Thanksgiving Table

I wanted to share with you a Thanksgiving Table centerpiece & Post I did last year at my mom's house. (11/25/08!) I'd just started blogging and I had so much fun setting a pretend table.. How odd it seemed at the time but now it seems totally normal!! Just ignore the lack of silverware & napkins for my imaginary guests! ;)

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The items used are all flea-market finds from a trip I recently took to Strasburg, Virginia. I started with a simple oat-colored linen runner and put the large white pillar candle holder in the center. (Only $2!)





Then I layered ouwards symmetrically with the pair of smaller milk glass urns & topped them off with pumpkins ($10 for the pair!)




I tucked in a second, larger milk glass urn with a squash in it to informally balance the small milk glass candleholder on the opposite side. (When dealing with thrift-store flea market finds, since it's often hard to come by pairs, you get to have a lot of fun with mismatched pairs & informal balance.)



At the end of the arrangement, I used 2 busts of a little boy and girl. I debated over buying them & am now so glad I went for them. At only $8 for the pair and now seeing how quirky they look on the table, I don't know why I wasn't crazy over them from the beginning! (I love weird little objects :)



And finally, I added this little tree made out of amber that my mom & stepdad found on a trip to Lithuania. It's like a little gemstone bouquet. It looks good no matter where you put it.




I think my mom's wedding china looks perfect with such a simple arrangement. The room's crewel draperies, stained-glass window & bold-patterned rug made me want to do a really simple table setting.




Here's a close-up of the large urn with the squash in it. I thought it was a pretty picture. :)




Here you can see my mom's cabinet full of crystal. It's got some beautiful pieces given to her by my grandfather & also an amazing vintage cut crystal collection handed down to her from my stepdad's family. She's never had it displayed before & recently purchased the cabinet & was finally able to enjoy it!




Anyway, I'm off to pack for our trip to visit my dad for Thanksgiving! If I'm able to, I'll post some pictures of our table there! (His kitchen is finally in & I cannot wait to see it!!!)
Here's one last picture & have a very happy & beautiful Thanksgiving!!! Keep it simple & have fun!! xoxo







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Hope you enjoyed the little trip down memory lane! Thanksgiving will be at my mom's house this year & I'm already getting excited for my grandmother's homemade noodles!!! mmmm mmm mm!!!
xoxo,
lauren

It's Those Little Changes...

It's those little seasonal changes that make me so happy. (Like the huge pumpkin on our server, above.) I'm being super-quick today since Dave's got the day off for Columbus Day but wanted to share just a few pics with you. Clearing out part of our woods this weekend, I brought these branches from a now-deceased-bush into our kitchen. (I put them in a pilsner glass- one of my favorites for branches & tall flowers!) I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to see all that green as I look in the kitchen or out of it. I wish it could stay alive forever!!



It's exactly how I want my house to feel:



A new friend brought me over some beautiful green spider mums (one of my new favorites, thanks so my bright green sofa!) and I popped one in a vintage glass bottle I got last weekend for $1. You can also spy my new server in the dining room in the reflection of the mirror:




I found it at (where else?!) Lucketts for $165. It's the perfect size - 6 feet wide by 18 inches deep & I now have so much room for china & linens. It's a Japanese piece from the late 1800s to 1910 and was at the shop for 20 minutes before I snagged it. The clerk kept doublechecking the price tag because she couldn't believe it either. I LOVE all the storage!!! (means I can keep collecting!! hee hee)





We didn't have to do a thing to it. I was a little nervous at the store but when I got it home, its straight clean lines and the finish & size were perfect. It's the exact same width as my window, which was what I needed:

I love having a surface in the dining room now for candles, my moss bass urn, other revolving pretty things and to serve food! Righn now things have just sort of been tossed up there with no real thought but I'm still happy with the look...

Anyway, have a happy Columbus Day!!!! What changes have you been making to your home lately?

xoxoxo,

lauren

Switching Life over for Fall

As most of you probably know by now, I love to switch around my house, especially seasonally. It's for this reason that I need a fairly neutral "base" for my house so that I can change colors & moods on a whim. To some, rearranging seasonally may sound like something only crazy people with "too much time on their hands" do, but to others (and I know a lot of you are as design-obsessed as me) it's just what you do and it makes you happy. It's an awesome creative outlet that doesn't cost a lot of money and keeps your home feeling fresh. (images above & below from martha stewart.com)

Anyway, right now I'm in the mood for Fall!! And there are lot of different type of "Fall," but this year I'm in the mood for a darker, moodier, super-cozy Fall. (I think it's supposed to be cold this year!!)

