Summer's End

Around here the mornings and evenings are cooling down, but the days are still hot. With school back in session and the days getting shorter, I’m almost willing to embrace fall. But – summer still has a bit of a hold on me. I’m not quite ready to string up colored leaves and buy pumpkins. Still, I’m willing to say goodbye to seashells and flowered tablecloths.

I came up with this simple centerpiece to celebrate the golden end of summer.

I started with a vintage tablecloth and added a jute wrapped wreath I made a year or so ago. A red fiestaware salad plate happened to balance perfectly in the center of the wreath. I topped it with a milk glass vase of fall blooms.

I love the mix of warm yellow, natural jute, fresh white, and a small pop of red.

Mmmm, there’s nothing quite like the afternoon light this time of year.

How do you decorate for the changing of the seasons?

<3
Hattie

a sprinkle of spring

Yesterday I showed you my attempt at bringing a little spring to the roost in the middle of winter. I guess I should go ahead and admit that as far as the kitchen goes, I’m already in full on "spring has sprung" mode.

In addition to my lovely faux budding branches, I went ahead and added my sweet vintage cloth.

And some cheerful yellow flowers.

For a simple centerpiece, I filled a water glass with flowers and a tiny vintage pitcher with a few more blooms. I stuck both containers on a creamy tray. I’m really loving how the asymmetrical arrangement keeps things fresh and from getting too fussy.

another glass of flowers carries the pop of yellow over to the buffet.

It may have been 17 degrees this morning, but it felt comfy and sunny in my little kitchen!
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What do you do to chase away the winter blues?

<3
Hattie

Color Inspiration

Over two years ago, when the roost underwent a little surface remodeling, I got to choose the interior paint colors. I knew I wanted a soft yellow for the living room, but it had to be the right yellow - no Big Bird living room for me! I found my color inspiration in the most unlikely place, a book cover.

At the time, I worked in a public library in Maryland. Part of my job was unpacking the new books as they came in. As soon as I saw the cover of this book, I knew I had found my living room colors.



This yellow was the perfect shade because of how well it blended with the other colors. I
could visualize my cherry red lamp shades, the dark laminate floors, and the blue sofa all popping against soft, sunny walls.

I checked the book out, and carted it home on my next trip back to Virginia. My mom and I were fully prepared to take the book into Home Depot for a custom mix, but luckily, Martha Stewart Corn Silk Yellow was a perfect match.

It just goes to show that you really have to keep your eyes open, because your next big design inspiration could be anywhere - even waiting for you on a library shelf.

Oh, and the book was a wonderful story as well as color swatch!

Yellow Take 2

Since flowers don’t last forever, I wanted to add a more permanent yellow accessory to the house. I kept seeing really cute things in the stores (I could honestly stand and gawk at the windows of Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn for a good 20 minutes) but I’m much too cheap to shell out the money for something that is bound to be a fad. I took a look at what I had around the house and settled on making a wreath.



I started by wrapping a foam wreath form from the Dollar Tree with twine from the dollar section at Target. There is no way to screw this part up; all you need to do is wrap the form as tightly with twine as you can. It takes awhile to cover the whole thing, but I wrapped steadily while watching Lost and had it finished by the end of the show.

Next, I let the form sit for almost a week because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. I knew I wanted to incorporate yellow, but I didn’t want to do anything that would turn out too country cutesy. While looking through my ribbon drawer (yes, I have an entire drawer of ribbon) I stumbled on a vintage belt buckle in the exact shade of yellow I had in mind. The buckle reminded me that I also had a ball of crochet thread in the same shade. Inspiration!

To keep things clean and simple, I just crisscrossed the crochet thread around the wreath to add a little color to the natural twine. I love how the crisscrosses ended up looking a little like petals.



To hang the wreath I slipped tan grosgrain ribbon through the belt buckle and thumb tacked it on the other side of the door – Martha, I am not!

The whole thing was super easy and could be tweaked in a million ways for a slightly different look. But the best part is that I didn’t spend a dime!

<3
Hattie

They call Me Mellow Yellow

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Mimosa is the color of the year. When I told Brad, he was not surprised. “Of course it is; yellow is my favorite color.” For some reason he has the uncanny ability of liking things right before they become incredibly popular. For instance, Brad wanted a sweater vest for Christmas a few years ago. I had to search everywhere to find one – but this year they were in every store. He wanted a Mr. Rodger’s style sweater, and suddenly men’s v-neck cardigans are hip again. By this logic, bow ties are bound to be the fashion accessory of next year.

Anyway, this shade of yellow really does appeal to me and I have been craving some pops of spring color.

I broke down on Saturday and bought some of the amazing tulips I’d been eyeing at Trader Joe’s.





I put most of them in this white pitcher, and I love they way they look against the vintage table cloth.



A few more went into this tiny spice jar in the hallway. My friend Stephanie parked her cute new yellow shoes under this table on Sunday. I wished I had snapped a picture because the shoes were the exact shade of the tulips, and the whole scene looked like one of those purposefully casual photos in magazines.





My Mom gave me these jonquils on Tuesday. They don’t last for long, but there is something so adorable and perky about them.

What’s your favorite way to add a dash of yellow?
<3
Hattie