If you’ve ever moved, you know that the stuff you have can look completely different in each place you call home. The light that we adored over the dining room table in one house now looks terrible in the new dining room. Curtains seem to never work from house to house, and forget the placement of artwork. It makes us want to run right out and buy all new things. While it’s fine to reinvent your style each time you move, it just isn’t always possible to overhaul the whole decor. That’s when you shop your house.

Nate Berkus’ show was on the air when we moved in, and I watched it religiously. He would often tell people to shop their homes before going out shopping, and I followed his advice. We had things I loved; furniture and art and accessories picked up during our travels that were filled with memories. Just because it wasn’t translating well in the new house, I thought I didn’t love it anymore. The best thing we did was avoid hanging art and placing accessories in the same locations they were in the old house. We simply organized everything into categories (all the lamps, all the side tables, all the artwork, all the accessories, etc.) and placed them in one room. Then after we loaded the basic furniture into each room, we decided how to decorate from there. A table that was in our living room worked way better in our bedroom now. The lamp in the bedroom really looked better in the office, and the mirror that was a tabletop in the old house was now hung on the dining room wall. We still got to enjoy the things we loved, but we had a fresh, new perspective on them and it fit the fresh, new house.

When we moved into this house, one of the first things I fell in love with was the fireplace. This was the first fireplace we’d ever had and I couldn’t wait to style it like all the magazines and blogs I’d been perusing since becoming a homeowner. Turns out, it isn’t all that simple to make a fireplace look like the ones in a magazine. Also, every accessory I saw in magazines cost an arm and a leg, and if you remember, our budget was closer to pinkie finger-sized. Again, time to get resourceful.

For this mantle, I wanted it to look like Fall, but I wanted it to tie into the colors and mood of the rest of our house. I like when the decor gives the space a feeling, so I went with cozy, calm colors, a little natural texture with a few pops of orange for pumpkin-y punch. A few metallic things never hurt either, so I added in a couple touches for some shine. Here’s the finished product:

  
I’m happy with how it turned out. If you’re wondering how to do it, what was purchased new and what I already had, I’ll give you the rundown now.

   
First, choose your largest pieces. For this it was the Banksy print. Husband-Face gave this one to me for Christmas last year. I placed it in the center, leaning against the wall for a more casual look. You can certainly hang your art if you prefer. Next are the wooden stars. I love stars, always have, and I always try to find a way to tie them into my spaces. These were from Arhaus Furniture and they were purchased 3 years ago and lived in a closet until we could figure out what to do with them. You can find a similar one here. They added some natural texture, along with the broom. The broom was made by my Mom, and it is the one that Husband-Face and I actually jumped over when we got married. Fun fact! 
  
Second, choose the medium-sized pieces and layer them over the large ones. Here, that is the framed ‘New York’ print. That was cut from a Rifle Paper Company calendar and framed. It had the colors I wanted and it was already in my house. Next was the charcoal and cream pottery vase I purchased last year at Target. I filled it with eucalyptus branches from Trader Joe’s for some more natural texture and the lovely smell is a bonus!

  
Finally, bring in the smaller things to complete the look and make it feel layered. The vintage camera was last year’s birthday gift from Husband, and the banner was an Etsy find about 6 years ago, but here’s a similar one. I took a simple drinking glass and stuck in the dried baby’s breath and placed the metallic jars from Target around the broom. Here are some similar ones. These can hold LED candles for a nice glow in the evenings. I had some basket weave pumpkins from Michael’s that I just snuggled into a few bare spots to add color and repeat the color in the ‘New York’ print. The crossbones candle holder, skull candle, and smoky glass candle with the metallic tag are the only things I purchased recently, and they are all from Home Goods. Grand total for those three pieces was $25. Bonus, when the smoky glass candle with the metal tag burns completely, I’ll reuse the container for flowers, or an LED candle. My living room feels cozy for Fall, and I only purchased a few things–the rest I “shopped” at home.

I hope you’ll all go shopping in your homes and fall in love with the great, memory-filled pieces you’ve already got. And when you go out to shop for things to tie it all together, it won’t break the bank. I’d love to see what your spaces look like! Let’s connect via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter! Show me what you’re up to and what you’ve fallen in love with all over again!