So glad you joined us here and shared these decorations with us. Your sign turned out fantastic and the bed goes perfectly with it! Great buy on the headboard. Your pumpkin scarecrow is darling and the tall sunflowers and carved pumpkin are great. BTW, who gets credit for that great carving job on the pumpkin? Stunning job on the inside fireplace area. I wasn't caring for the birds but the more I see them, the more I like them. Your American Gothic picture is such a wonderful creation. The cat, bats, skeletons, birds make these pictures look like they came out of a magazine. I love it! You are going to be a fun one here. So glad OA inspired you and you shared all this with us. Punk

I love your home, and love the woodwork. It probably has darkened with age, and could be nicer if stripped and refinished, but with 4 younger kids that is a project for down the road. For now, I am glad that you are not painting it. You have gotten lots of great suggestions, but many of them seem to be things that at this point you cannot do for a variety of reasons. Since you are suggesting that some of the fixes will be temporary, until your youngest is a bit older, I am thinking in terms of working with what you have, rather than making some changes now that may not work down the line when you are ready to really alter things. Since this is your family room, where all of you gather, imo we need to think in those terms, more than about what looks pretty. I get the impression that you don't use your front door often, since the loveseat is currently sitting there. So, despite the fact that I love the fireplace, you said it is non-working, I believe. It seems to me that for now, the place for the TV is in front of the fireplace. Straight on, almost as a replacement. Don't paint the brick, either. The one thing that could be nice is if the TV stand were a bit lower, so that the top line of the tv sat just below the mantel. With the tv in front of the fireplace, we need to move the viewing angles around a little. I would try the couch all the way back at the end of the room, in front of the double window. Move the torchiere down to replace that little table that is sitting in the corner. It seems like you should have enough space, with the couch against the end wall, to leave the sofa table where it is with the lamp on it. Take the loveseat and put it on the front window wall where the couch is now. Use the little end table to the left side, right by the entry, and add another table lamp (stolen from somewhere?) on that table. Keep the loveseat and table pushed as far to the left, close to the door, as possible, to give the tv visual 'breathing room'. Get rid of the runner in front of the couch. Leave the blinds, I think they are fine, but get rid of the window scarves. I would stay away from curtains, but would consider adding a simple valance above the front and end wall windows, hung just below the picture moulding. Nothing gathered, but rather something flat with pleats. Something like this style: premier stripe inverted pleat valance I would take down all the things you have hanging on the walls in there and re-group. It appears you have a mirror on the wall behind the door, which seems pretty much unusable. The framed art is marching around in a row, and is spaced too far apart. Consider taking the pix that relate to one another and making a grouping of them above the sofa table. I would take down the mirror over the fireplace for now - maybe it can find a new home elsewhere in the house. The tv will kind of dwarf anything that is framed up there, so instead try the large candlesticks to one side (but not all the way to the edge), with a richer color for the candles. Add a lower, wider vase or planter with some taller twigs and green grasses, etc in it, to bring some color and softness above the tv. Think about adding some other items to the pretty shelving besides framed pix - maybe some books, a couple of interesting pieces of pottery, etc. Look for things that pull out some of the colors that are in the fabric you want to use. As for paint, I would use a warm beige color on the walls, and go two shades lighter above the picture rail, same lighter color on the ceiling and on the entire fireplace area above the mantel only. I love greens, but looking at the wood in the room, especially in the closer shot, it feels like beige/gold would do more to bring out the richer tones in the wood. Be sure you have the highest wattage you can get in the lamps. Don't use the ceiling fan lights for lighting the space. They only create glare up high and shadows down below, unless you have them on a dimmer and can get a soft light effect that just kind of washes the ceiling. I think once you add some warm color with the paint, and bring in your pillows and accents, the room will feel warmer and more friendly.

Just an old jar, filled with a Dollar Store eyeball candies and decorated with a sticker makes a nice Halloween dec, I think. I made my little ghost many, many years ago : I painted my witch at the same time, and also the scarecrow below in another pic: Light in our entrance foyer: Hutch in there with more books: My cousin's book, "Boo, Bunny!" always has a place of honor there. These Halloween farolitos are easy to make with an empty gallon milk jug. Leave the handle on it and, after decorating as a monster, scary face, a cat or whatever, fill with 2-3 inches of sand and insert a votive candle. Halloween "Ghost Eye" Tree centerpiece made by DD when she was younger: My favorite cat sits on top of our wine cab: Spook up any lamp with a bit of black cheese cloth that the Dollar Stores always seem to carry at this time of year. Draped around the top are just a couple DS necklaces. A nice, big spider is a fun addition. A Halloween quilt and wall hangings, all made for us by my very talented bestfriend, Dianna: Dining Room table centerpiece, which sits down at the end of the table during our meals: Thanks for letting me play here today, showing you my favorite Halloween decs. Lynn This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Mon, Oct 20, 14 at 17:39

Justgottabe, the ornaments are wonderful. They would be simply beautiful on their own, but the meaning behind them makes them extraordinary. Priceless treasures. I don't have a lot of the ornaments my mom, grandmother and to some degree my sister and I made when I was young, and the beaded felt tree skirts haven't held up as well, but I treasure what we do have. I am still knitting -- might still be knitting after Christmas, but as long as I have these hats done beofre the boys go back to school, I will be satisfied and I know the boys will be fine with that. They got the matching scarves last year and know these are coming (I can't bring myself to pull out wool and start knitting when it's over 85 degrees outside -- and that wasn't that long ago). I did make a pair of baby alpaca cowls and make do some mitts to go with one. Started a crocheted hat too. We have all the kitchen goodies packed up and will mail 3 packages this weekend or Monday and then distribute the rest next week. Made 16 tins of peanut brittle on top of the ther goodies and will make stroopwaffels Sunday or Monday (have to wait for a front to pass through and the weather to improve for the caramel to behave). Jen -- ETA that I think your scarves look great and they will love them. The yarn for the guy is a great choice. I know what a hard time I had finding something I liked for my sons.