Decorating Built-Ins for Fall

built-ins for fall
Do you find updating built-ins for fall challenging? I certainly do! However, the reward of snuggling up on the sofa with a mug of pumpkin spice latte and admiring the fruit of my labor makes it all worth while.
Here are a few tricks I use when refreshing the look of my built-ins:
built-ins for fall
1. Create Visual Flow. Make it a treat for the eyes to wonder from shelf to shelf, level to level and also to other focal points in the room. Here you can see the visual flow reading the shelves starting in the top left corner vs. starting the the lower left corner. In both ways the ending point brings the eye to the mantel.
built-ins for fall

 

2. Create a Color Story. In this look, I to used a piece of my Gail Pittman pottery to tie together the Razorback red, robin egg blue and greens. The repetition of browns throughout the vignettes allows the pops of color to both stand alone and blend together.

built-ins for fall

 

3. Add Seasonal Touches Without Compromising Personal Style. Does my color story scream fall? No! Now that my home has migrated more to the cool blues and greens, traditional fall colors provide more contrast than I prefer. So instead of the orange pumpkin and bright red and yellow leaves, I incorporated items from the brown color family such as leaves and acorns.

built-ins for fall

4. Make it personal. One of my favorite fall treasures is the Tree Artwork (1) BBC did at Mother’s Day Out a few years back. I love his unique interpretation of the project (even if the teacher did not). On the shelf below, an antique frame (2) from DH’s Pappy makes the perfect home for two leaves pressed on burlap. One of my favorite moments of BBC “reading a book” (3) was captured when he was only a few months old.

5. Give yourself a break. I usually have that one shelf that I don’t like (top right corner, shhhh). In the past it would bother me until I either drove myself crazy to get it right or I abandoned the project altogether. Both options robbed me of the joy of having a warm and inviting home – and snuggling up with that cup of pumpkin spice latte!

What are some of your tricks for getting those built-ins for fall  and  just right? Do you find yourself working too hard to make it perfect?

~Southern Fried Gal

5 Comments
  • Marlee
    October 11, 2012

    It’s nice to see you back blogging. Your shelves look great! Thanks for the tips! Happy Fall!

  • Bosch Family
    October 23, 2012

    Thanks for the tips and I love the Razorback decorations!

  • Hello! I'm Kate.
    October 29, 2012

    GO HOGS! :)

    We had a book shelf that I loved decorating in our living room. It has since been moved to the kid’s room to hold his books. I’m on the hunt for another one, your tips would have been great to use on that! I’m saving the link!

  • KENDRA
    November 5, 2012

    I Love the shelves!

  • corner shelving unit
    March 3, 2013

    Very impressive! Love these shelves!

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