up! And I have to admit, you are a bit nicer than me... my husband says it's too early for Halloween decor too but I just pretend like I didn't hear him and put it up in September anyways :)  Thanks again!

I'd love for you to follow along for the 31 Day Spooktacular! 

Catch up!

 Day 1 (Candy Corn Tablescape)

Day 2 (Costume Ideas)
Day 3 (GOURDgeous decor)

Day 4 (3 Ingredient Pumpkin Cookies)

Day 5 (FREE Halloween Printables)

Day 6 (Acorn Desserts)

Day 7 (Pumpkin Candle Holders)

Day 8 (Specimen Bottles with FREE Printables)

Day 9 (DIY Book Crafts)

Day 10 (7 Layer Dip- Halloween Style)

Day 11 (Skull Basket)