I am rich today with autumn's gold,
All the my covetous hands can hold ...
Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!
~ Gladys Harp ~
Happy October everyone! Autumn is my favorite season, I always feel more lively this time of year. The earthy, somber tones are really my style in fashion and home decor. I can look at an all white room and find it pretty and find a pastel Easter egg colored room cute and fun, but I feel most at home in autumn-toned rooms. They just feel so cozy and when you live in area that winter begins in October and lasts until May, cozy is what you need! So along with battening down the hatches on the outside of the house, I've been attending to lots of housekeeping tasks inside too. Like cleaning, pressing and hanging the heavy insulated draperies. What a job! Washing all the wool blankets. I just wash them as I would anything else. If the shrink, so be it, they'll be extra warm! Also aired out all the down blankets and now they are ready for service, folded at the end of the bed. One of the best things about winter is to climb into a bed piled sky high with down comforters, wool blankets and flannel sheets. If you have a cup of hot cocoa, a cookie or two (or maybe a slice of pie) and a good book on the nightstand, well, that is heaven in my book! Above are pictures of some of my fall preparations (I couldn't get them to show below my written post!). Just simple little things like putting some pumpkins in the cubbys of my "office", bringing in some branches from a corkscrew willow and arranging them in a crock, throwing an old shawl bought for a quarter over an old chair (bought for five dollars) and placing a handmade sampler on the mantle. Who says decorating has to cost money?
Hi Jane, everything looks so homey and cozy! I love the chair and fireplace mantle. I can't wait to take out our warm winter blankets and pajamas. I really enjoy that too! I have never lived in a place that gets as cold as your area though. The one year we were in Switzerland it was really cold, and that is the first and only time I've ever lived somewhere with snow.
ReplyDeleteWe were so unprepared for the cold because we left in April and only had three weeks to close up our little house and go. The apartment was furnished with the basic of basics and we were only able to ship our clothes, and a few odds and ends. Tony is a scientist for an aerospace company and was chosen to work on a project in conjunction with a Swiss airplane company. It was quite an adventure, and it was the first and only time either of us have traveled outside the U.S. It was also the first time I ever saw snow fall from the sky.
I was in our apartment which was right along the Rhine river and I was talking to Tony on the cellphone. Looking out, through the sliding glass door of my balcony, I thought I saw what appeared to be a huge swarm of moths surrounding the building, which wasn't unusual being that we lived by a river and a huge forest..
Then it was like they were suddenly everywhere! The Great Swiss Moth Invasion! When I told Tony there was this silence on the end of the line..."Honey," he cleared his throat, "They are not moths, it's snowing!". He has never let me forget it either. I can't believe how ditzy it sounds, but that is how a California girl who never saw snow reasoned out the problem! :)
Last year I got a really wonderful blanket from Target, it is a double thick plush fleece with a border of satin. I love blankets with satin borders, they are getting hard to find. I really try and take extra special care of my linens now. The styles and colors change so much, it often becomes hard to find the things I like, or the quality changes as name brands you once trusted are taken over by other manufacturers.
Thanks for the tour Jane, it really is beautiful and just perfect. Have a cozy evening ahead and Happy Autumn! Delisa :)
I love your big crock filled with fall splendor! I have applebutter in the crock pot and my house is smelling so autumn-y. My favorite time of the year. I love the "We gather together" framed art.
ReplyDeleteBlessings of the season!
Pamela
All of your fall decorations are wonderful!! I agree with you about the fall colors, so warm and cozy. I love your office cubbies, what a great piece of furniture. I can totally picture cozying up with a book in the chair next to the fireplace. Love the decor on the mantle, I am curious what the metal bowls are, I love the way they look hanging above the fireplace. Such a wonderful time of year! ~April
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful home you have! What a blessing to be able to light a nice fire in your chimney :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting us into your lovely and warm abode.
Maria
Hi Delisa! How fortunate you were to have the opportunity to travel to Europe. The only opportunity I ever had was when Ran's company offered to send both of us to Belgium for a month to look into a new company they were starting. Rand turned them down because he said he'd have to much work waiting for him when he came back! Did I mention he's a workaholic? I love snow. The first snowfall turns me into a five year old. I know what you mean about the satin binding on the blankets. I have several older ones like that. They remind me of childhood. I've even replaced the binding on some of the blankets. Did you know that you can buy it in the notions department? Now you have me thinking it would be fun to put a contrasting one on some of the newer blankets. Maybe some snazzy color combo. Thanks for giving me an idea Delisa!
ReplyDeleteHi Pamela! I bet it smells wonderful at your place. I just finished the We Gather Together sampler. I had to wait to frame it until I found a frame the right size, which I eventually found at a thrift store. It was perfect, like it was meant to be!
ReplyDeleteHi April! That's an old post office from a general store. It still has some of the old lettering on it. I just love it. The metal bowls are pewter porringers. I love colonial things. Apparently, I'm the only one because whenever I go to estate sales or auctions I'm the only one buying them. I usually get them for less than a dollar!
