Unless you have unlimited time and wealth you probably want to add at least a few elements of classic style to your home—why? I’m so glad you asked…
Why Add Classic Elements to Your Home?
Why would you want to add classic decor elements to your home? To make your home timeless. You may not identify as someone who has or desires classic style; maybe your style is more Boho or Eclectic —that’s fine! Many Eclectic or Bohemian-style homes have several overarching classic elements to them. By adding a few classic elements to your home, you will save yourself the headache of feeling the need to switch everything out every few years. Some classic elements are big things that will save you money in the long run and some are small things you can add today to help tweak your home’s decor.
Light Walls
Deep, saturated, wall colors are in right now but they will come and go. Painting your walls white (the most classic option) or a light gray, cream, or beige are always safe options—just keep it light, and not too yellow if you go the beige route. Light walls also give you a blank canvas to work off of as far as the rest of your decor goes.
White Kitchen
Yes, I know, you think I’m biased because I have a white kitchen, but listen—if you look through magazines from years ago or from today you are going to come across a white kitchen. White kitchens may not be hot, hot, hot at the moment but how do you think the pendulum is going to swing after all these dark, moody kitchens have had their time in the limelight? A white kitchen is a classic. Another option is a wooden kitchen, but use extreme caution when choosing your cabinets. I personally would go with a medium tone, plain front, or very simple door if you are choosing a wooden cabinet option. Trending wood tones change every few years, but a classic wooden finish has some staying power. But I still think white is the safest option. 😉
Your Sofa
Velvet, pattern, stripes—these are fun options! But if you choose a big ticket item like a sofa, choose one in a gray or cream color for maximum staying power. Add color or a fun pattern in throw pillows, blankets, or even an accent chair if you so desire. These are way cheaper to switch out in several years than a couch.
Vintage
You’ve heard me say it before and I will say it again—adding vintage and antique pieces to your home will add classic elements to your home and make it timeless. There is a lot of vintage furniture out there to be had for a song! Go, have fun searching for it! And that console table your great aunt was trying to pawn off on you last week, call her back and tell her you’ll take it. And never underestimate what a coat of paint can do! After all, if someone walks into your home and can’t tell what year it is based on your decor—that is a very good thing!
Plants
Once again look through magazines from times gone by—what do you see in each room? I’ll bet that you see some green! Plants are a great way to add life, and a classic touch to any room. Check out my post, Plants that Even I Have Kept Alive, for some hardy options if you were not born with a green thumb.
Artwork
Are you a collector of art? Do you have lots of paintings and vintage art that you don’t know where to display? Adding art to your home is another great way to add classic style to your home. A gallery wall is a great way to do this, although it can be hard to nail (see what I did there?), to get it just right. If you aren’t quite brave enough to try a gallery wall, try leaning and layering art on your mantel, the top of a china cabinet, a piano, or on a floating shelf.
Candles and Candlesticks
Candles and candlesticks are another classic element, one that you can add quite easily and cheaply to your décor. Add some candle sticks to a vignette, tucked away in your china cabinet, or in the centerpiece of your table. Don’t forget to light a candle, the scent of which you enjoy while you are doing some cooking. Take advantage of mundane tasks to turn them into something special.
Curtains and Window Coverings
If you live in a place where you don’t have close neighbors, don’t feel the need to cover your windows with curtains! Curtains are not actually made to be drawn—maybe a few of the custom-made, heavily lined curtains were, but not the cute ones you bought off of Wayfair or from Home Goods. The purpose of these curtains is merely to add depth and warmth to your home. To actually block out the light, you want shades. There are a variety of options for shades today and you can find some really sleek options that look like part of the wood frame of your window so that when your shades aren’t drawn, you don’t even know that they are there.
As far as curtains go, if you want a genuinely timeless option go with white, or a very, very light neutral. Personally, expensive curtains are not something I would spend a lot on because they are such a fun, easy element to switch up!
I hope if you are struggling to add a touch of classic style to your home, or are debating about how to redo a part of your home, that this helps give you some food for thought and some fresh ideas to start playing and enjoying your home!
Ready or not, here fall comes! I love summer so much but I have to say fall is one of my absolute favorites when it comes to decorating! I’m not sure why—I guess in my mind the season conjures up pictures of cozy comfort, coupled with the fall scents, and adorable mini pumpkins that make a decorating season that can’t be beat! Here is a sneak peek at what is trending this fall.
Tons of Texture!
Texture it always in vogue, especially in fall but this fall in particular we are seeing lots and lots of texture. We are seeing terracotta pots, braided jute, chunky throws, fuzzy pumpkins; if it appeals to the tactile senses it is in!
