My house is a shambles. Half painted kitchen cabinets in the front hall and on my dining room table. Paint-spattered drop cloths all over the floor. Bathroom sink and faucet sitting on the coffee table. Cans of paint everywhere.
We'll be going back to the cabin soon to try and make some headway with the remaining items on our to-do list and with all the pre-preparation (painting bathroom vanity and kitchen cabinets, ordering fixtures and other materials, ordering a replacement window with tempered glass, and on and on and on), it's been hard to squeeze in any meaningful blogging time over the past few months.
For a while now, posts have been less frequent since I must fill every spare moment with seemingly endless cabin-related activity. And most of my photos tend to be detailed, close-ups....that way you don't see all the chaos just outside the frame ;-)
Chaos that is driving me crazy, since my favorite season is approaching. Fall. I had all kinds of ambitious plans that I wanted to complete in time to showcase all the fun fall- and Halloween-themed projects I have in mind (if I love fall, I really, really love Halloween). But all this has taken a back seat to our all-consuming cabin project and our deadline for getting our certificate of occupancy, which looms ever-closer.
But, ready or not, September 1 is just a few weeks away...and it's time to start getting my head into an Autumn frame of mind. I'm being inspired (and urged onward towards warm fall colors, pumpkins, and Halloween creatures) by all the early fall, transitional fall, and just downright, full-on fall-themed posts and images that I'm starting to see everywhere.
So, even though I've only accomplished or partially accomplished a few California-house projects...
......and my house looks like a tornado just ripped through.....I've taken a first, tiny step towards fall by creating a pre-autumn, transitional vignette in the only part of my house that's untouched by all the craziness and isn't completely cluttered--- the book-nook on our stairs.
No pumpkins, fall leaves, mums, or anything else obviously Fall used here, not yet....
I 'shopped' my house and used what I have at hand.... books in soft neutrals and faded jewel colors...
....a mix of objects in bronze-y gold and silver and pewter, a variety of other textured items. All this says I'm starting to think about fall.
A note about using reflective glass: poor Madame Pompadour is somewhat obscured by the shiny reflection of the glass in the oval frame below.....
Here she is looking so much better with the glass gone. This is why I'm liking so much the idea of affixing an image directly to a piece of wood, sticking it in a frame, and foregoing the glass altogether...
Without the glass, colors are deeper and richer, and if the image is decoupaged or transferred to wood or metal, you get a nice texture as well that somehow makes the art piece look more custom and personal. I created the large, gold-framed eighteenth-century lady picture below by repeating the process I used to create my decoupaged horse wall-art piece above (click here to see how I did that).....
.....using the empty frame I picked up during recent shopping trip (click here for more on that).....
....and clip art that I found at the The Graphics Fairy (click here for this website). Using my ink jet printer, I printed the image onto a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 ivory colored, linen-style resume paper and decoupaged it to a piece of thin plywood and then inserted it into the empty frame.
I love the contrast of the neutral graphite-and-white of the drawing (it looks like the original might have been in pen and ink or an etching??) with the lavish, deep, rich gold of the frame.
Happy pre-fall and thanks for visiting!
***
Linking to the following this week....
Roses of Inspiration Linkup at The Enchanting Rose
Bouquet of Talent at Life on Lakeshore Drive
Party in Your PJs at the Cookie Puzzle
Idea Box Thursday at Mila's Little Things
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Inspiration Thursday at In The New House Designs
Five Star Frugal at a Tray of Bliss
Something to Talk About at Karen's Up On The Hill
Five Star Frugal at a Tray of Bliss
Something to Talk About at Karen's Up On The Hill
sometimes we need just one place to decorate so we don't lose our sanity. your book nook is beautiful, I love all your lovely ladies!
ReplyThank you Debra! Yes, it was nice to be able to take some time out and do a little decorating.
Just discovered your blog from Amaze Me Monday. Beautiful styling! Love the idea of the bookcase nooks along the stairs. You are inspiring me to add some fall touches around here. Stay tuned! '-)
ReplyThank you! I'm glad you were inspired.
My to-do list keeps growing and growing too. So many projects to complete and not too much time. What a stunning vignette. I love everything about it. Understated elegance.
ReplyGood luck with your projects. Happy fall to you.
Janet
Thank you Janet! Not having enough time gets very frustrating, doesn't it?
Your staircase is absolutely beautiful. Love the little book nooks and how you have arranged your pretty treasures in them. It is so hard to have the house in disarray (believe me, I know that right at this very moment) but what a great treat when it is all put back together. Looks like you are doing a beautiful job. Your elegant ladies are just perfect..Happy Tuesday..Judy
ReplyThank you Judy!
Me again, Melissa. Just wanted to thank you for your kind comments about Kai. You are a no comment blogger so I wanted to be sure and get this message to you..Happy Wednesday..Judy
Thanks Judy. I didn't know I was a no comment blogger--- I'll have to figure out how to fix that.