My senses are peaked in the Fall, certainly my favorite time of the year. On September 23rd Autumn begins in all its rustic charm and color's that invigorate me. Way before the "Seasons" approach of what color's complimented and were best for you to wear I always knew I was an Autumn. I also think houses decorated in your season are oftentimes most inviting. Both John and I are Autumns, no wonder in Fall the Russet shades are a prominent color in our Row home.
"Autumn carries more Gold in its pocket than all the other seasons."
~Jim Bishop~
Today I will share some angles and views throughout our home of how we embrace and live with rustic charm while blending it into our style of mixing the old with the new.
Against one wall in the Dining room our bar cart is along side the wine corner.
A tall, French Bordeaux, vintage wine Demi John wine jug with a tightly woven basket covering the single handle and a very tattered original white label with black lettering has been added. The original cork remains in the bottle. This charming French country wine bottle once held a gallon of wine. Its beautiful old tattered label lists cities throughout the World where the wine won awards. The slender exposed bottle neck is a classic green glass, and the wicker is in good condition with some damage. Measures 14" tall, and about 6" wide. I purchased it off eBay and I think it adds the perfect rustic charm on the raw edge shelf in our Dining rooms wine corner.
Close up of tattered label and textural ribbon with clay coin.
Directly across from the wine corner is our window. The mirror is from Restoration Hardware and made from reclaimed/recycled vintage woods. I repainted the finish on it as well as painting the faux technique on the wall. I have a desire to add my artful expression everywhere.
Fall berry branches placed in a galvanized French floral bucket add rustic charm.
The sitting Buddha is in the Single Lotus position. He is a lost wax casting in Bronze. A Bronze sculpture from Thailand I purchased through an antique dealer who told me he is over 125 years old. I think his face is delicate and this Buddha is described as in the style of Chiang Sang. What makes me always smile is when our guests will walk up to him and tweak his nipple. Truth be known I did the exact same thing when he was taken out of the shipping container years ago.
The Chinese wooden Buddha head was purchased 7 years ago from Material Culture in Philadelphia. We were told he is over a hundred years old. Now truth be told one day Max >^..^< spotted two pigeons on the small roof outside the window and in his graceful but unmeasured leap knocked Buddha to the floor. He already had a faint hairline age crack from his head down to his forehead but Max deepened the crack! Since we choose to live casually with our antiques we just chalked up his fall to a C'est la Vie Humpty Dumpty moment in life.
The window sill is African Zebra wood an exotic wood from the Rain Forest and purchased long before we were educated about the preservation of exotic rare woods. What can I say it was back in the early 80's, but since then we have gained the utmost respect for preservation. Three rooms have Zebra wood window sills, the kitchen, dining room and guest room's both windows.
Moving into the kitchen for a few photos.
I love this little vintage terra cotta oil jar.
Awhile back I mentioned to John that I'd like to add vintage French pottery to our serving pieces. John loves eBay and here is what he purchased for our table.
Mid- century highly sought after French pottery by Villauris. Heavy rustic handmade pottery with pot and matching lid in like new condition. John won the bid for the amazing price of 11.99 and shipping was 13.78
The marking on the bottom of the pot.
I am very health conscious and perhaps a tad bit paranoid so we ran a lead test on it. The results were no lead present so I will enjoy using this pottery to serve food at our table. I purchased the First Alert test kit from Amazon.
In our Living room on our rustic chippy antique bench a Black and White Velvet pumpkin with real stems is displayed. Throughout our Row-home Velvet pumpkins appear. Half of them I made and the others were purchased.
Walking upstairs we pass by a yummy scented candle gifted to me from my friend Kris from Junk Chic Cottage.
The Halloween 31 pillow in our Sitting room upstairs is new for this year, purchased from ecarlateboutique on etsy. Loving the Black ticking and burlap.
The throw is from Kris at Junk Chic Cottage and was one of my Birthday gifts that last post I promised I'd show you where I placed this very soft throw and also where the Architects survey tool from Zinc landed in our home.
Both adding Fall warmth and charm.
I love the vintage Architects survey pole up against our exposed brick wall.
From England and in metic measurements.
Since I am one who always wants to know the legacy of a piece you can imagine my delight when we discovered the hand scratched marking of Riverside college of Technology in England. I enjoyed reading up about them on a goggle search.
Every season my Cherub I've named Sam sports a different crown and is reflective of the season.
By now you know somewhere a mouse would appear! Philadelphia's surprise long glorious Indian Summer is coming to an end and Autumn is starting to embrace our area. As in my style I leave you with a poem, but today I've written a poetic fable I hope you enjoy. The beauty of a Fable is they are make believe telling a story and ending with a moral. Here goes...
xx,
Vera
A kaleidoscope of colors in dappled sunlight all swirling into one.
Higher, higher he screamed, kicking the leaves was always such fun.
Jacket billowed, Russ's Red hair blowing about up on the swing in the old Oak tree.
Soaring high in the sky in Falls windy air a child could feel excited and totally free.
Brother and sister Russ and Autumn, fraternal twins who just turned 8 years old
Adventurous and energetic, touching the annual painted leaves of Russet and Gold.
Precocious and highly spirited they live right next door endearing themselves into my heart, oh my - these kids I totally adore.
I'm baking apple crisp pie from the ones picked yesterday by Russ and Autumn who turned it into an escapade and not a chore.
For over the years I've found it is easy to understand the true nature of a child by simply observing them at play for awhile.
Their reward for their hard work yesterday picking right beside me is Apple pie which I know will make them happy and smile.
Russ and Autumn just heard their Moms yell to come in and wash up because dinner is being served very soon.
Eyes darting about I knew they were looking for one more daredevil antic after playing outside the entire afternoon.
My freshly raked fallen leaves in neatly piled peaks made the temptation for Russ and Autumn ever so high
I placed the warm pie on the porch floor and joined in because sometimes there's no rhyme or reason why ...
and just by jumping into that raked pile of leaves if only for a few precious moments in time of mine,
vivid forgotten memories of childhood exuberance spent in play were recalled and instantly became divine.
© Vera
Sources:
http://zinchome.com/
http://junkchiccottage.blogspot.com/