Thank you Maria! I wish that I could invite you into my actual home. I would love to offer you a cup of tea and have a good talk. I find your blog so honest and inspiring!
Your room looks so wonderful and cozy! I enjoy looking at all white rooms with white furniture, but at the end of the day ~ give me color! Our home is mostly dark woods, which we love. Although I'm not a big fan of Autumn colors I do enjoy the season, but miss the real Autumn's of my childhood up north. Down south, it's pretty mild through November and then heats up again in April.
ReplyDeleteI love climbing into bed in the evenings after a warm bath with a good book ~ sheer heaven!!
Thank you for sharing photos of your beautiful cottage ~
Hi Rosebud! Yeah those all white rooms are pretty, but I guess I'm just too much of slob for them, because I never feel I can actually be myself in them. I always feel I have to sit on the edge of the furniture and not touch anything. What is it about reading in bed? It seems like an extra special treat when you're in a nice cozy nest of blankets and pillows!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll stop by for a cup of cocoa and a visit by your hearth. Then maybe you can show me the rest of your wonderful cottage. It all looks so warm and inviting. Wonder if I could cottage-up this 1980's townhome. Maybe that will be my new look.
ReplyDeleteIn your first blog awhile back you mentioned putting up some flannel curtains for the warmth for winter - and I did that on our little 3 season porch. I loved it and will bring those out again this fall. Now I need to be on the look out for wonderful wool blankets for the beds.
Happy Fall, Jane!
Well Sandy, you're welcome to stop by anytime and I'll make you the most decadent cup of cocoa you have ever tasted!And some nice little pastries called butterhorns too. I love little cottages. When all of my friends were ohhing and ahhhing over the castles in Cinderella and Snow white storybooks, I was studying the illustrations of the cottages! I'm glad you enjoyed your curtains. They really help keep out the cold don't they? Don't forget the flannel sheets too! Ahh! I can't wait for the cold weather!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. My home is most comfortable in autumnal colors and textures. I love what you've done!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Debbie
I'm a fall kind of person, too. Your home looks so warm and inviting.
ReplyDeletedear jane
ReplyDeletewow!!!!your home is absolutley cosy. i love all the sweet decoration. i wish i had so pretty oil-lamps.
i wish you a wonderful warm and cosy weekend,
love regina
Thanks Debbie, Shara and Regina! As you can see, no one needs to be afraid to sit on my furniture. Just found the perfect fabric to reupholster that chair. So that will be my next project.Although I really love that old wool shawl. But it has lots of moth holes, hence the quarter price tag, so it takes a lot of creative draping!
ReplyDeleteHi Jane! I hope you are having a fun Saturday night. Barkley is pretty funny with those stuffed animals. Everyone who comes to visit usually brings him one as a present and he never tears them up, that is why he has such a large collection! :)
ReplyDeleteThen if they do by some chance, get a little rip or tear, my mother-in-law takes them upstairs to her room; also known as the "stuffed animal hospital", where she sews them back up! :)
We typically give him human toys that do not have the "hard eyes". They are made much better than the animal toys and are usually bigger and less expensive. He still has his little lamb that I got him the first day we brought him home when he was just 10 weeks old!
Have a nice weekend and pet little George for me! Delisa :)
Hi Delisa! Isn't it funny how people always bring presents for the dogs? My son just called and told me he bought a new toy for Georgie. I'm afraid it's quite scandalous how he cares for his "babies". He believes it is his mission in life to tear them apart and see what's inside. Especially if they have a squeaker. He's quite proud of it too. The little devil!
ReplyDeleteDear Jane,
ReplyDeleteI love your autumn decorations; so cozy and nice beside the fire. And I love your fire! I'm praying that our new place (wherever it is) has a wood stove or fireplace,too~ so much nicer than gas or electric heat.
It is rather nice having blankets on the bed again, after sleeping with only a sheet all the hot summer long.
Love,
Marqueta
Afternoon Marqueta! I hope you get your fireplace or woodstove too. I'd really love to have a good old fashioned wood cookstove, but there's no place to put one in this house. Oh well! You can't have everything. It is wonderful indeed to snuggle under blankets again. Afraid the heat made me rather cranky this summer!
ReplyDeleteHi Jane,
ReplyDeleteyour home looks wonderfully inviting and cosy for Autumn!
I would be quite happy to sit by your fireside in that lovely old chair and read to my heart's content :-)
I so agree with you too - decorating does not have to cost much money at all.
It's the lovely personal touches that give a home it's warm character.
Yours is a blessing to see!
Have a great day..Trish
Hi Lily-Rose! I'd be quite happy to have you come and sit by my fire too! I enjoyed visiting your blog very much. I think it's much more fun and certainly more creative to furnish a house on a shoestring budget. Don't know where I'd even begin if I had an unlimited budget and could choose from anything.
ReplyDelete