To add instant character with some French country style to a modern-built house, incorporate architectural salvage pieces in your decor. Your house may not have wood beams, plaster walls, or limestone floors, but vintage architectural fragments can be used to give your house French country charm. 

A hand-carved wood fragment can be turned into a lamp base, a candle holder, or used as an accent by itself. 

French Country Kitchen Summer to Fall

Transitioning from summer to fall is often so subtle in my French Country kitchen in Texas you may miss it. Yet, there are a few changes already at my house now in August.  

If you are ready for some small changes from summer in your home, but are not ready for pumpkins and mums, I have a few ideas you may like for how to ease into fall decorating. 

Pantry Makeover Plans

Spring is not the only time for deep cleaning a house. After taking a discerning look at my kitchen pantry, I realized a deep cleaning and makeover were way past overdue. 

It has only been 30 years since the interior was painted. 

Here is the pantry door... just to the left of the stone wall in the kitchen.

Pine Chest Vignettes | Fall and Winter

F A L L   &   W I N T E R  

PART 2 OF A 2-PART SERIES 

Last week you saw Part 1, Spring & Summer, vignettes on the pine chest that sits between my living room and kitchen. All with tips for how, where, and why to place items in arrangements. 

Here is Part 2, a collection of fall and winter vignettes. The collection is filled with easy to find, easy to do, and inexpensive items, and every arrangement has tips about how to create similar ones in your home.

Pine Chest Vignette Tips | Spring and Summer

S P R I N G   &   S U M M E R 

PART 1 OF A 2-PART SERIES 

As the seasons change, so does the vignette on the pine chest at the end of my stone fireplace. A few things stay the same year round. The lily print, the small lamp, and a varying stack of books anchor the chest's arrangements as seasons come and go. 

As you look through the photos of how the pine chest vignettes changed during spring and summer of years past, watch the book stack go up and down in number and in change of titles. Notice also the changes in the base of the lamp. 

One of the ways I find ideas for new arrangements is by studying Instagram, Pinterest, and other blogs. Invariably something catches my eye and sparks a vision for the top of my pine chest. And, if the photographer/writer shares bits of her design process, I take note for ways to improve my own. Thank you, StoneGable,Home is Where the Boat Is, My French Country Home, . . . 

Then I dissect my mental notes for patterns, techniques, and principles. 

Just like attending interior design classes, but in my nightgown curled up in bed.  

You may find some of my insight for creating vignettes helpful to you in creating your own vignettes.  

. . . like a PRO. . . StoneGable, Home Is Where the Boat Is, My French Country Home . . .  

Late Summer Patriotic Porch Ideas

The beginning of August is not really late summer, but now is the time to think about your late summer patriotic porch ideas. 

Labor Day is a perfect time to decorate with patriotic items. By getting your ideas together now, you can decorate before Labor Day so you can enjoy the way your porch looks for several days, not just for the three-day weekend. 

PIN ⤴ to your patriotic board so you can find these ideas again. 

Ready to see ideas of how to give your porch a patriotic look?