Simple Fancy Autumn

I grew up with a very simple lifestyle.  My grandparents on both sides were farmers, even though my mom's parents had moved off their farm before I was born.  Simple country people.  My parents were simple country people too, even though they weren't farmers.  We didn't decorate our house - except at Christmas; we put a lot of energy into our large garden - because we didn't have a lot of money to spend at the grocery store; we moved into our house that my parents and extended family built themselves before it was finished, and were pretty excited each time we could afford to put carpet into the room that was getting "finished."  We didn't go out to eat often, and most of our socializing was done w/ our family members.   Since my mom was 1 of seven and my dad was 1 of five, we were certainly never bored.  One or two of my aunts had a lot of knicknacks sitting out, but it seemed to me like it was quietly understood that it was in part because they liked to do a lot of dusting.  I felt vaguely sorry for them; they were certainly NOT the norm.

Then, when I was in my early twenties, I had a rude awakening.  I overheard someone whose mom had just married into our family describing *her* in-laws (not my family) to someone in my family.  It went something like "They're really simple people . . . you know, the kind of people who have plain white walls." 

!!!!!! 

I about fell over.  That was the very first time it occurred to me that there is a "type" of person who has plain white walls and that apparently they are simple.  Well!  This was a new, unwelcome thought.  Yes, there were some walls in my house growing up that were white.  They weren't ALL white.  There was that brown wood paneling in the basement, you know.  But I'm pretty sure we were that "kind of people" who my new relative was looking down her nose at.

Oh wait.  In the interests of complete honesty, I'd better admit that I have nary a white wall in my house.  Except for a bit of white tile in one bathroom.  But, at heart, I am a simple person who is okay with white walls and with people who have them.  And no knicknacks anywhere.

Every now and then, however, I get the urge to be Fancy.  Often this strikes when I spend a lot of time with talented-in-the-decorating-department people.  Or when my friends start talking about candles and garlands and paint.  I DO have a creative side.  I do!  I have cross-stitched, crocheted, sewed and quilted galore.  One of my friends is Mennonite, and she has admired my work, so I feel like I even have some street cred in that department.  I walk in a fabric store and get a little teensy bit annoyed with my four children for taking up so much of my time and with God for calling me to homeschool which takes up even more of my time, so I try to avoid fabric stores for the most part.  But generally, when the urge to decorate overcomes me, I know that this will not go well.

This year, for the first time, I gave in to the urge to decorate for Autumn.  (Even though that word is a pain to type, I feel that Autumn is worthy of decorating for, whereas Fall is not.)  I have a daughter who has a very German talent for taking a few bunch of weeds and turning them into a delightful table display.  With her on my team, how could I fail, right?  So I took her shopping, and we had a fun mama-daughter afternoon planning our decorating-for-autumn splurge.  Then we got home.  And I started trying to make my house look like my vision.

First, we had to take down the Christmas garland.

No judging, people!!  Rest assured I'm not just sitting around all day, eating chocolate.  Plus it made the house look pretty even when it's not Christmas.  :)  Then, my daughter (plus her littlest brother) got to work on the bannister - technically it's hers, since her room is the only one upstairs - while I moved the laundry out of the way so I could take some pictures.

Again, no judging!  This decorating stuff is hard work for us simple people.  I was sweating by this point, FYI.   Finally, I moved on to the only other thing I aspired to decorate - the window next to my front door.  I'm not a fan of a great big window right next to a front door, but I love everything else about this house, so I'm not actually complaining about this.  Just mentioning it.

Those little gel thingies were quite a pain in the patootie to put up, by the way.  I was shocked.  I battled hard while struggling with them because some un-Christian type words that I had allowed to be planted in my head when I was in my late teens and early twenties were perilously near the tip of my tongue.  But nary a one escaped from my mouth.  :)  I got a little leaf-pumpkin basket to put on a stand that I have.  I would not really say this is "my style" but I hate to have useless things sitting around my house, so I'm using this.  Plus it helps block that great big window that I'm not so fond of.  I'm starting to get tired of finding practical things to do with it, though, so it might be gone before long.  And I definitely need to clean up my front porch, apparently.  But hey, my mission for the day was Decorate, not Clean Up.

Can you smell pumpkin spice candles when you look at this picture?  Nah, I'm not going that far.  But Autumn is here.  Outside, in the real thing, it's beautiful.  And simple, not fancy.  Goodbye Summer!


~Stephanie