How to Apply This Trend in Your Home
If you have a smooth vase vs a textured one opt for the texture!
Colors
I love color! The past few falls we have seen lots of neutrals in the fall décor. Last year we started to see pastels in muted shades of greens, blues, and even purples. This year the colors are coming in with a bang! We are seeing lots of super saturated colors—think mustard yellow, wine red, emerald green, and burnt orange—lots and lots of burnt orange! Additionally, we are also seeing navy blue (I like to call it denim blue because it has a touch more indigo to it than a traditional navy blue would), plum purple and browns. Yes, browns are starting to make an appearance again. We are also seeing dashes of washed-out pinks, dusty rose, and blush this fall—again paired with neutrals and wheat tones.
How to Use This Color Trend in Your Home?
We are seeing a lot of these color trends mixed with some lighter neutrals. Mix in these saturated tones with white, cream, and beige.
Naturals
We are seeing a lot of natural materials this year: wheat, dried grasses, preserved flowers (preserved flowers are my favorite). See my post A Third Option here to read more about ways to use dried flowers, feathers, wood and terracotta.
How to Incorporate This Trend into Your décor
Loop a strand of wooden beads over a pitcher that contains your preserved flowers or your gathered flowers. Add some feathers that you found to a vignette (see my post about fall vignettes here), or pull one of your terracotta pots from outside and use it inside this autumn.
Boho
We are seeing lots of boho-inspired décor this fall. If you love boho and have always wanted to add a little bit of this style to your home’s décor, try it this fall. Try adding a macramé wall hanging or a macramé hanging plant holder to your home and see what you think.
Landscapes
We are seeing more landscapes added into the décor this fall. I have always been a fan of landscape paintings and this might just be the year I make it a point to find one. Landscapes are always a timeless element and can be found very inexpensively in thrift shops or a yard sale so, if you, like me, have always loved a good landscape, don’t hold yourself back any longer!
Odd and Ends
In summary, we are seeing lots of saturated color in all of the burnt and darker shades of orange and yellow, and all of the neutral shades from white to deep brown. Texture is huge so try adding some form of it—you could even use a brick as a riser in a vignette! Terracotta, both as a material and as a color, is hot this fall. And, saturated colors mixed with the neutrals of the past few years is what you’ll be seeing all over Pinterest! Try adding in texture with a knit throw, or a fuzzy pumpkin pillow. This fall looks to be a very cozy one so jump in and get cozy this fall!
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These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
I knew a family that seemed to have it all. He was a successful lawyer, she a talented photographer. He had just made partner in a large firm, she had started her own business and it was going great. They had just moved into this big beautiful house tucked away in the woods. It was top notch technology in this house complete with the fanciest coffee maker I had ever seen. Their lives seemed utterly devoid of tribulation.
I pictured them on a quiet morning drinking their coffee from their fancy coffee maker and sitting on their flower-covered porch as the sun broke through the trees and filtered down onto the house. “How great their lives must be,” I thought. Imagine having such a beautiful, quiet start to your day!
I dream of having quiet mornings where I make my coffee and drink it on my back porch as I watch the sun crest over the distant hills. Of course I only get to do this sporadically–weekends, and the occasional work day that starts a little later than normal. But to do it every day? Heavenly!
Anyway, I Idealized their life in their beautiful house, choosing to see only that which I wanted to see in their lives. I would think of the picturesque setting and think how nice it must be to have a life like that. Then, as I got to know them better, I found out about the less beautiful side of their lives. About her health issues and all the complications they created. About the struggles they endured behind their smiles. And I realized I wouldn’t want to trade places as I once thought I would.
How often do we do this? Envying the part of someone’s life that we see while ignoring or not acknowledging the rest. We want to pick and choose the good, ignore the bad, and imagine that other people really do have the dream life that we always wanted. But it doesn’t exist–no one has the dream life.
The perfect life does not exist here on earth; we don’t know what people are hiding behind their smiles. We cannot envy the good in someone’s life and think that they don’t have struggles too.
We all have struggles in this life–Jesus told us we would! But He told us something else too. He told us that He has overcome the world. Did you catch that? He has overcome the world–the whole world, and all the troubles it contains. He has overcome the pain of loss, the discouragement of medical troubles, the hurt of betrayal. He has overcome it all–and through Him so can we.
If you are here, chances are you just might like my writing. (wink) If you Drop your email address in the box below I’ll save you time by emailing you the link every time a new post comes out!
Summer is here and that means longer days stretching out into beautiful evenings (we hope!). For me that sounds like the perfect reading paradise! If your reading list is a little lackluster this summer or, if you are like me, are simply looking for a new historical fiction title to add to your summer reading list, here are a few of my favorite historical fiction reads that I have recently enjoyed.
