This is why we wanted the table in front of the window:
The afternoon sun covers everything with its golden glow – especially the vintage table.
I have to stop in my tracks when I see this. It’s so beautiful.
We really love this new look in our living room.
I’ve always loved to decorate, starting with my Barbie case and various shoeboxes when I was quite young. I still love to decorate. I just don’t feel the need to constantly decorate. I have a good eye and, thankfully, so does my husband, which enables us to create spaces that we truly love on a very tight budget; often on no budget at all.
Usually that means that once a room seems finished, we’re fine with it for any number of years. Yes, a piece of pottery or two is added. Or a basket. Or, my favorite, bookshelves filled with books. It’s really only when a new piece knocks our socks off, like the vintage table, and we know that we have to reconfigure everything in order to have it in our home, that we do a major rearrange like we did on Sunday afternoon. Or when we repurpose a room, like we did when we changed the guest room to an office/studio. Otherwise, we tweak here and there, but that’s about it.
So, I love decorating, but I’m not thinking about it all the time, not by a longshot, and I choose not to talk about it all the time on this blog, even though I know that kind of post is very popular. My eyes would begin to glaze over and then what good would I be?
I don’t decorate for the seasons. I can see the seasonal change right outside our windows. Creating new vignettes is not my thing. Once I have settled on an arrangement it usually stays that way for a while. (Although I am currently drying some hydrangeas from the garden to replace the ones in the vintage ice cream maker which have been there a long time and are quite dusty.)
I will say that we have become ‘experts’ in dealing with a small space. After all, I’ve lived in three studio apartments, one of which was so tiny that I could barely move. Frankly, I’ve never lived in a large home. Never. I’ve only resided in studios and one bedroom apartments and homes that are less than 1000 square feet.
My childhood home? Two tiny bedrooms downstairs, an attic bedroom upstairs, a microscopic kitchen and dining room and a living room that was not much bigger. Only one bathroom for many, many years. Filled with two adults and four children and a dog. I learned at a very young age how to cope with very little space.
I am getting the urge to shed some of the stuff I have stashed here and there in the cottage. No, not my pottery or my beloved collections or my books. But closets need to be sorted and those spaces need to be used more effectively. Containers need to be purchased and filled with things we want to keep and put in our storage space. I’m getting geared up to begin that process.
Starting with the dreaded closet in my office. I need to be ruthless. And then I’ll move on to the closet in the den. I’m looking forward to it!
Okay. Flowers.
Hello, beautiful morning glory, slowing opening on a cold morning.
Zinnias that have just opened:
I love observing them as they start to open. Thank goodness for zinnias and morning glories!
Happy Tuesday.
The light on that table is so lovely. I have done seasonal decorating for many years but now really think Christmas is about the only time I’ll change it up around here. I love my pottery and collections so much and changing things out takes just too much time. A few things will come out like the amber glass in the fall, but mostly it will stay the same. Most of our flowers are gone but I’m still enjoying a few blooms. Oh the morning glories are really the best!
hugs,
Linda
Morning glories save my sanity at this time of year. Something blooming! xo
Your new table is so lovely and you found the perfect spot for it. I love decorating for the seasons but the older I get, the more minimal it becomes. I also derive great pleasure from changing things around and creating new vignettes. It’s a very creative process for me.
Yes, I know a lot of people find it creatively satisfying and that’s wonderful. Just not me!
You have a sensible design approach, Claudia. The sunlight streaming through the windows is life-affirming, as are the early fall flowers. My pineapple sage just flowered….bright red. A surprise for me, since I’ve never grown pineapple sage before. I have overflows of fabric and supplies that have taken over. My sewing room needs a major clean out. (I don’t think I have to keep 20-year old mending, right?). Fortunately, I’ve tackled my closets already and the clothes and other items have left the house. Clean out is a never-ending process here.
Well, it may be because I have a lot of creative outlets. My professional work, my hobbies, reading, writing this blog, gardening, miniatures.
I’m dreading the clean out, but it must be done!
I have to admit that I do love a good clear out, it refreshes the mind somehow! xx
Yes! I got so excited by the cleaner lines of the living room that I’m looking forward to clearing more out!
I’m right there with you on seasonal things…I basically add wheat grass in a vase and call it done! I cleaned out the guest room when son #1 came to live with us, while he was waiting for his spousal visa. He moved to London. Now, son #2 has asked if he could move in for a 6-9 month stay…to save money for a down payment on a house. We said yes of course. So now, I’m again moving things out of the guest room for a long term stay! Fortunately, most of his furniture will be in storage…but he has so many things that he doesn’t want in storage. I’m on a mission to find room here. Which is a great reason for me to purge even more! Wishing both of us luck on the great purge! ;)
Keep purging, Donnamae! I’m right there with you!
This urge to de-clutter must be something we all reach later in life. I am in my 60’s and have the desire to get rid of things because I have too much! I’ve sent things to our local thrift store that has a food bank and helps needy folks by the support of their thrift store, have sent boxes of books to a reader friend who reads them and passes them on and have thrown away items. I know our three daughters don’t want my things (different interests), but I am holding on to some things for them or grandchildren. De-cluttering is so freeing!
