A Few Autumn Touches in Our Home
This weekend we opened our home for the Junior League of Cincinnati's annual Tour of Kitchens, which in our case became a tour of the entire downstairs. I couldn't believe how many people attended (around 250, I believe). And how much food was provided by the caterers. I wasn't sure how it all would fit into our small(ish) home, but everything did and when they left there wasn't a trace anyone had even been here. I went on the tour with a few friends so I was only in our house for a small portion of the event. It was a bit like being a fly on the wall listening to people talk and comment on your home. "it's so cozy" "how does she keep her shelves that organized?" "maybe she doesn't cook that much." "it smells so good." I had a few chuckles for sure. Here are a few pictures I snapped. And yes, I'm well aware the time for fall home tours in blogging has long since passed. Never really have my act together like those gals...
^^I wanted to recreate this table arrangement, but a lot of my pumpkins had started to get moldy, or were eaten by squirrels, so it ended up a bit more colorful than planned. This was taken before the home tour hoopla started. I'd love to do something similar for Thanksgiving dinner this year but I'm afraid all the pumpkins have vanished from the stores in these parts and Christmas is in full swing.^^
^^I love orange and red berries and flowers in pewter.^^
^^Lots of winterberry in my house at the moment. I suppose red berries might be a bit more December-ish, but I like them in November too and buy them as soon, and for as long, as I can find them. ^^
^^ I love wild and unruly greens on a accent or coffee table, especially when placed in an antique pitcher. I left a copy of the magazine article out too - might as well milk my 15 minutes of fame for as long as I can. Ha. :) ^^
^^My boys picked pine cones from neighbors yards to fill in the bottom of the hurricanes. I like how the added texture and brown color mixed with all the pumpkins and they worked beautifully alongside my antique barley twist candle holders (a gift from my parents after a fall trip to Cape Cod many years ago.) This is how the candles look after burning for about 7 hours. My absolute favorite sources for candles (and I'm picky) are IKEA (the white, non-scented kind) and Everyday Occasions, they burn nicely and for so long.^^
^^ Every fall my nesting instincts go into over drive and all sorts of projects I've put off for ages start getting checked off the list. An impending home tour also expedites decorating projects! I recently had seat slips made for our dining chairs and I LOVE them!. I used an indoor/outdoor fabric from Lewis and Sheron that is no longer on their website. Ugh. Has the look of an oatmeal linen. Try Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware for similar options.^^
^^ The little wooden stool is a new addition that keeps moving around. A fun little find from my favorite antique store, City Mouse Country Mouse. Another new addition are the large seagrass rugs in the dining room and living room. They were purchased from Overstock. Our old wool one was just too small and potential wool replacements (that I like) are just not in the budget right now. So far, so good with the seagrass. It has dark gray banding that matches the gray banding along the bottom of our wingback chairs.^^
^^All our woolen throw blankets are back out, just in time for the arrival of the Polar Vortex! :) Unfortunately, the etsy shop where I bought these last year no longer carries them.^^
^^ Flowers were arranged in a vase and then placed in the silver bowl, I hid the vase with fresh apples. "Oh look, those apples are real!" (another comment I heard a couple times. Haha.)^^
Hope to be back soon with some of my favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes!