WOW! Double WOW! Triple WOW! Your place must look incredible at night. I love it all. Spooky, but not gory. I used to talk about this a lot with my second graders - how much FUN it is to be "pretend scared" and shiver when you read a Halloween story, but not REALLY be scared. Nice savings on the mantel scarf. I've been looking at them for a couple of years now, but didn't buy one because of the price. Even thought of sewing my own. Never occurred to me to adapt something else. DUH! I'm going to have to go on a shopping spree now. Do tell about the art work. Love the ghost mirror/painting in the first picture (same technique for the skull picture?). How'd you do that? Looks like you used garbage bags - or did you wrap them in the scary cloth? I did a "cute" ghost (Martha Stewart idea) on the bathroom mirror, but like your style better. Give directions, please. Those witches stocking boots are bigger than I imagined. That's another idea I'm going to have to copy. BOO!

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.

Oakley - Our fireplace is gas, so we don't need tools. I could add a bucket or basket of pine cones at the hearth, maybe even scented potpourri ones. Thoughts? Just -- I like it! Thank you! I think a scarf would add a nice touch until we can add some wood appliques on that plain, horizontal face. OK... I've taken the previous advice and mock-up as inspiration. I did add a blue candle to the red-based clear urn, moved "Emily" and our bible, and instead of using either the blue willow or the crystal items, I've added larger blue vase and another doll. The tea cups were wedding gifts. I could add peacock feathers or another taller natural item to the vase. Thoughts?