My Lazy Days Fall Decor

I have a secret to share with you today...

I haven't decorated my home for fall yet! 

It's not that I haven't noticed fall is coming. The leaves aren't quite changing colors here yet, but I can definitely feel it in the air; a cool crispness in the mornings. I sat and looked at the summer flowers on the family room ottoman this morning as I drank my coffee, thinking to myself that I really should change them out to an autumnal arrangement, but there I sat - unmoving and (dare I say it?) unmotivated. 

As I got up to put my empty coffee cup in the dishwasher, I stopped suddenly and gazed down the hallway from the family room towards the dining room and noticed the light in there looked different. I realized with a smile that fall decor had found its way into my home all by itself without me changing a thing.

Something you may not realize about our home is that it's surrounded by tall shade trees and gets very little natural light. Most of my blog photos of our home have been shot on a tripod with long exposures and wide open shutters and then light-edited a lot. 

So, trust me when I tell you, the little glimpses of sunlight you see in these photos are very exciting to me! They mean the sun is moving low enough in the southern sky to slant through the tree branches and enter my home with the soft glow of fall - my very favorite fall decor!

So no new autumn flower arrangements today (and no tripod and light editing, either!) I just grabbed my camera this morning to share what I see, the soft glow of my lazy days fall decor!

Even Tucker is glowing today!

Thank you, fall sunshine! 

    

How to Have Charming Farmhouse Greenery Without a Green Thumb

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great summer! 

We've been living it easy around here this summer; hiking in the mountains, kayaking in a new nearby water park, lazy afternoons reading on the front porch, and lots of casual family dinners on the deck surrounded by our garden in full summer bloom. 

Our summer garden shed this year.

Gardening outdoors comes pretty easily to me. Plant, water, fertilize, sunshine, and voila - success! Houseplants, however, are a completely different matter. I'm abysmal at growing houseplants! No matter how hard I try, and I've been trying most of my life, my houseplants die within a few months. Partly, I think, because my house has very little natural light and partly because I can never get the watering schedule right. 

For years I just didn't have houseplants at all. This pathos plant started last year from a cutting (above) and this little succulent which was a Father's Day gift for my husband this year (below) are the only ones I've been able to keep alive. (I've heard they're bulletproof.)

Finally, a few years ago I gave up trying to grow my own houseplants and slowly started buying seasonal realistic-looking fake plants at craft stores when they came on sale and with coupons. I loved how easy they were to care for, as in no care at all!  After it dawned on me that cut flowers from the store and even those cut from my own garden would wilt and drop their pedals in just a few days inside in our hot dry climate, I started buying fake flowers, too. This summer I realized I have collected a houseful of them over the past few years, and I thought I'd share them with those of you who are also lacking a green thumb or live in a hot dry climate but yearn for the charm of houseplants and cut flowers.  

My collection of faux plants and flowers would complement any home for summer, but what makes them work especially well with my farmhouse decor are rustic farmhouse containers and vignettes like this wood toolbox with green mason jars.  

A plastic boxwood wreath paired with a collection of thrift store vases and my DIY rustic pedestal filled with lemons. 

Faux hydrangeas nestled in a DIY wood crate made out of weathered fence pickets.

Plastic succulent stems perched in milk jars and a primitive chickenwire basket from the craft store. 

A huge faux fern spilling over a vintage olive bucket. 

White lilies in a knobby green vase from Anthropologie.

Plastic heather tucked into a vintage copper cup. Who'd have thought a plastic plant could look so real? I'm convinced!

A mason jar of white tulips (too pretty just for spring.)

And my favorite, an enormous bouquet of faux wildflowers in a heavy French crock framed by my large black chalkboard.

After years of watering, pinching, picking up dead leaves, and the discouragement of watching my houseplants die in spite of my best efforts, I'm loving my faux plants. And no more expensive fresh flowers fading and wilting in just a few days in our hot dry summer climate. Mine last forever!  

Realistic faux plants and flowers are a sensible home decor investment and a wonderful way for us green thumb-challenged folks to bring the charm of greenery into our homes. 

I'm so glad you popped in to see what's going on with me today.

 Have an awesome summer day!

How about a summer party!

The Scoop
Savvy Southern Style
Between Naps On The Porch
Our Home Away From Home
A Stroll Thru Life
Share Your Style
Share Your Cup
Rooted In Thyme
The Charm of Home
Rattlebridge Farm
French Country Cottage
Craftberry Bush
The Cottage Market
Sundays at Home
DIY Showoff

Spring Break Road Trip to Red Lodge, Montana

Today, I'm sharing a few of the wide open Montana spaces my husband and I love so much. We hit the road recently to visit family in Red Lodge, Montana, and I tried to capture some of the scenery on my phone camera through the car windows as we sped along the highway.

  The Madison Mountain Range east of Ennis, Montana.

 Buffalo grazing near the pass between Ennis and Bozeman, Montana.

 Big Sky Country.

 The Absaroka Mountain Range south of Livingston, Montana.

 The Crazies north of Livingston, Montana.

Road trips aren't for everyone, but my husband and I cherish the long hours spent alone together talking about anything and everything as we watch the beautiful scenery pass by. 

How about you? Do you like to travel by car? Have you taken any spring road trips this year?

How about a spring break link party?! Join me at

Calypso in the Country

Welcoming Spring

Sunny yellow forsythia blossoms are welcoming spring to all of Idaho 

this week, just in time for our Easter decorations!

These two piece paper maché eggs will be filled with candy by the Easter bunny on Easter morning.

Read more about my DIY Petter Rabbit banner here.

Happy Spring, everyone! 

It's a wonderful day for a party!

Cozy Little House
Our Home Away From Home