Quiet Time

I Heart Ellen

I am not sure if I have professed my love for Ellen DeGeneres on here or not. If not, let me just tell you that I do in fact LOVE Ellen. When I worked from home I would try to do paperwork/billing (ugh) when she was on so it was not as tedious. Then when I moved in to my office Ellen was what I would watch on DVR when I came home to unwind. Now, with Henry, Ellen has kept me company during those middle of the night feedings when you are pretty sure you are the only soul on earth awake. She is a great cure for loneliness.

However, this post is not an ad for the Ellen DeGeneres show. I was so excited when I heard her house was going to be in Architectural Digest and it did not disappoint. I am not sure exactly what I expected but I love what I saw....



Images Architectural Digest

10 Things to Do to Cozy up your House for Fall

When the seasons change, I get a little excited (ok, sometimes a lot excited) & have the urge to bring that feeling into my home.  I think most of us who really love our homes do.   And if you think about it, when we're little kids, we pretty much start doing this right away in preschool.  Every year I remember doing crafts with leaves in the fall and making cheesy things out of pinecones at Christmastime & so on. 

{image via http://spaceforinspiration.blogspot.com%7d/

 This year has been particularly crazy for our family with work & time (& the lack of it) and I haven't gotten the chance to really do much around the house, so I thought a little refresher list of 10 easy things to do might get me in gear to make some small changes around the house for Fall.  

{a tree in our neighborhood, last year}

So here they are:
1.  Switch out throw pillows to ones with warmer tones & cozier-feeling materials

{Image via pinterest & I couldn't find the original cource}

2. Add more throw blankets around the house or switch out existing summer throws to thicker, cozier ones.  I really love my faux fur throws, especially for napping and bringing outside onto the back patio at night. 

{image from homedecorators.com}

3. Even if you don't have time to bake, you can fake that Heavenly smell with candles and/or diffusers.  I have pumpkin pie-scented candles & diffusers all over the house (and vanilla cake too!) and I want to eat them!!!

{image from Country Living}

4.  Have healthy seasonal food around for the munching.  (so you don't eat your candles}  Bowls of walnuts or apples in the family room and/ or kitchen invite everyone to enjoy seasonal goodies.  I'm always more likely to eat something when it's within reaching distance.

{my vintage peanut stocked with almonds}

{little bowl of walnuts}

5.  Art & Accessories:  There are certain places in my house where I'll switch paintings around or swap out accessories.  The mantle is one of the easiest places to do this because you can just prop artwork & don't have to put holes in the walls. 

{our mantle for Fall}

Bookshelves are another good place for this.  Before I had two kids, I used to really rearrange our books by color seasonally. 

{Some of my old "fall"-colored books...  My English teacher husband doesn't approve of my seasonal genres.}

(I know it sounds like I must have been on crack, but I really kind of miss the book rearranging. ) In the Fall, I'd make the orange & browns & golden books stand out more by placing them most prominently and in the Spring & Summer, I'd pull out the blues & aquas.  Now I'm lucky if the books are even on the shelves. 

{our super-crammed living room bookshelf...  not much rearranging happening here these days...  I've now realized that by the time I have the time to do that again, I'll probably be missing my kids.}

 

6.  Bring in leaves & branches from your yard.  (or your neighbors' yards! ;) ;) hee hee.  I found these cool orange-needled branches last Fall:  (I told you I hadn't gotten much done this year ;)  I love going on walks with the family & collecting things from outside.

7.  Pumkins & gourds:  They usually last a really long time & I pretty much always have pumpkins & gourds leftover from Halloween on the Thanksgiving table.  Piling them on your porch and around the house makes it really feel like Fall.  Kids love them too.

{Last year's Thanksgiving Table}

8.  Have fires when you can.  With a toddler in our house, our fires are a little few & far between but when we do have them, I'm in Heaven.  It just seems to lead to good family hang-out time.  On Fall nights, we love doing fires outside & roasting marshmallows.

{mmm mmm I loooooove s'mores!!}

 

9. Bedding:  In the Fall we add extra blankets to our bed including a down comforter & a throw blanket for napping at the foot of the bed.  It's been a fairly warm Fall so I do end up kicking them off a lot of the time at night.. maybe I made the switch too early this year?? 

{I love the faux fur blanket on Tia Zoldan's bed in this pic}

10. And finally... (you know I'd have to include some real eating in here)- Soup!  We try to make weekly batches of soup or pasta sauce in the Fall & Winter.  It feels so good on a cool day to be warm & toasty inside eating soup.  My mom makes an amazing pumpkin curry soup in the Fall:

{I'll have to get the actual recipe from my mom but the amazing-looking pumpkin soup pictured above is from Sweet Peas Kitchen and you can view the recipe here:  http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/09/16/harvest-pumpkin-soup/ }

Anyway, would love to hear about the changes you've been making in your house for Fall.  I'll keep you posted on my progress!!




If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

A Fabulous Gift-From Some Fabulous Bloggers

This is one happy baby. Why is he so jovial you might ask? I believe it has something to do with the amazing blanket beneath him. Last week I got a package in the mail from three bloggers I am lucky enough to call good friends- Camila, Lauren and Lindsay. I wish you could have seen my delight when pulled out this blanket...

I turned to Patrick and said, "Isn't this gorgeous? I swear it looks hand blocked!" Little did I know the story behind it. Turns out, the middle layer and edging are hand block printed with natural dyes. Camila informed me it was from a company Mela & Roam started by Courtney Barton, author of Inside the Loop, one of the first blogs I ever read.

These blankets are amazing but so are the one of the kind vintage textiles found while on her travels...Definitely worth taking a look at Mela & Roam. Thank you friends for such a perfect gift!

Sneakity Peek- Vignette

(ignore me in the mirror ;)

Here's a little pic from an install we did this summer...  I'll be sure to take better pics when the artwork is installed in the next couple of weeks but I thought this little {unstyled} vignette sums up the style of the rooms pretty well.  These particular clients have been a dreeeeeeam to work with and the results are very personal & comfortable & natural with the teensiest hint of a modern edge.  I want to go hang there and am slightly obsessed with the soft, comfy braided jute rugs we used.  :)

The dining room is beyond the living room and you can spy a bit of the green grasscloth on the walls. 

 

**update**  I've received lots of emails about the jute rugs.  We had these custom bound and the jute itself is from Stark Carpet.  Thanks!! :)

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Multiple Room Inspiration

Quiet Time

I was going through some old e-mail and this was in one, thought I would share. Have a wonderful Sunday.

• Your outer life is your reputation with people, but your inner life is your reputation with God.
• Thankfulness depends on what is in your heart, not what is in your hand.