fall house tour

This fall has been a definite season of change for me.  Emotionally, I have been learning and adapting to new situations rapidly.  As my mindset alters, so does my view on our apartment décor.  With the temperatures dropping, slowly but surely, and the windows finally opening up after many long months of air conditioning, I felt the need to change our apartment.

Fall is without a doubt my favorite time of year.  Mr. F will tell you my favorite time Christmas.  And while I do daydream of Christmas trees and egg nog all year long, autumn has always held something magical for me.  The crisp winds, crunchy leaves, earthy tones, and lots of cider bring unceremonious joy to my heart.  I wanted our home to reflect the coziness of the season, despite the warm temperatures lingering outside.  I wanted to curate a space that reflected Mr. F and I as a family, me as an artist, and still retain the necessary functionality constantly hiding in small living quarters.  It was time to put away with the glass vases and bring out the earthenware pots.

  Up first on my agenda was functionality.  This began a massive, ongoing purge, of…everything.  Sifting through art supplies, clothing, food cupboards, bookshelves.  You name it, I went through it.  Every item in our apartment needs to serve a purpose.  Baskets hide art supplies, shoes,  and drills.  Boxes on top of shelves hold extra dishes and family heirlooms.  Our kitchen table also serves as a kitchen counter, studio space, and on very rare occasions, eating surface.  I moved baskets around, cleaned some out, and compacting our essentials.  In the kitchen (which I can never seem to photograph properly because of horrible lighting), our cupboards were streamlined as I took stock of what we have, use, and want to keep.  In the living room, I rearranged furniture and storage pieces for a better flow and more open space.  In our bedroom, well, that’s a room I’m still working on.  But artwork was shuffled about.  The entire surface area under our bed serves as a storage facility for luggage and miscellany items that don’t have a home anywhere else.  That is one area I am still dreading the purge, but am relishing the idea of clean starts.

The autumnal touches to the apartment were subtle.  Pottery pitchers lined up above my kitchen sink rather than my pretty china tea cups.  A wooden bowl filled with pine cones and dwarf pumpkins.  Prints from my shop.  Dried gourds from various farmer’s markets, and even a curbside drawer turned coffee table tray.  The only items I purchased were the fresh gourds and some mums for outside of our door.  The rest were elements I had on hand that just needed better staging to give them new life.

With the apartment in better order, I find myself more productive than I have been in ages.  I savor time at home creating and packaging items for the shop.  Applesauce, pumpkin bread, and stewed cranberries fill our home with delightful aromas.  Our home is feeling more like us and is working better than ever.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sources:

Bedroom:

silver urn - garage sale

rope lamp - target lamp wrapped in rope (similar DIY)

"llama" figurine - Target

white dresser - garage sale

twig wreath - Royal Oak Farmer's Market in Michigan

copper kettle - family heirloom

Living room:

stacked baskets - Ross

Grecian key pillow - TJ Maxx

brass lamp and shade - Goodwill

feed sack - dumpster dive find

rug - Crate & Barrel

wooden tray - drawer found on side of the road

don quixote print - thrifted

twig pumpkin - Target  (Smith & Hawken)

throw pillows - DIY

stripe art - DIY on cardboard

halloween bunting - Target (dollar bin)

Dining:

cabinet - thrifted (see DIY here)

gourds - farmer's markets

white pumpkin - Dollar Tree (DIY)

hanging basket - Cyprus

table - hand me down

bench - Ikea

Octobers print - from my shop

live gourds - Trader Joe's

magnolia leaf wreath - DIY