Dear friends, welcome to Shady Cottage, our beloved home.
Come in, get comfy, and stay awhile. We've got the kettle filled, and the tea is steeping. There are fresh cookies, still warm from the oven, on the coffee table. A lovely, spiced pumpkin candle is flickering and soft, instrumental music is playing in the background. We're so glad you're here...make yourself at home.
And let's go on an autumnal home tour, shall we?
In the above photo, you can see our mantle. This, I admit, is one of my most favorite areas to decorate in our home. I always love a pretty mantle...it just says "home" to me. And I am usually the one who decorates this area. It's just always kind of been my thing...even at our old house.
I love using this handmade fabric bunting that I made several years ago. It's always a favorite. And of course, lots of candles, pretty lanterns, little pumpkins, my grandparents' old clock, and a few things hanging on the wall. I especially love using my mom's Polish candle holders. We love Polish folk art, and these are so beautiful.
One of my favorite things about our kitchen is having a window over the sink. It's like a dream being able to look outside and see the squirrels chasing one another in the trees or to watch a bird on the branch outside whilst you are cooking dinner or washing dishes. We love adding little seasonal decorative touches to the windowsill here as well.
Now for the eating area of our kitchen. My mom always decorates this corner, and it always looks so autumnal and festive. Earlier this season, we saw a cute autumnal balloon at the grocery store and knew it would be so fun to have in our kitchen for our festive cozy meals.
Adding little garlands to our windows has become quite an obsession...
More bunting and garland in the windows...can you tell what we love?
We bought a Halloween party decoration pack at the store, and it came with this adorable paper bunting. I just love the little ghosts and pumpkins and it's also fun that it's not all in the traditional autumn colors. As much as I love the rich reds, oranges and deep yellows, it's also fun to have a bit of something different mixed in, too. This is the first year we've added non-traditional colored decorations to our collection and it's been fun.
Several people mentioned in the survey I posted awhile back that they would love to see more pictures of our fur babies. Ask and ye shall receive.
Above, we have little Noelle modelling a super cute Halloween sweater. She kept undressing herself, so I had to be quick about getting a photo before she took the sweater off again.
And here's Miss Orla. She tolerated me taking her picture a bit better than her sister. Of course, we were making all sorts of goofy noises and dangling toys above the camera just so she would look.
These two girlies are pretty much the only ones of our fur babies that will tolerate us dressing them...only long enough to get a picture, then we take the clothing off right away. One of our little boys will tolerate it sometimes...cats are very picky.
But don't they look adorable?
There's lots more decorations in our sunroom and living room, as well as in my mom and sister's rooms, but we're hearing to my room now.
I have been adding to my autumnal decoration collection for about ten years now. Each year, I get a few new things, and over the years, my collection grows. My favorite places to look for decorations is the Dollar Tree, Home Goods, Pop Shelf, Dollar General, the Bullseye Playground at Target, and making things myself. I love finding good deals on really cute things...that makes me so happy!
My desk stays mostly the same throughout the year. I do, however, change the mugs hanging on the pegs to match the colors of the season as well as the mug I keep my pens and such in. And of course, I have to add a few small decorations on the little shelf on my desk.
For my bookshelf on this wall, I just added a few mushrooms and pumpkins in a few places, as well as a couple seasonal mugs. Simple, but cute.
This area is one of my most favorite things about my room. I've really spent the last three or so years getting this space just how I want it. And I'm quite beyond pleased now. I also have my collection of art prints to the left of this area. You can see more of my room in this vlog here.
As much as I love twinkly fairy lights, I only put them up to enjoy in the autumn and winter months. Typically, from the first of September to the end of March. I love adding them only at that time of year to make it feel extra cozy and I feel that if I had them up all year long, they wouldn't be as special. Kind of like listening to Christmas music only at Christmastime. But you can bet it's a grand celebratory day when they go up!
For this standalone bookshelf, I added more of my handmade fabric bunting, a cute owl decoration I've had forever (I LOVE owls!), some more pumpkins here and there, and candles sprinkled throughout the shelves.
This little corner did not get forgotten. I'm a firm believer in making every corner, every nook and cranny, as beautiful as possible. And not to neglect even the tiniest corners or spaces. There's always some creative touch to be added. And so here, I added a vase of dried flowers (which I have all over my room in different vases and jugs), a fabric pumpkin, a seasonal mug, decorative jars and a teacup candle.
On these pegs in my room, I have my apron collection, as well as a sweet little autumnal decoration I made a few years back.
And to end our autumnal home tour, I shall leave you with a view of my wall of bookshelves in my room. I hung a paper bunting of acorns, pumpkins, and leaves that I made a few years back. My hands hurt so much from cutting all these designs out...twice. For the front and back of each piece. And of course, more twinkly fairy lights. They add such a soft glow and warmth to a space. I highly recommend adding them to a room, or two, or three, in your home. And obviously, there are lots of books.
I 've pondered the idea of filming a bookshelf tour vlog sometime. Do let me know if that's something you'd like to see. I know that I personally always enjoy seeing others' book collections. Those are some of my favorite videos to watch. So let me know.
And there we have it...Shady Cottage in the autumn.
Thank you for visiting today, friends.
See you tomorrow!
♥