Late Summer Entry with 2 Mini Updates

Subtle changes are showing up around the house, now that we're into August. This is the time I switch gears and look toward fall. As I've said before, August used to be my least favorite time of the year, but now I look at it differently... it's a transition time leading up to the cooler months and my favorite season. Autumn.

Old World Nature Inspired Urn

Hi Friends, I'm sharing some of my favorite Fall and Thanksgiving inspiration posts from previous years, along with new posts with some fun ideas for making the transition of Fall and Thanksgiving to Christmas. Here's a magazine inspiration urn I put together several years ago from when I picked up a Victoria Magazine Special Edition, called Victoria Classic French Cottage . 

Autumn Greetings from the Front Porch

Decorating the front porch for Fall has been a work in progress this last month since we were gone for a week. It started in early September with a change up for the pillows on the metal depot bench. By the end of summer the porch and flowers start looking a bit tired and in need of a pick-me-up. I like keeping a lighter look in September because the temps are still really warm, but I'll add a few darker colors as it gets further into October.

Fall Carts and Wagons and a Porch Peek

Hi Friends and Happy Weekend!

I've been decorating the front porch for Fall this week and was contemplating bringing out one of the goat carts to "fallify". I love using it as a focal point in Fall decorating. My hubby took me to buy a few pumpkins and mums at my favorite pumpkin barn; just a few... because we have hoodlum squirrels here and nothing is safe. Here are a few pics of the progress on the porch with most everything sprayed with peppermint concentrate. We live on a street with a lot of school traffic, so I guess I'll not try to put anything out here that I can't live without. So I'll share some Pinterest cart and wagon inspiration instead. Maybe I'll just put together a fun look out on the back porch.

Elegant Urns for Fall

The Creeping Fig

If you're looking for a way to make a statement with your Fall decor, especially in an Entry, Dining Room, or really, anywhere you want to grab attention, use an urn as your focal point. Whether it's inside or out, urns command a second look and always seem to elevate the French Elegance factor. Today I'm sharing a load of inspiration and ideas on ways to create a one-of-a-kind decor centerpiece.

Mid-Summer Front Door Basket

In late June I "summerfied" the old bucket on the farmtable in the Garden Room with a wild "just picked" humongous bouquet. In mid-summer I like to have a crazy mix of sunflowers, hydrangeas, and geraniums that look like they just came in from the backyard. I shared the "Summer" ice cream bucket last week, so this week I gathered up some of the same faux flower mix and filled a gray wash wicker basket for the front door.

French Farmhouse Table in the Dining Room

My last post I was telling you all about my after Christmas need for a more neutral palette. I always love a lot of color at the Holidays and I sort of overdid it this year here at the new place. I'm kinda over red/green for now. I'll be ready for some red again next month for Valentine's Day, but for now, my eyeballs need a break.

Go-to Thanksgiving Decor

I've always loved Thanksgiving, and enjoy bringing out the cozy wool blankets in Tartan Plaids of brown, dark green, and tans, vintage Turkeys, cornucopias filled with Harvest goods, and of course my favorite Brown Transferware. I'm usually in a hurry to start decorating for Christmas, yet I never want to totally bypass this wonderful Late Fall Holiday, dedicated to love of family, friends, and gratefulness for God's blessings.

Easy Neutral Decor in the Entry

This post is about 2 or 3 weeks behind schedule, since everyone is moving on to Valentine's Day decor. I think there are a lot of us who like to use our blog as a visual diary of our projects and decorating. So even though it's time to add in a little Valentine's this week, I want to share January's Entry and Dining Room with you all.

Paperwhites in the Christmas Entry

I have a few decorating "staples" when it comes to faux flowers; tried and true floral elements that I know I can use no matter what the Season or Holiday. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter I can always count on slightly wild and natural grapevine twiggy wreaths, lifelike Hydrangeas, and my favorite for this time of year... Paperwhites.

Potting Bench and Patio

Seems like it takes me forever to get a task completed lately, I guess that's because it actually does. I've been wanting to finish up here on the patio for weeks now, but I still needed to find a fern and a few other plants for the urns. I have to wait for Hubbs to help me out, so that means the weekend. And at that point, if it's rainy, forget it... another weekend down the drain. 

