Late Summer Baker's Rack

Hello friends! Has the "Late Summer/Early Fall" bug bitten you yet? It comes after me each year starting in the last week in July. August is the time that I start getting that itch to bring out a few seasonal colors, that look to the "harvesty" hues of golds, dark greens, oranges, deep reds, and browns.

Late Summer Look-back

I've been hunting for some inspiration for this transition time into Fall.

 The fading flowers are showing the wear and tear of the sun,

 the temps are still hot, the yards have started turning brown around the edges, 

and this time of year, I often find myself in a little decorating funk. 

Just a little seasonal tweaking

Late Summer Kitchen Sitting Area

I've piddled around with this kitchen sitting area post so long,

 that if I don't show you all soon, 

I'm going to be ready to change it up to be the 

"Early Fall Kitchen Sitting Area".

New House Living Room Inspiration Board

Last night I needed a diversion from packing. Can I admit I'm already tired of it and I've only scratched the surface? I've spent most of this week in my office/studio trying to make some sense out of all the crap,  junk, supplies, treasures,  stuff that I have. I may not be at my all time "best" through this move. It's a good thing my husband is patient and longsuffering... 

So I hopped on Polyvore once he went to bed and thought I'd put together an inspiration board for the Living Room. Our "soon-to-be" house is small, folks, so nothing is going over there that isn't functional and doubles as storage. Let's just say that most of my furniture and fun stuff is destined for a very large storage unit.

The new little house has a lot of  "wood", in the form of cabinets, woodwork, trim, etc. not my favorite "white". So I'm having to go with a more masculine vibe. Maybe I can translate that into a little of my favorite, "English Country". I can't paint the walls or anything else, and frankly we'll probably only be there a year, so I'm not going to totally "decorate", but I have to feel like I have a "home". (we'll just be leasing until our house sells, then buy something permanent or build) So hubbs and I came up with a plan and we pooled our pocket change and bought a Chesterfield Sofa and Loveseat. Believe me, there is some great looking furniture out there that doesn't break the bank, and I was determined I'd find it.

So we purchased the sofa and loveseat and a couple of new lamps in a bronze tone with linen shades. I have to decide what I'm going to sell, but for now I'm justifying this purchase because all the downstairs furniture will likely be sold. (And it was our anniversary present to ourselves.) I was secretly wanting to do something different downstairs anyway, so please... be careful what you wish for.

These examples of furniture from Polyvore are just representative of what we're using. I have an old cedar chest that had a horrible finish that I painted a Country Gray, which I'm going to use as a coffee table. It's pretty rustic and not at all what you'd find in my current living room, but hey, I'm making the most of this and using or repurposing what I have. 

I have a beautiful black area rug that hopefully will work

 under the coffee table/trunk. If not I have my taupe-y one.

Then, I'm hoping to use some stacked suitcases and a few decorative tole trays and wooden boxes for end tables. I also have a really wonderful very old school desk from Atlanta that's like a tea table. It's been hidden downstairs the whole time we've lived here; I think that will work with a lamp for an end table.

Hubbs has a great leather recliner that we'll use 

and I have another chair that hopefully will fit.

I love me some leopard/cheetah print so I'm going to try to find some throw pillows, cause the pillows that came with the loveseat and sofa are not what I'm going for. 

Love that chair above, but like I said, just "representative" of what I'll be using, something that I already have. How many of you bought the "required" massive entertainment center when big screen tvs first came out? Oh yeah, we bought a doozy, but it's still pretty, and we have one large wall that needs to be filled, plus we need the storage, so we'll be using that puppy.

Every time I feel overwhelmed I take a few deep breaths and try to remember why we're doing this. Let's see...do I remember why? Oh yeah, we're downsizing so we'll be ready for retirement and whatever else that might bring. Actually, this house is adorable, and I'm super grateful that we found it. It will be perfect for us, I just need to get used to this downsizing business. 

you get the idea?

Hope you're having a great weekend, 

more snow in the forecast...brrrrrrr.

Joining in these parties this week:

 Dwellings
Mod Vintage Life
Cozy Little House
Confessions of a Plate Addict
A Stroll Thru Life
City Farmhouse
Savvy Southern Style
Craftberry Bush
Jennifer Rizzo

xoxo,

Today's Sponsors

Nostalgic Artifacts 

and 

Nostalgic Summer

Early Fall Changes on the Sunporch

Happy Fall...for reals!

