living room Archives - Feathers in Our Nest

Creating a Cozy Home in the Fall

October 11, 2016 by Aliesha

It’s no secret that I adore fall. I love the weather. I love the pumpkins. I love the warm & delicious flavors. I love the sweaters & boots. I love it all!

Today I’ll be sharing several tips for creating a cozy home in the fall! These tips are to help you (in whatever season of life you’re in!) make your home a cozy, welcoming place, not just for yourself and your own family, but for the people whom you invite into your home. Fall is a great time to show hospitality!

Add texture

I love to bring in lots of throw pillows and warm blankets, especially ones with interesting textures or pretty fringe. This layered look brings warmth to your home! Not to mention, that throw will come in handy on crisp mornings!

Add pumpkins

Well, this one is a given. Add pumpkins and your home will instantly feel more “fallified” and cozy! I don’t use orange pumpkins in my home anymore, since they don’t jive with my regular decor, so I have been collecting white, blue, tan, and burlap pumpkins over the past couple of years. You can always paint orange ones!

This little burlap pumpkin was just $1 at the Dollar Tree.

Display a seasonal art print

(Shameless plug) Adding a seasonal art print can instantly update your home and help celebrate the change of seasons! This one is available in my Instagram shop.

Bake something delicious

We eat seasonally as much as possible, meaning we fully enjoy the delicious flavors that each season offers! Right now we’re all about apples and pumpkin. I’ve baked lots of (healthy) pumpkin muffins, peanut butter granola, apple oven pancakes, whole wheat bread, and more. I’ve also started cooking soup again! I made a totally yummy broccoli cheddar soup over the weekend.

Diffuse a seasonal blend

Diffusing essential oils not only adds ambiance and a good fragrance to your home, but it also is one of the best ways to enjoy the benefits of essential oils. I’ve been diffusing Blossoms lately, and I love it!

Select some fall books

There’s nothing cozier than settling down to a read good book (or three)! If you have kids, pick up some fall library books. This is one of our absolute favorites, but I’ll try to do a post soon with some other new favorites! Don’t forget to grab something for you to read too. I’m not much of a fiction reader, but I just started reading this one!

Brew some coffee

I normally drink decaf coffee, but I made an exception to try this Apple Cider Donut coffee from Archer Farms (Target). It’s SO good! Give it a try if you see it at your local Target!

Turn on the music

So you’ve layered on the throw pillows, brewed a pot of coffee, and decorated with pretty pumpkins. You have something yummy baking in the oven and your diffuser is going with a sweet-smelling blend. Now all that’s left to do is turn on some music (I’m loving this album) and invite a few friends over!

What are your favorite ways to “cozy up” your home for fall?

This post contains affiliate links.

DIY Home Decor is a (Sometimes Long) Process

September 17, 2016 by Aliesha

Before you scroll down to see the photos in this post, can you do me a favor and stop to read this first? I don’t know where you are in your season of life, but before I share some living room updates, I want to say a few words. (Believe me, it’s not because I think what I’m about to share is All That. Please read on…)

Because you see, I used to look at other bloggers’ living rooms and think… whoah. I need that rug. I need that lamp. I need that gorgeous whatever. I need her ability to style a vignette. And the truth was, I didn’t. My living room didn’t need to look exactly like hers, nor did I need any of that stuff at the time.

We went through a very lean time financially for the first several years of our marriage, and there was absolutely no money for home decor in the budget. (God was so faithful to provide for our family through Tad’s hard work, but there wasn’t extra money for things like new pillows, rugs, etc.) In that season, everything I brought home to decorate the house with was either a gift or was bought using money given to me as a present. I still found ways to make our home cozy, to decorate for the seasons, and to love our home as best as we could.

When I look back on pictures (some that I even shared on the blog), I’m a little embarrassed, but I shouldn’t be. We were content with what we had in that season and I did feel that my home was beautiful enough to share on my blog and to welcome friends and family into.

Even now, I look around our home and see many things that need to be done. Our house is almost 100 years old, so it needs a lot of updates still. The list of improvements we could do is lengthy.

But just as I learned contentment in that season of blank walls and sparse decor, I know I want my heart to be filled with contentment and joy in this season as well.

So if you’re in a similar season to where we were just a few years ago, and your budget is tight or your home is small or you have no eye for design or whatever, please know that we all have areas where we are growing in contentment. We are filled with longings that can only be met by God, not a new rug or new windows or fresh paint.

With all of that said, I wanted to share some pictures of our living room as it looked this summer (before I decorated for fall). I didn’t want to share these pictures without first gently reminding all of us that true joy only comes from Christ, not from cozy home decor!

We recently added a new rug to the living room. I love how it adds so much interest to the room (and hides the old carpet, haha).

I found this little side table and I thought it would be the perfect thing to replace the old black one that was there. It lightens up that corner!

Some of the pillows on the couch are new. One of them (the feathers) is a cover that I just put on an old pillow! I really like the lamp as well, and it provides a nice alternative to the overhead lighting.

I still love our console table and really enjoy decorating that! On the top shelf we store our Chatbooks so the kids can flip through them frequently.

For a while I had been wanting a large statement piece for over the mantel, and I finally found one I love! It’s exactly what I was looking for and it fills the wall space above the mantel much better than what was there before.

I have a little vignette on the wall by the door, and I enjoy changing out the decor on the shelf as is seasonally appropriate.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the recent updates we’ve made in our living room… and don’t forget: 1) creating a beautiful home you love is a long process, and 2) true contentment is found in Jesus, not in how our home looks.

Enjoy your weekend!