It is and I’m really in the mood to do more and more of it, Sharon!
So nice to see your blooming zinnias (the fierce heat [a furnace!!] has killed all of mine, despite best efforts to keep them watered; we may get out of the triple digits today [I’ll take 98 degrees over 108 degrees!] and we absolutely SOAKED the yard last night).
When I can ever have a home again that’s not in some stage of remodeling, I do like to decorate for the seasons, but just a little bit. Once my living room is together, I’ll be dedicating the surface of one buffet to, say, a little bit of autumn decor; then, a little bit of Halloween; a small vignette for Valentine’s, Easter…even St. Patrick’s Day. Just some stuff I’ve collected over a long time; a small display. But I never decorate the whole house, even at Christmas.
Speaking of, that’s an upcoming major purge for me. I have gone crazy since my teens with collecting ornaments and it’s just out of control. I knew I was in trouble when just hauling out everything for the Christmas holidays was something I began to dread rather than look forward to, because it had become too much to unpack and use. I don’t like that aspect of my personality…when I began to over-consume. Mother and I would discuss it; she felt it started happening with a lot of people when all this type of decor started becoming so inexpensive when it was mass produced overseas. When I was a kid, we just had one box of stuff we’d bring out and it was actually nice, because it was nothing new and instead all of the favorite ornaments and scant decor my parents had bought as newlyweds, and sentimental things we’d made as children at home and at school. There was a comfort in having the annual recognizable things. Tradition!
Also, my tastes have changed over time; I’m not attracted to the same kind of Christmas decor at this age as I was in my teens or 20s (and, yeah, I’ve kept ALL that stuff). I remember from previous years that you, too, Claudia, have been feeling ‘less is more’ when it comes to putting out the Christmas decor. Of course, with our small houses, it can really look too jammed up too fast. When I myself was a newlywed, I started out married life with a big ‘ol rambling 4-bedroom house so, at one point, it all seemed to work…but, there again, it becomes all about the square footage, doesn’t it. So, I plan to pick out the most treasured and beautiful, but the rest goes. I haven’t been in a Goodwill forever’ (feels like forever but it was probably just this time last year!) but I do remember, come October, them setting out large portable display tables of Christmas decor and it sold like hotcakes, so it’s nice to know that other people can go on to enjoy what I once enjoyed.
I’ve definitely been feeling that ‘less is more’ at Christmas. I do love all my vintage ornaments but I’ve donated many other ornaments in the past few years.
I think I did more season decorating when I lived in CA. Maybe because I was younger, but also, I think, because the seasons are much more subtle there and I needed to do something to show it was Fall, and Winter, and Spring.
That’s insightful. Makes sense. The seasons here are indeed very subtle and maybe we Californians want to feel like other people enjoying ‘true’ autumns and true winters. It is not “Christmasy” to be riding your new bike on Christmas Day against harsh, hot, dry winds when the image in your head is the greeting card of kids snow sledding, wearing mittens or wool scarves around their necks! I absolutely CRAVE to know what it’s like at this time of year elsewhere in the U.S. and the world, where people are wearing sweaters in autumn, using their kitchen ovens to bake in, eventually with snow crunching underfoot. We will see a few falling (sometimes-colorful) autumn leaves, in November, but they’re just trees people planted from the Midwest and East to remind them of ‘home’ although I have a tiny maple tree, planted just two years ago, which will hopefully give me a taste of Fall in future years (if it survives the heatwave!).
I missed the autumns of the midwest and northeast when I lived in San Diego, though we had a neighbor with beautiful deciduous trees. And I missed winter, though not a whole lot! After eight years there, I was tired of the ‘sameness’ and needed to go back to a climate like the one I grew up in.
Oh my, those lovely flowers are mood lifters. I spent yesterday with a sweet 72 year old aunt who just got a divorce. We packed up her kitchen stuff and some clothes while sitting aside donations for the thrift store. We still have lots to do so I will help her again Friday. Seeing how hard it is for her to deal with so much stuff has deepened my resolve to purge our unused stuff. The beautiful light shining on your new table is just lovely and I do love your floors.
I’m so sorry your aunt has to face divorce at this point in her life. And yes, it’s a good reminder to get rid of stuff we don’t need.
I think Fall always brings the “urge to purge” for me. Maybe it is simply coming back inside the house after spending most of the summer hours in the screened-in porch/ garage area and wandering in the yard dead-heading, weeding, and watering. The time just seems right one day, and once it all leaves the house, it truly seems the house gives a sigh of relief. I know we do!
The changing of light every Fall always amazes me, too. I go through the house on a sunny day just to see how the light hits at different hours. When I look at that table, I think of the hundreds/ or even thousands of people who may have sat at it and the discussions which ensued. That fascinates me, and I know I would sit there and “imagine” oh-so-many scenes!!
Have a great Tuesday!!