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
If you read Ms. Cleeton’s other books you won’t be disappointed by this one either! Instead of Cuba, this historical fiction story is set in the Florida Keys right before a catastrophic hurricane that hit the Keys during Labor Day weekend of 1935.
This story follows three women, each from different walks of life. Helen, a Keys native, is in the late stages of pregnancy and has been married to an abusive husband for nine years. With the baby’s arrival so close at hand, Helen feels a strong desire to protect her baby and escape the abuse—but is now the right time?
Next we meet Elizabeth, the spoiled daughter of one of New York’s social elite but since the crash her family has fallen from the high-up social circles of the day. With Elizabeth’s father and brother gone, and her mother mentally unwell, it falls to Elizabeth to fix the family’s financial situation which includes debts to one of New York’s most notorious men. Trying to find a different option than the one readily in front of her, Elizabeth goes to the Keys to find the only person she has left—her older half-brother. If she can find him, he may be able to save her—but will she be able to find him?
Then there is Mirta, a Cuba native, who finds herself quickly married off to an American man who has many secrets. Mirta is trying to navigate what a marriage with this man will look like—will it look like her parents’ marriage or will it be different? And what of all his secrets? Is Mirta supposed to live in the dark her whole life or is it possible to have a marriage of equals with this man?
The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd
This book was so well done! Indigo Girl is the true story of Eliza Lucas, a 16 year old girl left to run her father’s three plantations in South Carolina in 1739. The family’s finances are not looking good, her father has borrowed against their land to advance his military career, leaving Eliza with a mess on her hands. She needs to find a cash crop quickly or risk losing her family’s land—and her freedom when she is forced to wed to relieve the family’s financial burdens.
Growing up in Antigua, Eliza has seen the process of indigo making and knows it to be a very tricky process, but it could be just what she needs to save herself and her family. Will she be able to pull it off in time? Fans of America’s First Daughter and My Dear Hamilton will love this historical fiction work .
Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi
This story kicks off in Grand Bahama where the main character, Frannie Tasker, has grown up. She has been living there under the hand of her cruel stepfather, and has been dreaming of a chance to escape. Then one night the opportunity comes in the form of a shipwreck and a stolen identity. Before Frannie can second-guess herself she goes for it, escaping to America.
Never one to simply sit around, Frannie, now known as Emmiline Coats, soon covertly joins the Rebels’ side as a spy for Washington. Based on the little known facts of the true lady agent in the Culper spy ring, who was known as 355, this book takes a rather imaginative look at the possible identity of Agent 355. You will learn the events of the Revolution that Agent 355 is credited with stopping—events that if they had gone differently could have changed the outcome of the war.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
I read The Alice Network and really was not impressed, therefore I was unsure about picking up The Rose Code, but I am so happy I did! This piece of World War 2 historical fiction rotates between three friends who were all working on different aspects of the operation to break the Enigma. We meet Mab, who is a firebrand and has secrets she desperately wants to keep hidden. We meet Beth, a mousy little thing, who is used to living under her mother’s thumb but who has an incredible mind. Lastly, we meet Osla who is sick of being treated like a silly debutante and wants to use her language skills to help her country.
The story opens with Beth in a mental institution. How did someone like her end up in a place like that? And worse, what if she can’t escape before an experimental procedure is done on her brain? The story alternates between that point and five years earlier when they are working day in and day out to break the code in order to beat the Nazi’s and every decoded message could mean life and death to thousands of people.
Summer of ‘69 by Elin Hilderbrand
I talked at length about this book last year (see the full post here) but here is a quick overview of this historical fiction novel. This is a story set in Nantucket in the turbulent year of 1969. Ms. Hilderbrand does a great job of bringing the sights and sounds of Nantucket to life so that you can just about feel the sand under your feet! This story rotates between the four women of the family. I connected quite quickly to each of the characters in this book, and the struggles each of them face—unlike some books where I feel like I am just getting immersed in one person’s world when the narrator changes. Mrs. Levin struggles with the worry of a mother as her son is overseas fighting in Vietnam. Blair, the eldest daughter, is pregnant and struggling with loneliness as she must remain close to home this summer when usually she is at the seashore. Kirby, the middle daughter, is swept up in the civil rights and women’s rights protests of the day, which brings her close to some events that occur at the end of summer—an event we have come to know as Chappaquiddick. Last but not least, we meet Jesse, the youngest of the family who feels very much lost in the shuffle in light of everything her siblings have going on. Follow the Levin family on a summer that they, and America at large, will not soon forget.