A Spring Entry

...and talking sheep...

You know me, during each season I usually change things up more than once. For Easter, I like things a little more pastel. Easter is about the only time you'll see "pastel" being used around here. But for earlier in the Spring Season I've used various shades of browns and greens, mostly in the Kitchen Sitting Area, since I like to use my brown and pink floral quilt. I went with the same colors here in the Entry, using a brown and green check ribbon to hang my mossy O, and then my sheep print on canvas.

My Favorite Urn...For Fall

I've had this Pottery Barn Urn for the last 5 years I think, and I have to say it's one of my favorite pieces to use in decor. It's almost always in use no matter what the season, but Fall has to be my favorite look. 

It's just the right size to plop in a big fat pumpkin, 

no matter whether it's faux or real.

Fall Container Plantings

I've been searching inspiration for doing some plantings for Fall out front

and I came across literally hundreds of examples of containers filled

with all the gorgeous colors of Autumn.

I tried to keep it to elements that were actually plantings,

so I thought I'd share just a little of all the many beautiful ideas.

Early Fall Entry with a new Chalkboard Print

With each new season I try to create a vignette that's something a little different than I've done before. That's not always easy because there are tried and true elements that I'm happy with and just look "right". The lamp, the clock, and the shutters and mirror; those are all part of this spot. But I love to play with faux flowers, and then add a seasonal print, painting, or needlework... and what's a Fall Entry Vignette without at least one pumpkin?

Nature Inspired Autumn Urn

I've had this Nature Inspired Autumn Urn in my head since last Spring, when I picked up a Victoria Magazine Special Edition, called Victoria Classic French Cottage . I'm hoping it will become a yearly publication, because it was filled with wonderful features of French and French Inspired Cottages. There was one particular image that completely captured my imagination, from an article called Living With The Past.

Ideas on Styling a Cabinet or Cupboard Top

I started a little "project"on top of my Dining Room China Cabinet right after we moved into this house last November. We have really high ceilings here, and I love them, but sometimes the furniture looks lost. Believe me, these pieces are huge (this one is about 7 1/2 feet tall) but there is still a big distance between the ceiling and the top of this cabinet. So now 3/4 of a year later, I finally have some kind of decor up there to help fill in this space.

Fall Front Porch at the New House

The landscaping is in (except for the new maple we're waiting for) and I had time to run by the pumpkin market for a few mums and pumpkins. It's not a huge display, but just enough to make it feel like "home". It's pretty sparse compared to year's past, but all my concrete urns are still hiding out in storage. I also still have to figure out what will fit on the small front porch. I will probably just paint one of my wooden benches the charcoal gray like the door and new shutters. I need some little something out here, but I don't want to clutter up the small space. We still have to repaint the outside lanterns, they have a pretty tired finish that needs spiffing up.

If you missed the before shots of the sad shutters and front door, you can see how the new Benjamin Moore paint, Iron Mountain, really enhances the brick and railing, and pulls it all together.

before

As our contractor so aptly put it. 

"The shutters and door are beyond "distressed, this is "neglect". 

New paint and newly built shutters...so much better.

I had a few Fallish silk florals that I stashed in my basket, then grabbed some wide bright orange ribbon. It helps dress up the porch a little, give some Fall color, and it also keeps someone from being able to see inside, when you're standing at the door. Sorry, I don't like people peeking inside....eck. (I just used one of the large "Command" hooks for this basket)

Hubbs carted over my concrete bench for the rocked area... What do you call this space between the walkway and the garage? This is a popular landscape feature around here. Anyway, I'm hoping to plant some lillies and a few perennials out there when I get time. The boxwood shrubs are baby size, but will grow fast. Now you can see the rock accent areas under the windows, instead of ugly dead shrubbery. yay!

Just imagine that there are lanterns, my concrete squirrels, and a few watering cans... but since we haven't moved in yet, I didn't want to have too much out here.

