Fall Covered Patio

I added a few fall touches to our covered patio this year.  For some reason, for the past 7 years that we have lived here, we usually just put away our summer stuff, stacked up our firewood, and left this patio empty.  We always decorated the front of our home for fall, but we are really enjoying having this space to hang out in when we walk outside our family room.

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Fall Kitchen & Living Room

Today, continuing on the fall tour of our home, we are upstairs in the kitchen/dining/living room area of our split level home.  Our family room is the coziest spot, but this ends up being the place we spend a majority of our time.  This space is lighter and brighter.

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Our Fall Family Room

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Autumn in our Entryway

The weather in NJ has been gloriously fall like, the kids are back into their school routine, and it is time to start adding some fall touches to the house...love this time of year!  I will be sharing the rooms as I go and hopefully you will enjoy following along.  I started in the entryway/foyer.

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Wire Baskets

One of my favorite aisles in HomeGoods is the one that is full of baskets and storage items.  I have found through the years, and lots of trial and error, that my family stays the most organized when we have baskets to put things in.  Especially the everyday things.  This method isn't full proof.  The baskets need to be gone through quite often and things aren't usually as neat as you see them in these pictures.  However, it definitely keeps things off the countertop (somewhat) and I have an answer to all those yells of, "MOOOOM, where's the phone charger, library book, etc?" that is the soundtrack of my life.  Let's start in the kitchen, shall we?

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This & That

Hello and Happy Monday!  I hope you guys are doing well.  Things around here have been busy with the start of the school and all of the activities that come along with that.  We are sad to be closing up our pool this week, especially Keeper.  She spends the most time in the pool.  Matthew taught her to dive off the diving board this summer...

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The Painted Hutch

Painting the large farm style hutch has been on my to-do list for years.  I was definitely afraid to pull the trigger pick up the paint brush.  We originally purchased the hutch for the kitchen in our last house. When we moved here, it was the first piece of furniture that made this 1980's decorated house feel like home.  We placed it in the dining room.  The dining room with the vertical blinds and mirrored chandelier.  I saw hope while everyone around us was saying, "Why would they sell their completely remodeled house to move here?"  So, these were the thoughts running through my head as I fearfully put the first coat of paint on this sentimental piece.

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First Day of School Ikea Haul

Hello and Happy Monday!  I am so happy to be back to a routine around here now that school has started.  So far, everyone is happy with their teachers so we are off to a good start to the school year.  Phew!  Here is my youngest on the first day.  Confession:  I took this picture after school.  Don't judge, he is our third kid after all :)  

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Autumn Inspiration

The kids here in NJ are finally back in school.  Reading on blogs about how so many other's kids have been back to school for weeks makes us feel behind!  Now, if the temperatures would cooperate, maybe we can begin to think about my favorite season, Autumn.  For now, we are still swimming in the pool, but I can dream about wearing boots and flannels.  And get some ideas together for how to add some Autumn touches to our home.  

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Keepin' it real in our master bath

We "may" have been getting a bit lazy about keeping things in their place in our master bath.  You know all those things that don't appear in a magazine photo shoot but are necessary items in an actual bathroom?  Like toothbrushes, mouthwash, toothpaste, etc.  They were collecting all over the top of our countertop and it was not pretty.  I headed to HomeGoods in search of some way to keep everything organized and yet still easily accessible.  I found this 2 tiered stand in the kitchen aisle and I thought it could work.

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