fall "inside"

(In writing this post I realized two crazy & amazing things: one - I have been writing this blog for EIGHT YEARS now, and two-  this is my FOUR-HUNDRED-AND-ONE post!  Thank you to each and every one of you who have followed our journey for years, to the new people who arrive each day and to that group of crazy ,wonderful readers (you know who you are!) who have told me they've gone back and reread the WHOLE blog from the beginning.  A couple have even done it twice!!! I swear some of you know more about the house and the renovation than I do!!   You are all so dear to me (and Dan,) and you are probably tired of hearing this, but I am just so grateful and thankful that you are here and are part of our journey.  I so appreciate that you are interested in our house, our life and our rescue pups and that you allow me to share it all with you by reading, following and commenting.  

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. xxo 

Since I showed you fall "outside" the farmhouse in my last post HERE, I thought you might like to come inside and have a look around.

Welcome, come on in...

The entry chest has a collection of antique and vintage Italian alabaster fruit.  The large apples and pears are a rare find.  I found one of the large pairs at an estate sale in Dallas many years ago.  They were some ridiculous price and I carried them through the whole sale knowing if I put them in a "save-pile" at the checkout someone would grab them- they are super heavy and I remember my arms ached for days from carrying them all around the sale!  The things we do for love!!
Antique alabaster pendant fixture found at the Paris flea market.

I love this shot with the sun shining on the antique French Napeleon III bergere.  We found the pair at the Paris Flea Market.  The leopard pillow is made from a pair of antique hand warmers that I sewed together.

And, this wider view which shows the fireplace lit.

I had lots of "assistants" helping when I was taking photos as you will see:)  This is Louise.

This is a great shot to show how beautiful Benjamin Moore's Pearl finish is on ceilings.  To read more about this favorite detail of mine HERE.

Photo assistants Louise and Ella taking a break:)

Sweet Louise

Sweet Ella

Sweet, and oh-so-funny & silly,  Magnolia

The dining room.

I changed out the fishing floats for the season for my beloved piece of Colorado forest wood- story HERE.

The reading room is such a cozy fall room.  The feathers in the plant in the antique urn were all found over the years on the property.

Slightly different angle showing the antique Italian case piece.

A favorite painting, so perfect for fall, by the late Jerry Wilkerson, famed pointillism artist (though this work is not painted in pointillism.)  

Closeup of the bookcase.  Story of the antique door HERE

 

Several pieces from our collection of antique tortoiseshell.

"Mavis" donning antique leopard for the cold fall and winter months!

As I was taking photos for you the sun started going down.  This is how the reading room looks in late afternoon on a sunny day.





Love the shadows in this photo taken a bit later.  The light draws you in and you just want to sit here at this time of day.

A closeup of the antique and vintage Italian alabaster fruit on the entry chest of drawers.

Miniature white pumpkins on the kitchen fireplace mantel.

I kept the island cleared off for the summer, but once fall arrived and I started cooking more I felt the need to have "my things" back on top!  Usually there is a puppy in the dog bed (and no, I am sorry I do not have a source for it, as I've had it for probably 20 years now.  It belonged to our first rescue, Kelsey.)

I've replaced the natural linen sink skirt with a pea-green ticking stripe which I love!

Vintage green-glazed yellowware bowls, antique English ironstone, hotel silver flatware and tray and the last of the hydrangeas from yard top the marble island for fall.

View from the kitchen through the courtyard to the front meadow.

"And that has made all the difference"

Iron bird in the original stall window in the barn mud room.

Thank you for visiting; I hope you come back again soon;)

the reading room today

You might recall that the last time I showed you the reading room we had just found a free antique pedestal table on the side of the road!  HERE.  As much as I loved that table- especially for its story;) I knew it was always a "filler" until the perfect table came along.  

It finally did!

I found this antique, circa mid 1800's, iron table with black marble top in Vermont.  

I adore the table and love that it is around the same circa as the house.  The room is small, so it makes the space seem much more open.

I left the iron base in its current state which is an off-white painted finish with iron rust coming through the paint in the form of spots/speckles.  I'm guessing it spent years in an old barn/shed being semi-exposed to elements.  

I'm going through a "keep it clean" look at present (the kitchen island has absolutely nothing on it, which is unusual for me;) so the table is topped with two antique green glazed Chinese parrots (they are unusually tall and only part of our collection), a piece of white coral, and a demi-john bottle with a hydrangea branch from the garden.

Walls are painted Ashwood OC-47 by Benjamin Moore. Trim is White Dove by Benjamin Moore.  (All my paint and stain colors can be found on my sidebar for future reference.)

Antique brass chandelier purchased 23 years ago in Houston for our first house in Eastmoreland in Portland, Oregon, it was also used for a while in our home in Dallas.

I recently changed out the regular bent-tip frosted light bulbs for these silicone-tipped bulbs HERE from Lumiere Candles.  These have a regular/standard-size base (as opposed to a chandelier-size base) and are 15 watts each.  I just love their bulbish/squatty shape!  They look perfect in the antique brass chandelier. 

Don't  forget that Lumiere Candles offers a 10% discount coupon code for my readers HERE. I love their: real wax sleeves, large diameter solid candle covers (which are so difficult to find),   their silicone-dipped bulbs, and their large translucent candle covers (which are impossible to find ;)  They also have resin candle sleeves and covers when for the times when you need a higher wattage bulb than what is allowable for the real wax sleeves.

(No, I am not being paid to endorse this company!  I simply love their beautiful products and the owners are super nice and they have wonderful customer service.)

I've removed some things from the top of the antique Italian case piece and illuminated the antique oil painting.
The simple French fauteuil chair was found in Marseille, France.  I had it covered in natural linen with a vintage alligator back.  A better photo of the back  HERE.

I moved several of the antique mirrors from a guest bedroom HERE to the reading room.  I love a good stack of antique mirrors!  The antique large gilded mirror in the back is French as is the Louis Philippe mirror in the center.  The small iron cushion mirror in front was found in France. Antique Chinese blue and white temple jar made into lamp and large aged brass ball sits on antique English chest.  Vintage mink muff turned pillow sits on a vintage Louis XV fauteuil (one of a pair.) 

"Mavis" is donning a vintage leopard collar around her waist for the cold winter months:)  You can read a story about her HERE.

On top of the stack of books sitting next to the Martha Washington chair is a book (National Gallery of Art, Washington) that we received as a wedding present 27 years ago from a friend (thank you Sue!)   I have always adored the painting on the cover.  

I like how in this photo you can see what the lamp shade looks like with the light on (front) and the pattern on the shade (in the back)  The story of the bookcase door HERE.  The bookcase is filled with antique books/reference books, small paintings, coral, antique iron urn, part of our collection of antique tortiseshell boxes and more of our collection of antique Chinese glazed terracotta green birds.

The south wall.

We found this antique oil painting in Marseille, France.  We named her Aunt Minerva.  She resonates with me. I love that she is reading a book in the reading room :)

An antique country English Chippendale chair with 18th antique vellum books and a bronze mold of a "nude."

The vintage painting on the east wall by artist Jerry Wilkerson.

Antique English oil painting entitled "Cottage in Devonshire" by listed artist James Poole in original frame. Circa 1850.

To see the reading room over the years and to read more about items in the room...

HERE

HERE

Note:  photographs taken for this post where taken in the early evening with lamps and lights on which casts a different light over the space than the daytime lighting in previous posts.