OK, it just hit me that we are coming in to the last full week of September, I can hardly believe it. And if I want to show you any changes that I made for an "Early Fall" sunporch vs. the "Late Summer" Sunporch of August, it had better be now.

Because things will change again in October and I'll bring out a few of my vintage Halloween things. I don't "do" Halloween up big like I did when my kids were little. Now, I just like to have a few little things that remind me of all the fun Halloween was when I was a kid. 

One of the changes was this old straggly suitcase here on my glass nesting tables in place of the Linen Picnic Hamper for Summer. I brought out my big orange Butterscotch Wafers tin and snuggled an ivy inside. I also found the O'Cedar tin awhile back. It's pretty rough, but then I just love the color.

One of my little birdies found a spot to perch.

It's pretty bright out here, you may need to put on your sunglasses.

But that's what I love about my sunporch, I can go color crazy!

I made a few Fall changes out here on the Baker's Rack too. My black kitchen scales are back, I added an old open garden book, there's an orange pottery tea pot and tray, an orange plaid Thermos, and then my "Make Your Own Seedbox" that I made with Fall colors has shown up. I'd been saving it for this month.

Then, one of my little owl friends wanted to come out to play.

He's hanging out with another little friend in the birdcage.

and speaking of owls, did you catch my last post about "owls"?

The settee will get a change up for October too, 

I'm planning it right now...

hmmm...

This may happen this afternoon.

an antique sign I found a few years ago

 gets the "Bittersweet" treatment

on the chippy picket fence gate.

The black tole tray is still here holding some brown transferware, and I had to add a yummy candle to the mix. I have a candle burning most days from here on out. This one is Leaves, but good grief, the one in the kitchen is Pumpkin Pecan Waffle. That smell can make you go nuts...pun intended.

sitting in a cute wire pumpkin

I found a few sunflowers last weekend while I was out , but their little heads are now hanging, and they are dropping their petals. I'll be saving the heads to dry for next year.

Hope you're having a wonderful 1st day of Autumn!

I just put together a link on the sidebar and a new "page" on the header of my past "Autumn Projects and Inspiration". Hope you enjoy a look at some of the fun from the last 4 years.

If you have an Etsy Shop or Online Boutique,

 hope you'll join in tomorrow for 

I also have a new post out on my Spiritual Journey blog about "Being Available". My posts have been few and far between this last year, but I'm hoping to do better. Sometimes "life" gets a little overwhelming...

Joining in on these great parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch

Have a wonderful Sunday!

xoxo,

Black Tole Trays

I started collecting black tole trays about 12 years ago when my son-in-law brought me a large reproduction one back from England. He had found it in the gift shop at Buckingham Palace, and from then on I was smitten. Some can be pretty pricey, so I try to look for the bargains. My little collection has steadily grown, but this last few weeks I've been on a roll.

 I found this one on Etsy here at a great price, and was so happy to find it, despite the small areas of rust. It's a pretty good size, and if perfect, these can set you back a penney or two.

I'm sticking with hand-painted ones for now, even if they're a little rusty.

( a little rust never hurts anything anyway! right?)

It's now setting on my double ovens, making a pretty statement.

Before, this smaller one just didn't show up enough.

Then, this last week when Anne and I were out scouring the shops,  I found this one with pink flowers. It's in the Dining Room for now on an old black wooden folding luggage stand.

Then, in St. Louis I came across this one that had pink roses. 

I found a spot on the kitchen counter for this one.

And then a baby one from St. Louis too...

Anne put it here on top of the scales and I think it looks so sweet!

right behind one of my chalkware lambies.

I found this other smaller one a while back,

and it has made it's way to the countertop.

This was from last Fall,

love them lined up on the backsplash.

I've been tempted with other background colors, but there's something about the black ones that just grabs me. I think it's that they remind me of an English Country kitchen, and I love the contrast of the black with the antique white cabinets.

I'll be joining in for these parties this week:

Thrifty Finds at Southern Hospitality

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tuesday Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Cowgirl Up at Cedarhill Ranch

Knick of Time Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants

Primp

Very Merry Vintage Style

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

No Minimalist Here

Brambleberry Cottage

The Vintage Farmhouse

The Charm of Home

Sweet and Simple Friday at Rooted in Thyme

At the Picket Fence

French Country Cottage

2805

Stuff and Nonsense

And be sure and come back Tuesday afternoon for the Blogaversary Give Away. I'll be giving away 3 (yep, 3 of them) copies of Carolyn Westbrook's new book, Through the French Door. See you tomorrow for Monday Marketplace!

xoxo,