Bethany Stumpf

           

Creating A Warm Fall Oasis

Image sources: Michael Sinclair, House & Garden, Analisse Taft

And just like that it’s almost Autumn. What feels like the longest year of our lives is already in its adolescents and I am totally unprepared for it. As much as I’d love 2020 to be over, it feels like we’ve spent a year in a waiting room. Anxious to move forward without knowing the future and sad to leave behind the lives we had before masks and unrestricted travel. I hate waiting, but I also know there is a lot of growth in down time and reflection.

Having spent more time at home than ever, many of us are finding that our homes have a profound impact on how we deal with stress and anxiety. While spending most of my life (awake) at work (an extremely depressing thought if I’m being honest) my home is my refuge. I love coming home and finding a peaceful serenity after a busy day at work.

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What I’m Reading: For the Interior Designer in Everyone

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I live in a small house on the Chesapeake Bay with some funky architectural features that make any designing a challenge. Although it does have its ups and downs, overall the house has turned into a little project of mine. Finding the perfect place to put furniture, how to capture the most light in one room, making each area its own cozy oasis… all these things have been part of my journey through this home. I’ve found a real passion in making a space into something more than just a living room, or a bedroom, and I’m beginning to find my style in each home decision I make. Along the way, I’ve also started a small collection of books that inspire good design and spur on creativity. Here are is my list of must haves on the interior design book shelf. Whether you have a hard design challenge ahead or just love design, these are great, pretty books to adorn your shelves or coffee tables.

Habitat: A Field Guide to Decorating | by Lauren Liess

One of my favorites. This book is so helpful when deciding those decisions that might not always be just personal taste type decisions. Ones like “Is it okay to skimp on hardware in my kitchen and bath?” or “Do I have to measure my room before I buy furniture…” taking the headache out of designing a room and giving helpful hints along the way with a encyclopedia like format. A MUST read for anyone starting out decorating a room or renovating a house.

Absolutely Beautiful Things: Decorating Inspiration For a Bright and Colorful Life | by Anna Spiro

Now take everything you just learned by Lauren Liess and throw it out! just kidding! BUT while Habitat helps create a foundation for good design fundamentals and planning, this book helps you learn to trust your gut. A snapshot into the design life of Anna Spiro, its the perfect for finding the fun in design. Lessons learned in this book- Don’t be afraid of color. Make each piece in your home have a story. Never buy everything out of a factory but mix it up with antique, custom, and DIY. Don’t be afraid to trust your tastes, as you make decisions, things will come together to express your unique style. Finally, One of the greatest lessons I learned from this book is to always take a second look at what you already have. Learning to restyle what you already own can be the most design inspiring.

A Beautiful Mess: Happy Handmade Home | by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman

The creators of the blog, A Beautiful Mess, have come together to show us how to remake and reuse stuff to make perfect DIY projects for home. A fun book, this is one of my favorites to get inspired and be thrifty. This book is filled with great ideas to make gifts for friends or create some one of a kind pieces for your own home. The pages of this book are colorful and bright and will add some joy to your home. While I love the pages of  Architectural Digest and stuffy design books, I never let those direct my design choices entirely. Homes are meant to be lived in and DIY projects lend your home to being more than just a pretty snapshot, but create a space that is well lived and well loved!

The Stuff of Life | by Hilary Robertson

Over many years, we collect lots of stuff and each season of life our stuff reflects our tastes and style during that period. The Stuff of Life is the perfect book to learning how to arrange the objects you’ve accumulated over the years and make aesthetically pleasing displays of all the stuff that makes your house a home. Filled with beautiful pictures, its a 208 page book of total inspiration! One of my favorites.

 

 

DIY: Dried Orange Table Setting

 

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Oranges are commonly associate with Christmas and the New Year and this Christmas I am using dried oranges to spice up my table arrangement this winter. They are the perfect way to add a little color to your table and are easy to incorporate in any season.

If you want to dry your own fruit this season like oranges and apples its simple!

Here is how you do dry them:

  1. Cut your apples and oranges into 1/8th inch slices (i use my mandoline because it gets it done fast and accurate)
  2. lay them out onto a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.
  3. bake for 1 hour at 200 degrees Fahrenheit then flip over and bake for another hour. *it can take more or less time depending on your oranges and oven. so watch them closely.

You can take the oranges and use them as place cards, string them to make garland, or place in a decorative bowl… There are so many different creative ways to use your dried orange slices, it really just depends on the look you want to achieve.

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Use the Orange slices as place cards by making a slice and place the card in the slot

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Spread the rest of the orange slices around the pine for an extra pop of color

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Accompany the orange slices with some fresh pine and mercury glass.

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The best part! when your done you can save them for another occasion, just put them in a zip-lock bag!

 

Love,

Bethany

DIY Antique Post-card Garland

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The Holidays are always filled with nostalgia and memories. We watch Christmas classics like White Christmas and Miracle on 34th St. while baking grandma’s special gingerbread recipe; all the while never growing bored of the same plot lines and lyrics to all the Christmas carols. Traditions are part of what make Christmas so special and looking back to Christmas’s Past helps us look forward to continuing those same special traditions. Many of my decorations are antique’s and one of my favorite pieces is my Christmas Postcard Garland. I love antiques and whenever I go antiquing, i love to look through the old postcards and magazines. This holiday, I was inspired to make a garland from some of my favorite postcards adding some added value with sparkles and glitter.

Its a easy, fun way to add some sparkle and nostalgia to your Christmas decor

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What you’ll need:

  1. Postcards: you can find these at most antique stores or even online. They don’t have to be antique you can use some of your favorite Christmas cards given to you over the years.
  2.  Twine or Ribbon
  3. Gold and Silver Glitter
  4. Mod Podge or adhesive for applying glitter
  5. Single hole punch

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When you’re done, let it dry and hang it as a memento over a door way or window! Be sure to share what you made in the comments below.

Love & Merry Christmas,

Bethany