I think I'm a pushover when it comes to open shelves.
I have a lot of them and I really love them!
My biggest problem is that all are loaded with collections, and those items
require constant TLC. Yes, vignettes and stacks are dust collectors, they do
require dusting and frequent washing, but also bring happy moments and
memories.
These are the shelves in the dining room on a Welsh dresser purchased
30 years ago as bare wood. I've painted it in different finishes at least three times.
This current antiqued/distressed blue-grey was done many years
ago and will remain - no way can I paint anything of this size these days!
My collections of antique and vintage English and French china fit well here.
I move items around some days, take a few away then add something new
for the current season.
Small decor changes are now my norm. Over the top decorating is no longer
an option as I try to downsize.
I am finding I really like just a touch of something different for a few weeks.
Currently it's just one natural papier-maché pumpkin - I have two more which
will be placed elsewhere. I also added the fabulous pumpkin painting I found
last year at SuzAnna's Antiques.
Speaking of pumpkins, we hope to make our annual visit to our favorite
pumpkin farm soon - I still would like some real pumpkins for the front porch.
Days are a little cooler, I feel a chill in the air at night, so pumpkins will enjoy
being outside now.
Are you decorating for this new season?
Do you buy real pumpkins?
Will you decorate for Halloween?
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I love your collections. I am decorating for fall, not Halloween. I have placed a few toile and velvet pumpkins around the house.
ReplyDeleteI share your philosophy about decorating. Precious few things out and about. Perhaps I will do more as the days go on. It doesn't have to be done all at once.
ReplyDeleteA Hokkaido pumpkin has been sitting on my kitchen table for a while now, waiting for me to slice it and bake it in the oven with feta and thyme. Last weekend, I was given two long stems of "lampion flowers" (physalis) - I love their bright orange colour and pretty shape. The green does not last, so I clipped them off the stems and have decorated the high chest of drawers in my tiny hallway with them.
ReplyDeleteYour deco always looks very beautiful, classy and tasteful. As you say, it all collects dust which is why I mostly prefer not to have too much about - with the exception of Christmas, where even I with my love of clean empty spaces go over the top! :-D
Mary, I just love this Welsh cupboard of yours and all the items on it! Just gorgeous and I love the blue/gray color!! I am particularly drawn to the white pumpkin painting! It is beautiful! I went a little crazy with the Autumn decorating this year. The house is done being renovated and I had a housewarming party on Saturday, so I wanted everything to look nice. I only bought a few things. I had so much other decorations, which was nice. I also made cement pumpkins this year (showed them on my blog), that was alot of fun! I might make some more. As always, it is a pleasure to visit your blog!!
ReplyDeletePumpkins on the porch sounds good. I don't dare... Squirrels would be munching as soon as I turned my back!!
ReplyDeleteYour shelves and arrangements are beautiful. I bet you could paint that piece of furniture if you really wanted to...my mom is 81 and still paints furniture (and sells it - she's good!)..even big pieces like that! Yours still looks beautiful though and is a lovely neutral color.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the older I get, the less seasonal decorating I do. I just have a few fall touches here and there. I bought pumpkins and gourds a couple of weeks ago at a local nursery/pumpkin farm, but am going again tomorrow with a friend, as she hasn't done her pumpkin shopping yet. Who knows, I might come home with more!
Dearest Mary,
ReplyDeleteNo, frankly speaking, all the mandated seasonal decorating, which is only aimed at sales, never has won my approval!
Christmas yes, but in a very subtle way. Halloween is something I've never understood...
Enjoy yours and it looks like you love creamware too!
Hugs,
Mariette
Your Welsh dresser arrangements always inspire me. Such a lovely collection of pieces you arrange so expertly. Fall decor here is very minimal - dried hydrangeas are it for now. I like to collect fall leaves and put them into a tall clear vase, but haven't done that yet. I don't do much for any season. As for Halloween, I might make a jack-o-lantern and light it for the trick or treaters, but that's it.
ReplyDeleteI saw some beautiful blue pumpkins at the grocery store on the weekend and am thinking they would go well with my decor. Love that pumpkin painting of yours.
Dear Mary, thank you for sharing the beautiful collections! (Do I spot Wedgwood Esmé on one shelf?)
ReplyDeleteYes, I will buy a pumpkin to carve and place it on the table on the balcony - lit from within, as I think the triplets will like that.
And of course I "accept" the start of autumn by cooking a fine Hokkaido soup.
Hallowe'en happens to be my birthday and for many years I always had a pumpkin on the doorstep but no longer. On the whole it is not all that much celebrated in the UK
ReplyDeleteI love your painting of the white pumkin. I was hoping to buy some small white pumkins, but the place I know of that has some is a good drive away and with our petrol shortages I dont want to get caught out with an empty tank far from home. Oh! the joys of life today, I have almost forgotten about the times when you could come and go wherever or whenever it pleased you.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks beautiful on your dresser, Mary, and may I dare say that I think its present colour is pretty gorgeous and I wouldn't feel a need to change it again?
ReplyDeleteHalloween isn't really a thing here but pumpkins are very popular as an everyday vegetable. I don't think we grow the varieties suited to carving as we're more concerned about delicious ways to cook them!
I love your open shelves with collections and the pumpkin painting too.
ReplyDeleteI pull out a few things, but not a lot. We did have three pumpkins in the garden this year. They are sitting on our porch along with a pink pumpkin I found at a pumpkin patch and couldn't resist.
Pumpkins are on the porch Mary, that’s a must! We are too remote for Halloween treats but that doesn’t stop is from buying them. 😉 I love your white collection, beautiful! xx
ReplyDeleteI do so love the Autumn decor of the Northern Hemisphere Mary, and your Welsh dresser always looks a treat. I remember the pumpkin painting: it has such style and joy. It turned suddenly hot here over the weekend, 37c hot, after being quite cool until now. We still have Winter clothes in our wardrobe, and warm bedding on the bed! A sudden turnaround is required (just as I went off for a bit of surgery!). Summer decorating is part of the plan too. Lovely post. xxxx
ReplyDeleteMary I love your simple Fall touches. Your Welsh dresser is beautiful and although you mentioned that your treasures get dusty I am sure that when you look over at them they make you smile!
ReplyDeleteMary, I have tried to comment several times but I am not sure when my comments go. I will send you an email.
ReplyDelete