I found this big concrete container at Lowe's, I hope to use it for seasonal flowers, maybe adding some perennial ivy, next Spring. I'd like to add more to the porch and stairs, but probably will have to wait for Christmas. 

We're just so happy to have all this cleaned up and replanted.

 It was such a mess with dead plants and shrubs. 

OK, that's the extent of my Outdoor Fall Decor, 

not much, but better than nothing...

joining in on these parties:

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest at French Country Cottage
The Scoop at Confessions of a Plate Addict
Show and Share at Coastal Charm
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

Finally...September

The weather might not have realized that it's the start of all things Fall,

but the calender says it's September, so it's good enough for me!

Last January and February when I was packing up all my boxes of faux flowers and Holiday decor to take to the storage units, I tried to grab a few Fall things and keep them separated to bring to the lease house. Back then I had no idea where we would be this Fall. Fall was about as far from my mind as it could get, but I'm so glad I had a little forethought to do it.

I have tons of Fall stuff over at the storage units that I might not find or unpack till months down the road, so these few little things will have to do for now. Decorating here at the lease house is slim pickins, as we will probably be moving by the end of the month. This little house is filled with boxes and odds and ends from the "clean out" of our old house, so just a taste of Fall will have to do.

This little paper mache squirrel was a gift from my younger daughter several years ago, and he always has a place of importance. This year he took up residence in one of my Pottery Barn lanterns here on the old trunk, that we've been using as a coffee table.

The base "tree trunk" is really a little box and the squirrel is the lid.

This is one of my wonderful Pumpkins that I bought from Becky at Timewashed, last year. She's in full Fall mode, so check out all her creations HERE. If you want something special, just let her know. She sells out before she can get them listed.

I made these late summer sunflower bouquets a few years ago for my antique mall space, and saved a few for myself. The urn is from Pottery Barn a few years ago, and it's one of my favorite decor pieces. This was last year...

Here it is from a few years ago...

...and my favorite version from 2012.

No dried hydrangeas or pumpkins yet,

 just a scraggly ivy that's managed to hang on.

I'll check back with you on a house update. I've been tearing my hair out over the right paint color. Seems that Ben Moore Smokey Taupe changes throughout the day due to lighting. The old paint that was pinky/sandy/fleshy/salmon has been driving me crazy cause it reflects on my new paint. I cannot get that suff covered up fast enough! It's taken a few sessions of my husband talking me down from the ledge to finally get it settled. See that sofa in the background? Somehow it wants to read as dark khaki/green at the new place...just a few of the issues with paint.

more to come, soon.

the new house saga continues...

joining in at these parties:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 

Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique

xoxo,

Looking back, toward Thanksgiving

Boy, am I thankful for that extra hour today...I've been trying to play catch-up since getting back from St. Louis, and I'm behind on almost everything. So today I thought I'd just share a few pics from year's past Thanksgivings. It's such a short season, that sometimes I don't get a lot of photos of how things transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving, and then on into Christmas.

Planting Paperwhites, which is a tradition I've had for the last 8 years or so.

(remember, you can click on the image for it to become much bigger)

Setting up a small tree in the Dining Room right after Halloween, which then became known as my Autumn Tree. Filled with woodland creatures, owls and berries, I think I love it as much as a Christmas Tree.

 My urn on the Living Room table went from Pumpkin

 to multicolored dried Hydrangeas and preserved leaves.

A shot of my Hall Sideboard for Thanksgiving

and a few of the Entry and another small tree in the Living Room.

And last year's Dining Room table with some paperwhites

 in an ironstone tureen on simple white burlap.

I've mentioned before how this blog has really been a virtual diary of my seasonal decor.  I'm working on a vintage Thanksgiving tablescape that has been really fun putting together. I love the colors of this Thanksgiving Season... bringing in the jeweled tones of Autumn, with just a hint of Christmas to come.

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday.

I'll see you tomorrow for 

If you have an Etsy Shop or Online Boutique

please come link up some of your items currently For Sale

then stay to have some shopping fun!

joining in on these great parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

A Stroll Thru Life

Coastal Charm

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farm

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,