Category: fall

Placing the Seasonal Decorating Accent Mark on Fall

Welcome to the Places In The Home first day of fall home is where the fall is feature.  My for the fall of it all decorating is not what I would categorize as a traditional fall home tour, per se however, I do love placing the seasonal decorating accent mark on fall with set spot arrangements and seasonal accessories here, there and about.

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Fall flower arrangement inspiration came in the form of neutral colors and natural elements.

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I pulled decorative things together from spaces, bookshelf displays, Hopefully Classic Antiques and Interiors inventory, tabletop favorites, ghosts of preserved floral stems past and nature’s arts and crafts store.

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A late summer experiment with drying hydrangeas proved successful enough to fulfill my fall and holiday decorating needs.

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I bought this framed print at auction.  This particular antiques auction was held off the beaten path in the piney woods of North Louisiana.  The smalls at this hit the jackpot auction ranged from spectacular to premier, and the prices were equally fantastic.

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I chalked it up to coincidence, but it seemed the auctions held in the fall brought forth the best finds.  I was like a kid in a big old country barn candy store with a cup of hot chocolate in one hand (it gets cold in the piney woods) and a bid card in the other.

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Good deals.

Good times.

Great memories.

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Fall weekends offer up a snapshot, a glimpse from the past of those Saturday nights spent at the auction.  The framed print reminds me of a not quite, but almost fall stroll through those piney woods.

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Apples, walnuts and cinnamon.

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It’s how I roll.

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Hotel china demitasse cups are both a passion and a weakness of mine.

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The price wasn’t exactly right for the set, but the I have to have these part of my brain convinced the a better deal is out there part of my brain that this was the last set of hotel china demitasse cups on the planet, and if I did not immediately buy them right then and there the treasure hunting gods would forever rain down it’s full price for you wrath on all future treasure hunts and finds.  Retail logic was alive and well.

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Layering the look with gold tones and warm textures seems naturally autumn appropriate.

dried-hydrangea

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”   

Jim Bishop

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Welcome home, fall.

Love your style!

Autumn Accessorizing For Home and Hearth

It is amazing how quick my autumn accessorizing for home and hearth files  fills up with images.

The save image as option on my devices sees its share of action.

I utilize the weekends for blog housekeeping, deleting images, updating fonts and the like- too much to see, source and save during the week.

In my latest save or delete session, I ran across this picture Dave the Builder snapped last year of our local garden district bayou in full fall glory.

Gorgeous, n’est–ce pas?  

Funny how an image or a subject in that image alerts the senses and inspires ideas for autumn accessorizing for home and hearth.

bayou-colors-fix

This colors on parade color palette touches upon seasonal shades traditionally associated with autumn’s color wheel and nature’s neutrals.

Seasonal updating through tones, textures and palettes inspired by nature translate well to seasonal home decor accessories.

Decorative dining and entertaining pieces, throws, pillows, lamps, rugs, and spot furnishings are the mainstay of seasonal go-to accents.

Fall is the season for the senses, and throw pillows instantly introduce the all important cozy pop of color, warmth, tone and texture while keeping seasonal updating costs in check.

autumn accessorizing

A rule of thumb I follow when selecting seasonal accessories, especially throw pillows, is to go with a smart and stylish choice of color (go ahead, try a new-traditional color!), pattern. and texture that picks up the warm and cozy feeling associated with the season while blurring the hard line of strictly a fall or winter accessory.

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Timpani Drum Solid Copper Chandelier Fixture, France, circa 1900

Copper crush meets federal meets farmhouse gotta have it.

Warm metals continue to be hot on the what’s on trend for the season radar.

Speaking of copper and warm metals…

apple-cakeApples, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, Louisiana pecans- oh yeah, they’re in there! 

Our son snapped this image over this past Labor Day weekend while visiting Riding Mountain National Park.

The pair of bison caught his eye, and the white birch trees caught mine.

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I am a wee bit envious of those of you who are fortunate enough to live in the land of four seasons, white pumpkins and white birch trees.

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White birch logs make a lovely decorative fall accent for home and hearth.

Round Two-Tone Wicker Storage Basket and Planter on Wheels By KOUBOO

The concept of seasonal updating is nothing new.

When the seasons change, decoristas naturally become inspired to add to and/or take away from the look of the last season and breathe a bit of fall fresh air into their decor with current home decor accessories of the new season.

I believe a space, like a good red wine, must be afforded the opportunity to breathe.

Uncork a more expressive look by releasing aged accessories, stale color(s) and settled for furnishings with selective seasonal edits.

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Huldah Club Chair

I find that in most cases when a phenomenal investment home decor accessory or home furnishings piece appeals to the personal style and taste side of my brain in one season, it typically continues to hold my attention through to the next season(s).

Usher in a new season with a new look with this in mind- warmth, comfortable luxury and coziness remain the design features of the autumn accessorizing for home and hearth season.

Love your style!

Define Homemade

How do you define homemade?

I like to take culinary liberties with the word homemade.

My homemade state of mind is firing on all culinary cylinders at this time of year.

Shortcuts that simplify, enhance and spice up the homemade baking and cooking experience top my ingredients list.

Store bought banana nut muffin mix is just an extra teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of ground cloves, and two ripe bananas thrown in for good measure away from scratch.

