House Love: Our Fall Mantel

​I have fallen in love with our new house.  It is a 1920's farm house with lots of character and charm.  It's not perfect (a garage and finished basement would be nice), but it suits us well and we have been so happy here since we moved in August.  One of my favorite things about this house are the fireplaces.  There is one in the living room (pictured) and one in the study (baby's room).  For the first 14 years of our marriage we lived in an apartment and then two homes without fireplaces so I really appreciate having a mantel to decorate now.  

So this is our fall mantel.  It's kind of a hodgepodge of different things, but I think it comes together well.  When we had our newborn three weeks ago, my husband arranged for a graduate student in horticulture to teach his floral design class for him one day and she made this beautiful arrangement for us.  We thought it was the perfect centerpiece for the mantel.  This is also a great place to showcase some of the kids' recent art pieces.  I added some family photographs and the kids added some pressed leaf prints they made at Horticulture club (a little perk of having a daddy who is a hort professor).  When I was on limited activity before the baby was born, my husband took the boys to a gourd festival and they brought home all of the gourds you see on the mantel.  The boys actually decided to decorate with their gourds and arranged them on their own.  I think they did a nice job.

Another thing I love about the fireplace is that the wall above it is painted a lighter color than the rest of the living room.  It pops and gives a nice contrast with the dark brick and the light brown walls and lightens up the space.  

What are your favorite fall decorating tips?  
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