2 Nov 2016

Styling For The Seasons…Autumn!

When I was growing up, our house was decorated shortly after we moved in, and that was that for the duration of our time there.  My mother certainly considered herself interested in interiors, in fact she regularly bought House and Gardens and Country Life magazines, in order to drool over the houses – a habit that I obviously inherited. However, once a decorating style had been decided upon, that was that for at least the next 10 years.

The only exception to that rule was at Christmas time, when we put up the tree and went to town on decorations such as large paper bells, brightly coloured tinsel and peculiarly shaped balloons.  My mother was also quite partial to any interesting and new kitchen gadgets … (My mother does love a kitchen gadget – even if it remains untouched in a drawer, shelf or cupboard shorty after being release from it’s box) and thus items such as a shiny new food processor fulfilled her need for any household change throughout the year.

The idea of changing or enhancing the decor to suit the seasons (apart from 2 weeks at Christmas) was absolutely unheard of in our household.  In those days Halloween decorations meant making a paper spiders webb to stick on the window at school, and perhaps a rubber snake shoved through my bedroom door to make me scream on waking…yes – I do indeed have an older brother!

Cut to 2016, and you have my mother quietly bewildered at the amount of pumpkins littered about the house and termed as ‘decorations’ rather than ingredients for soup…

She also wonders why I choose to intentionally revisit the blackout periods of 1970’s London by filling the house with candles.  I tell her that these are ” Decorative” or “Scented” candles – and therefore “Cosy” and “Atmospheric!”  She replies, “Yes, but you have ‘Light Switches’ – and they work perfectly well all year round Dear…”.

Fuelled in part to the many wonderful American bloggers and instagrammers who style their houses so beautifully, and inspire my desire to have a home that embraces and reflects the changing seasons, I have certainly made up for lost time since my childhood.  Styling my home to suit the seasons has become something that I delight in doing, and enjoy with the same gusto as a child plays with a dolls house.

As well as  Christmas and Easter, Autumn has to be one of the most fun periods of the year for getting into the seasons spirit, and it shows in the choice of colour tones used in the flower selections, cushions and yes, even the choice of vegetables as table decorations!  The best things is that it doesn’t necessarily mean having to spend an arm and a leg changing curtains and furniture – unless one wants to of course!  Cushions, throws, flowers, candles and other accessories go a long way in changing the ambience of a room to suit the seasons, and can be changed as quickly as does the English weather…

And I really don’t mind if we have to eat pumpkin soup for a fortnight to placate my mother – pretty can also be practical and even tasty!!

Until next time,

The Diaries

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