Me too. I’m ready to purge. I’ll be starting in on that this week.
I love the Fall light! Golden and beautiful.
Beautiful Pictures!
Thank you, Jan!
I think your new French table is beautiful, such patina, it will always make you happy, just looking at it. I enjoyed you sharing your creative thought process and your trial and error of where to put everything and where it would look best. It feels so good that ideas in your mind all come together I love that part of the creativity.
I do, too, Christy! It is so satisfying!
The light on the table is so beautiful — quite a glow. Love it!
Thank you, Vera. I love it, too.
The table was meant for your gorgeous cottage!! Isn’t serendipity the BEST??? Your vintage wood floors are like butter—–love them!!!!!! Your photos make me very happy—thank you!
You are so welcome, Jeannine! Serendipity is simply wondrous.
I love all the light you have coming through your windows. I think I love your new table more today than I did yesterday. It is truly gorgeous. I have always lived in small homes and wouldn’t know what to do with a big one, At this stage of my life, I just think of all the extra cleaning required for a big house! I have never grown morning glories, but yours have so inspired me that I am going to try them next year. Yours are simply beautiful.
I could use a bit more room than we have – mostly for storage. And a mudroom. But we’re fine with what we have and if that’s all we ever have, it will be a blessing.
I wasn’t even thinking of the storage, of which I never have enough! You are so right when you say we are blessed. Many people don’t have what we have.
You’re absolutely right, Dottie!
I think we share a decorating “philosophy.” For the first 10 years of my life, I lived in an average size house but with a larger-than-usual family of 8, so space was definitely squeezed. Then we moved to a much larger home, where I [as the oldest] got to be the only one with her own room. It certainly was fun to be able to arrange things to suit myself and to “decorate.” Then came 4 years of dorm life – back to sharing not-a-lot-of-space. Then came a studio apartment for 14 years, which definitely honed my minimal-living skills. I learned to get creative with storage, to do without, to clean up right away [no procrastinating] and to choose items that could multitask. Then came my current home, and other than adding a guest bedroom and a linen closet and a lot more outdoor planting space, it’s really all I could want. Every time I move it sometimes takes me months to find the perfect arrangement for a particular spot, or even a particular kitchen drawer. I might try dish towels in drawer A, then utensils, then foil & waxed paper boxes etc. Or I might re-arrange the coffee table 100 times, trying out different “schemes.” Things can get shuffled about – A LOT. But once I find the winner, it just doesn’t change. Ever. And that’s when I feel like things are really settled. I do like to do a little seasonal decorating though – I change the silk flower arrangements I’ve put together for the dining room table, the coffee table, the front door wreath etc. And I do put out some childhood things at Christmas time – the stocking I received as a 5-month old for my first Christmas, the creche my parents were given by my Dad’s parents for their first Christmas together, a fresh evergreen wreath on my door etc – things like that. Not too much though, because when you put a lot out, you only have to bring it all in eventually. And that part is no fun at all.
We usually hang a wreath at Christmas. But last Christmas we decorated in a very minimal way. My father had just died and I didn’t want to make too much of the holidays. I couldn’t. This year, I will have to leave for Hartford before Christmas – I’ll have a couple of days off for the holidays – so I think we’ll do the same thing. That way, Don doesn’t have to deal with a lot after I go back to Hartford. We’re still mourning my Dad and Scout, so low-key will be the order for that day.
The afternoon Autumn sun illuminates the French table..that rich patina just glows..I can see why you wanted it there..About your morning glories..I am about to do some purging myself around here…I need to so badly..I was looking at Martha Stewart’s September issue of Living while waiting for my son to have his Dr. visit today..I showed him a page and said “Those look just like the morning glories that Claudia plants..they are named Heavenly Blue..Sure enough I looked down the side bar and it said they were in fact Heavenly Blue…Thank you for all of the bright zinnia colors you have shown today..They give me a happy feeling!
Claudia..I just Googled Francois Sermijn out of curiosity and there are pictures of tables just like yours..also chairs that went with them..such treasures!
I know! I saw them, too.
Tweaking is a good thing. I don’t feel the need to buy, but rearranging makes things fresh again. I much prefer smaller spaces. A friend keeps telling me I need to move to a bigger place because I have so much stuff but that just means spending more money. What I need to start working on is the purging and organizing. Now that the boys are gone, I can move some things around. We’ve already gotten rid of their bunk beds and will be getting a daybed from Ikea (they will need a place to sleep if they do decide to come back and visit). Now I’ll be able to arrange books and craft supplies in a much more organized fashion. It just takes motivation, time and effort. Little by little it’ll get done.
Big changes at your place, Tammy!
Wonderful table!! So glad you didn’t pass it up, and it was worth all the rearranging. It gleams with light and stories. Wouldn’t it be fun to write short short stories about the people and things that happened around the table?? Of course, all your pieces have stories, old ones and new ones. Your home is so personal and expressive of your combined lives. It’s a pleasure to visit!
Thank you so much, Nora!