1. Switch out accent pillows: Think warmer colors: golds, oranges, browns, warm beiges but even plums & mossy greens work well right now. Use whatever feels "Fall" to you. You might even want to use more pillows than usualy to get that "cozy" & layered feel.

I'm loving these leather pillows from Restoration Hardware:

2. Get a throw blanket on every surface you're likely to "nest." In my own house, I love to curl up. I pretty much always wrap a blanket around myself & have my feet up somehow: elevanted or tucked under me but rarely on the ground. (I'm one of those odd people that often sits Indian- style in the passenger seat of the car.) But, in the Fall, I bring out even more throws. One for the sofa... and one for a chair... the bedroom... a couple in the family room. I just want everyone to be able to get cozy quickly. I keep a basket in the living room for fluffy faux fur blankets. (image via doseofdesign.blogspot.com)

3. Get your fireplace ready. If you had anything in it for the off-season like stacks of wood or a fern, pull in out & have it waiting. Call a chimney sweep if need be so you don't get that smokey smell.

4. Reaccessorize around your mantle, tabletops and surfaces. Think aged brass, wamer woods, and things with a sense of age: vintage finds, antiques, cracked finishes, etc. (imgae from Monique Keegan's House in CL)

5. In bookshelves, showcase richer-feeling books & accessories. (image from Country Home)

6. If you have any "loose artwork" (like something just propped on the mantle versus nailed in) switch it out with artwork that makes you think of Fall. Rich colors & subjects that warm up the space. ( my mom's mantle below)

7. Put more candles around & have some at the ready. (I really love Yankee Candle's huge jar "pumkin pie" candle but it's really not pretty so I store it under a cabinet & pull it out only when in use.) But, If you've got some pretty hurricanes or pillar candles, put them around where you'll be likely to use them. And think smell too. Pumkin & vanilla & hazlenut in the Fall are just amazing and how wonderful is it to walk into a home with those smells?!

8. Bring in some pumpkins & gourds!! I think they're beautiful anywhere you can get them. Piled on a table, mantle or even next to the fireplace. (Oh and don't forget in an urn!! image below from Country Living)

9. Add or switch out rugs. Replace cotton ones with wool rugs, add a rug where the floor was bare.. just warm it up a bit. (image below from Monique Keegan's - a FAVOROTE!!- in CL)

10. Go for walks & pick up what's around you and enjoy the brisk weather. Christian loves collecting acorns & pinecones. A little dish of acorns or a bowl of pimecones is just so pretty. Greenery is also always perfect for bringing in. I've been bringing in lots of weeds from outside lately & am loving how long they live!! (image from flicker)

11. Spruce up your outdoor entry. Mums & pumkins, gourds & ornamental cabbages really make guests feel welcome. (And will make you so happy when you come home!)

11. Have some treats ready. I LOVE having a bowl of walnuts on the table in the Fall. The nut cracker should be waiting in it so people can dig in at any time.

Bowls of apples or pears are beautiful & healthy too!

12. We love doing a weekly soup. Most Sundays or Mondays I end up making a soup and we can eat it for lunches or dinners throughout the week. It's just so comforting & delicious to have around!! (My in-laws visited this weekend & my mother-in-law left us homemade split-pea soup- yum!!!) image below from peandhamsouprecipe.com.... I'm TOTALLY making grilled cheese & microwaving up some soup for lunch today!!

13. Get your coat closet & entry ready. Get out your scarves & gloves & heavier coats. Use baskets or boxes for organzing. Have a spot near the front door for wet boots & shoes and maybe a basket for loose scarves. Hooks are great too if you've got a spot.

14. Have good music at the ready. Cooking & hanging out & relaxing at home can be more fun with good music. I'm definitely in the mood for different music in the fall than in the summer... My favorite right now is Mr.Pitiful by Matt Costa: http://www.mattcosta.com/music (If you haven't heard it, you'll LOVE it... I promise... kind of a modern Beatles vibe)

15. Have good a book & some magazines at the ready. (These days that might entail having your computer with you- how awesome is Lonny?!!)

I'll be doing some more specific posts in "Fall decorating" as the season continues. Would love to hear what you do to cozy up for Fall so I can include it!!!

xoxo,

lauren

I Hear the Crows!!! : Fall Houses & Inspiration

This morning when I woke up, my bedroom window was open & it was dark & dreary outside & I could hear the crows cawing. THIS is Fall to me. I love the dark days as much as the bright crisp & brisk ones. Fall just wakes up something inside of me & I love it!!!


