BEFORE THE SEASONS CHANGE - cottage style

Hello there friends.  It has been such a mixed bag of circumstances this week, all in all I'm glad it's coming to a close.  I am really trying to find something positive each and every day because there is always something to be thankful for and as I look back I am grateful for time spent in the garden.  I did a little bit of weeding and pulling of plants past their prime and I even started planning what I want to put in the ground as the weather cools down a bit.

I told you last post that I have been spending time sprucing up our home and I thought I better show you a few pictures before things get changed up for fall...did I actually say that out loud or am I still wishing it to myself?

I know there are some summer lovers out there but Autumn and all it's pumpkin spiciness can't come
soon enough for me.  I'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact that our winters here are mild and I am not facing months of cold temps, shoveling snow and non existent gardening time.

It's been a while since I showed you my dining room hutch. I just stitched up this pretty apron for the bottom.  It is one of many long planned projects that took me all of an hour to finish and boy, what an hour well spent.  As hard as I've tried to style the space underneath, it always ends up looking tired and in need of dusting or it becomes an exposed storage space.  I am really happy with the way it turned out.

Because our living room is long and narrow, it is really hard to photograph so I rarely share pictures of it but I wanted to show you the new houseplants I added to freshen it up.  (I noticed that the blue pot still has it's plastic covering on it in this picture as I was just auditioning it for a few days to see if I loved it enough to keep it...turns out I do, so the plastic is off now.)

And finally my reading corner with it's newly covered lampshade.  My plan is to add more thrift store oil paintings to this area as time goes on.  The bench in the back has already been moved to the other side of the room and replaced with a large wicker basket filled with toys.  I'll show you the new arrangement and take a few pictures of the other side of the living room just as soon as I am done tweaking it.

My goal is not to bring any fall decor out for a few weeks yet, but trust me it's taking all my restraint not to.  What about you?  Any signs of fall where you are?  Or are you savoring these last few weeks of summer?

xo, Patty