Welcome to my this is how we define homemade world.

fall-fruit-plate-banana-breadSpiced up banana-nut muffin bread served with sliced apples and grapes make for a lovely fall afternoon nosh.

My daily life is messy, clean it up routine finds me at the kitchen sink washing dishes several times a day.

The upside of this daily routine is it allows me a pondering session.

At one time or another over the last 40+ years, I’ve stood in that exact spot pondering and appreciating the view from outside my kitchen window.

Gazing merrily along I spotted one lone falling leaf of deep golden amber.

That one lovely leaf was all the verification I needed to determine it’s soup weather!

The beauty of fall was the inspiration, but leftover instant mashed potatoes became the culinary catalyst for this recipe.

I like to come up with a soup, stew or chowder rich in hearty simplicity.

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I think this simple corn chowder delivers.

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Corn Chowder

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1/3  cup all-purpose flour

8  cups chicken broth

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 medium potatoes, diced

1 cup prepared instant mashed potatoes

¼ teaspoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon fine black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 package frozen sweet corn

2 cans cream style corn

Directions

In a large pot melt butter over medium heat.  Add diced onions and saute until tender.  Add flour to the onions, stirring onions and flour constantly until onions are coated.

Pour in chicken broth and cream of mushroom soup, stirring until well blended.

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Add potatoes, bay leaves, kosher salt and fine black pepper.

corn chowder base

Stir to incorporate and bring mixture to a boil stirring.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10 minutes or just until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

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Add instant mashed potatoes, whisking until well blended.

Next, add frozen corn and cream style corn, stirring to incorporate.

Reduce heat to simmer, and allow chowder to heat through, uncovered, 10 – 15 minutes longer.

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For no reason other than I adore the beauty of this cottage and its outdoor fall finery,  I’m including these images for the fall of it.

I like this definition of homemade.

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enjoy

Fall at Home Decorating Favorites: Places In The Home at Fall

Summer heat and humidity has finally relented and it’s time to break out the fall at home decorating favorites.

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Dave the Builder’s mancave looks like the distribution center for Hobby Lobby.

Don’t you love that look?

Several “hello, do you have any gourds (cause I’ve got friends in low country places), ornamental cabbages (it’s the deep South lady, wait a few more weeks), cotton stalks (score!) and the ever great, ever regionally challenged do you have white pumpkins phone calls have been made over the last few days.

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Decorating for this year’s Places In The Home at fall home tour focuses on a natural theme with a family overtone to it.

cotton

My brother has the cotton connection.

Forty-six (46+) acres of it to be exact.

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His home is located out in the country surrounded by cotton fields ready for fall harvest.

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My parent’s recent trip to East Tennessee resulted in my Ball Mason jar collection growing by one.

My paternal grandmother was known for her famous pinto beans, and this somehow seemed naturally appropriate.

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Can’t forget the traditional pop of pumpkin color.

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Additions.

Changes.

Adjustments.

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Dark tones, warm colors and the lack of natural lighting worked to my fall photo shoot advantage.

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Nature continues to amaze and reward me with an abundance of accents.

Heirloom pieces, vintage favorites and simple accents and accessories place the emphasis on less is more.

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Fall home tours are so much fun to share with others.

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Welcome home fall.

You’ve been greatly missed.

 

Love your style!

Seasonal Updating and Holiday Decorating: When Is Early Too Early?

Seasonal updating and holiday decorating season came on like gang busters this year.  From weather to color, fall is hands down my favorite time of year.  Fall is the one holiday you can get a lot of traction out of, decoratively speaking.  Seasonal statement pieces as well as fun pops of color become investment pieces, and nature is the ultimate and most affordable arts and crafts store there is.

A high-end luxury throw can be as important to seasonal updating as a bowl of acorns, nuts,  leaves or pine cones is to holiday decorating.

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Planning and playing with design boards is part of my daily routine. Getting ideas down on a board puts collected inspiration in front of you and answers the “now, where did I see that _______?” question in the click of the mouse. Spending the weekend planning and playing with design boards gave way to observations colliding with inspiration, or the lack thereof.  I was satisfied with the interior decorating seasonal updates I came up with, but felt rushed to push the pieces of the fall decorating puzzle together like I was on a hurry up-everyone else is already through-and you haven’t even begun hard and fast deadline.

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The blogsophere is in full-on fall decorating mode.  For those of us who love to seasonally update and decorate our humble abodes inside and out, searching and sourcing ideas for inspiration begins many weeks out from the official start of the season.  Getting the jump on seasonal updating and decorating in order to get the most out of the beauty of a season is hard to resist,  but when is early too early?

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Holiday season at Hopefully Classic came earrrrrrrrly on the calendar.  Retail is a whole other beast when it comes to holiday decorating, merchandising and sales. I was Easter hopping in February and decking the halls decked out in shorts and flip flops in August.  By the time the actual holiday rolled around if I wasn’t careful I would be completely over it.  Staying one step out in front made me feel I was chasing my tail, and frankly, it took a huge hunk out of the holiday fun and celebration.

David Nettovia

I totally agree with David Netto’s observation.  Hate the chop, but that’s not the point.  In both my professional and personal experience I’ve learned to proceed with caution on the road of everybody else is doing it. Don’t let that be the driving force of your updating and decorating decisions.

Love your style!