My Cottage Kitchen Freshened Up For Autumn

Budget: Zero

It should be noted that my dearest friend is a lot better at every facet of decorating than I am. She decorates for the holidays and seasons with such vigor, I get exhausted just scrolling through the glamorous pictures she sends me via text. Much to my own disappointment, and perhaps the disappointment of my wonderful husband who grew up in a very seasonally-decorated home, I’ve never been the sort of homemaker that can manage to pull off such decadence.

Subtle and understated, however, I can do.

I didn’t step into my roll as homemaker until my first baby, Georgia, was born. Until then, Stuart and I were simple newlyweds, working outside the home full time. Our home was special, a place of peace and refuge for us both, but remained a bit of an afterthought to an otherwise busy work schedule. In those days, we shared much of the homemaking tasks as our time was limited and scheduled.

When we welcomed Georgia into our family, I looked up at Stuart from the hospital bed, eyes dripping with happy tears, Georgia swaddled up against my chest. I explained that I could in no way leave her. Ever. That she was me and I was her and she belonged in my arms and by my side. The mother in my woke from her adolescence and stepped confidently into this newly born role of being Georgia’s haven, her refuge, her safety, her heart. I was her home.

I left my job and we scraped by on Stuart’s salary that he pulled weekly from stocking shelves at the local grocery store (which, as you can imagine, was not excessive). He was also a full time student at the local college and we knew that we would be facing… to put it nicely… some severely lean years.

That financial draught happened simultaneously to my new baby and I beginning to blossoms as a duo at home. I took note of the feeling of a clean house on Friday afternoons and the way a loaf of bread from the oven made the kitchen dance with pleasure. I learned to roast a chicken and took pride in the home economy of cleaning and folding stacks of cloth diapers. I began to decorate as I could, with frames and throw pillows from our local thrift stores. I planted my first garden and created a chore schedule to make sure all the tasks at home were attended to well. (If you really want to time travel, you can read more about that here.)

Point being, I grew into a homemaker when times were tough.

Perhaps old habits die hard, but when I face a new season as a homemaker, my initial reaction isn’t to go and buy this or that. I don’t have any “Happy Fall” signs outside the door or plastic pumpkins propped up strategically next to bales of straw.

Rather, my transition to Autumn always comes inexpensively and organically from what’s around me. As you’ll see in this week’s video, much of my quarterly kitchen turn-over comes from deep cleaning and giving thanks for a job well done over the past season.

Then, for extra joy, I layer in what I can find around the farm:

dried flowers

bundles of herbs

stacks of firewood

bouquets of whatever fresh flowers remain

produce from the fading gardens

I couple these with freshly ironed hand towels and perhaps a new repurposed curtain or two, and there she is. The Autumn Kitchen.

And lest we forget the cherry on top for the season, a garland of fresh hops hang over each of my kitchen windows. Hops dry beautifully and will remain up in my until spring. In the winter, they get a string of lights for additional flare before being taken down and burned in the early spring as a symbol of new life. It’s a delightful little tradition.

I hope you enjoy our time together in the kitchen today as we clean, refresh, and reset for the new season ahead. May your own kitchen be blessed!

Cheers,

Shaye