I thought I'd share a bunch of my favorite "Fall" images with you... And the list is long. (I have more but got tired of scanning.) These are homes & spaces that remind me of Fall whether they're fall-related or not. Sometimes it's just a simple pumkin on a table... but that's enough to do it for me. The dining room below (and image above) is from Oct's Country Living & the mix of vintage chairs is perfectly eclectic.

I can't remember where this pic below came from but I just love the drop-leaf table as a console...All of the warm wood tones remind me of Fall...

This Country Living (I think??) dining room below would be perfect for a Fall lunch!! Love that torn-down wallpaper aged look.

Below, Annie Selke's home is full of oranges.

Below, so cozy:

The CL dining room below would be beautiful in any season but the warmth of it feels liek Fall to me...

The bedroom in the same home... how amazing is that brick wall?!!

I've always been crazy over this Pottery Barn bedroom below... I just love that cuckoo look on the walls!!

A perfect Fall entry... This makes me want to line the entire sidewalk up to our house in pumkins & gourds: (And then I'd have to put a sign out for highschoolers saying "You touch, you die.")

More from Martha Stewart:

How simple & pretty?!!! Urns with potted mums are elegant & festive:

This space (CL) has the feel mixed with some metallic glam:

Ohhhhhh (martha) How perfect is this spread?? Some wine & cheese & apples anyone??

Even with all the crisp white , i still feel "Fall" in here: (CL)

Such perfect age !! (martha's house)

I ALWAYS think of this house when I think of Fall. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dining room!!!! WOW I just can't get over all the mirrors & the chandlier and the pumkin in the urn on the round table... (So doing that this year)

And just had to share her bedroom. (The owner is Kirby Ellis) ... how beautiful is this antique mirror as a headboard? She's got such a feminine, over-the-top yet still simple style in here.. LOVE it!!

The next series of images is from another favorite "Fall House" of mine. It was featured in Country Living and belongs to Monique Keegan. I've shown it before but must show again... Gorgeous soapstone coffee table:

Here's the study:

LOVE: PERFECTION: Just so warm & collected. Her use of industrial pieces is awesome...

She uses lots of vintage medical equipment throughout the house. Love the charts below. (FOund some at Lucketts a while back but -even there- couldn't get over the price!!!)

And here's the outside.. Is that a perfect Halloween house or what?!!! The parties I would have!!!!

I know they've got tulips in the (House Beautiful) living room below but the room itself feels very Fall to me... Picture some branches instead....

Such a simple Fall tablesetting (martha):

More from Country Living.. How inviting is that green chair with the orange throw?

I'm CRAZY over this photo below.... I want that. enough said...

A smashed-full book shelf from Country Home is so warm & cozy for Fall... Just pick a book & sit down by the fire!!!! (Oh what heaven!!!)

Another Country Home... I love the look of using red & orange leaves for arrangements...

Oh, and we can't forget how good soup tastes in the Fall.... (CL)\

This pic below makes me happy (CL)... It's a lake in Wisconsin and reminds me so much of my dad's lake in Antioch...

And hay rides!!!! I can't wait to take Christian on his first one this year!!!!!

This (CL) house before is light & airy (it's the same house with that touch of glam from above) but you can see how all the autumnal accents just work:

COZY FIRE:

Great chair fabric:

See how easy it is??? They just plunked some pumpkins and a vase of leaves from the yard down.... It's so simple & I love the price!!!

Another awesome orange space (below) in Annie Selke's home... WOW

How great is this orange tub??? Not sure I'd want it all year-round but you can always paint over it!!!! So much fun.. I take that back.. maybe in a kids' bath...

A cozy stuffed table setting.. just so cheerful:

Just LOVE the arrangement below (martha)... Again that round table & antique Chinese urn are what do it for me.. Piled with books?!!!! perfect!!!!! Just putting out thigns with lots of age & character in the Fall can really warm up your home...

And finally, one last pic of a "murder" of crows from here. So spooky & I just love crows.. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but I can call the crows. No joke. Yes, I did it in high school (hahahah I was/ still am weird!!!) one day and so many came in the courtyard that girls got freaked out & ran inside... Another time I did it in the summer while lifegaurding and they started going to the bathroom all over the guests at the pool and the ladies yelled at me to stop! I don't know when it started (at a really young age) but it's actually very easy to caw just like a crow & they really do start coming from all directions to you. It's crazy. Ok, please come back to my blog & don't be scared.

hahahaha xoxo,

lauren