PUMPKINS!!!! this is my favourite time of the year because it means i get to buy ALL the pumpkins. i am beyond happy that i have an actual front porch to decorate. a cute, old, art craft style porch filled with so much original character. we gave it a little face lift this summer: new light, new mailbox, new paint, new rug & most importantly rocking chairs! since we purchased the house last summer rocking chairs for the porch was on our must have list. anyways, i am going to do a quick breakdown of all the changes & details below.

the light

i find the exterior porch light is such an important feature of any front entry. i wanted something very simple & minmal, yet still bold. the carson l-arm wall mount from rejuvenation was perfect! it has that industrial barn vibe with a modern twist. plus, you get to pick whatever colour you want too! i was going for a pitch black theme (no brass or gold.. for once) so i stuck with the matte black finish. i love how it looks & how it lights up our porch so nicely at night.

the door

oh, the door. do we paint it white, yellow or black?! justin & i just couldn't agree on the colour. this is the original door to the house, so it is solid wood & almost 100 years old. we really wanted to do it justice! yellow was the first one off the list cough, justin & then we finally decided on black. but not just any shade of black, we wanted it as black as black gets. who knew similar to white paint, there were SO many shades of black. we ended up going with pitch black by farrow & ball because i can't get enough of farrow & ball's paint! it is the exact look i had hoped for. no weird undertones, just black.

the rocking chairs

as i mentioned above, the rocking chairs were on our must have list as soon as we put an offer in on the house! with a porch like this, how can you not sit out front on a crisp fall morning, rocking back & fourth while sipping coffee or tea. these rocking chairs are the o&g rocking chair in black from rejuvenation. i can't even begin to describe how gorgeous they are. they are handmade in new york of solid ash wood & then stained (not painted) black so you see all the gorgeous wood grains come through. they are made by a company called o&g specifically for rejuvenation. o&g makes the most gorgeous wood furniture pieces! we are hoping to add a bench down the line too because of how in love we are with the craftsmenship of the rocking chairs. i kept things very simple as i wanted the chairs to be the focal point. just a little side table for a plant or to rest coffee and a book on in the morning.

the decor

last but not least to tie everything together we added a few accessories to the mix! a braided natural coir doormat, a vintage style mailbox (that i got for a STEAL because it is on clearence), a planter, a rustic twig wreath & pumpkins galore! i love the cinderella pumpkins most.. the blue, the pink & the funky shaped orange ones. they just look so whimsical & enchanted. who doesn't love a little fairy tale inspired decor for fall?

p.s. buddy welcomes you to modest house too:)

the great room is COMPLETE! okay, i'm not sure if this is technically considered a great room or just a living room but i like the term great room better. sounds more epic & i would say this room turned out just that. like i did with the powder room i am going to breakdown each design element for you! over all my goal with this room was to create a cozy, rustic, monochromatic all while keeping things a bit fancy. we decided not to turn this into a family room because the old features were way too classy for that. instead the family room is a work in progress! we are going to turn the third floor loft/attic space into the ultimate hangout zone. now let's get into the details of this room!

step one: the wallpaper & paint

putting in wallpaper here was a no brainer, just like the rest of the house. what started in just one room is slowly escalating to the entire house. i just love the charm it brings! for this room i wanted to do a subtle wallpaper, something i would never get sick of & that you only really notice if you look carefully. farrow & ball had the perfect print for that: amime. while this print is named after the space between netting inspired by japanese fishermen, i find it looks so woodsy! it goes perfect with warm woods & antler pieces. the actual colour of the wallpaper is farrow & ball's purbeck stone so it was a very easy decision to paint the rest of the room in purbeck stone. i chose farrow & ball's wevet for the fireplace + trim as it is a a bright white with the most subtle hint of grey. it makes for a clean, blank slate mantel for candle sticks, vases & of course a silver fox.

step two: textiles

there wasn't a whole lot of textiles to determine, mainly just the curtains, pillows & the rug. i chose simple white linen curtains from rough linen. they help bring in that old world charm while also providing the perfect amount of natural light & privacy. don't they just look so dreamy paired with that brass deer head curtain rod? secondly, i went with a mix of linen & mud cloth pillows from loom goods. i LOVE pillows so i added a lot to the room design & you can bet buddy has made every single one hers. she loves the down fill because she can shape it as she pleases. lastly... the rug! it was so hard to pick a rug that wasn't going to clash with the wallpaper. or so i thought! but the wallpaper ended up looking so simple that i was able to choose a rug that had a subtle design to it. this handwoven rug is the woodmere rug from rejuvenation. i love that it pulls in the whites, greys, black & even gold!

step three: the marble & brass

because this room is all pot lights thus doesn't allow for a bold light fixture, i really focused on the details of everything else. i added a marble fireplace hearth that i got custom made from a local stone shop, brass switch plates from rejuvenation, brass laterns, brass curtain rod & a brass table + floor lamp. the laterns & vases are from crate & barrel, the table lamp is from west elm (along with the couch/library chair) & the floor lamp is from restoration hardware. i saw a gorgeous coffee table from restoration hardware made from reclaimed wood, but justin & i cannot decide if we should splurge on it or not! the one featured here is a piece we made years ago when i found a brand new broken butcher block on the side of the road. the last little bit of detail i added in are the brass fireplace tools & long holder from crate & barrel. okay, so the fireplace doesn't ACTUALLY work at the moment. the previous owner closed off the chimney, so i can only imagine there is a major issue with it. one day we plan to get it back in use! for now the logs add a sense of warmth & coziness. while it sounds like i added in a ton of brass features, each is subtle & adds a touch of elegance to everything. i love bringing in golds without going overly gaudy. i also love a mix of old & new, i mean how perfect does that gold switch plate look next to the brass diamond door knob that is original to the house (as well as the french door)!

step four: wall art

i have the MOST trouble deciding on wall art. i never know what i should frame! but then i came across framebridge & it made everything so much easier. you get to custom frame your own prints & decide on all the details. naturally i framed a huge picture of buddy holly & judging by her face in all the photos she is pretty proud of it.

for a complete list of sources, check out the links below!