Innholdsfortegnelse for Autumn 2022 i Country Sampler Farmhouse Style

When the air gets a little cooler at night and the mornings bring a bit of a chill, we—as well as the natural world around us—start thinking about nestling into our warm homes. Animals do it by building cozy dens or hiding their food cache in preparation for winter. Trees and plants do it by dropping their leaves to create snug blankets around their bases—the perfect protection for their roots and the tiny seedlings that will emerge in spring. Humans, too, begin bundling up as autumn’s cool temps start becoming an everyday occurrence. How do you cozy up your home and your life as we head into this season? Do you trade your light summer dresses for thick woven sweaters? Do you pull out your puffy vests and comfy boots?…

Once summer winds down and the kids go back to school, many of us start thinking of ways to adorn our homes for autumn, long before a chill creeps into the air or a single leaf turns from green to gold. And what better place to begin that seasonal shift than the front porch, which offers the perfect opportunity to convey a colorful greeting to guests and cheer the spirits of passersby. We’ve gathered several great porch ideas to set your creative gears in motion. LAYER OF PROTECTION As a safeguard against leaks, fashion a liner from a plastic bag to place inside the moss pocket. DOUBLE UP Create a mirror-image crate arrangement opposite the first to frame a doorway or porch entrance. SEASONAL SWITCH Change the cuttings in your…

Fall might just be the best season for outdoor entertaining. Summer’s heat has faded, but there are still plenty of warm, sunny afternoons that extend into comfortably cool evenings. And nature’s emerging color show can provide a beautiful backdrop. Photographer Jenny Custock couldn’t agree more—to celebrate her November birthday, she invited friends to an intimate backyard dinner party bursting with boho style. “I have always loved having a fall birthday, ” she says. “Fall is my favorite season.” Jenny and her husband, Chad, own a photography business that specializes in weddings, so she asked some of her favorite vendors—who have become friends over the years—to help her put together the details. She decided to host the get-together at her parents’ San Francisco Bay Area home because the property offers striking…

DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY. Whether it’s turning copper pipe into a curtain rod or using an old bedspring to hold a decorative pumpkin, most any found object can be utilized when styled with confidence. MOVE FURNITURE FROM ROOM TO ROOM.Just because a pie safe has been living in the kitchen doesn’t mean it wouldn’t make a great bedroom bookshelf. “I use pieces all over the house, indoors and outdoors, ” Donna says. “Just shop your house and change your room around; use the same pieces in a different area, and it totally changes the feel.” EMBRACE DIY. We can’t all claim a carpenter in the family, but we can look for potential with a creative eye. It might be easier than you think to craft what you’re looking for. If…

1. ANTIQUE CUPBOARDS AND CABINETS. These types of furnishings have stood the test of time. Use them for storage and also to make a statement in any room. 2. SCALES. Style household or commercial scales simply by placing seasonal items on top. They can elevate displays, and they make especially nice additions to kitchen decor. 3. SILHOUETTES. Before cameras captured our images, many people turned to silhouettes for inexpensive portraits. Kaley includes these old-school keepsakes in her gallery walls for graphic impact. 4. MIRRORS. Display a whole collection of mirrors or just sprinkle them throughout the house. They can bounce light around and are great for making rooms appear larger. 5. ACCENT RUGS. Layered or used solo, rugs bring in pattern and texture while helping to define areas. “They warm…

You can go home again—just ask Dena Breitmeyer. She and her husband, Aaron, and their teenage children, Allyson and Preston, finally returned to their Michigan hometown in 2017 after moving 17 times for Aaron’s engineering career. “We were homesick and ready to move back to raise our children near our families,” Dena explains. “I have 11 siblings and missed them all terribly.” The Breitmeyers searched for months before Aaron came across a 65-acre parcel of land about 20 miles outside of Traverse City. He fell in love with the creek that ran through the property and the surrounding views of rolling hills. “As soon as he walked on it, he knew,” Dena says. Determined to live debt-free, the couple decided to construct a small cottage to live in while working…

Are you ready to give your home a little DIY love? Our designers have packed this section with fresh fall projects and inspiring everyday updates. We have a new crop of no-carve pumpkin ideas so you can use vintage chenille remnants, rustic chunky paint, wood slices and wax drips to fashion unique designs. Looking for a stunning centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table? We have three different options for you to choose from. If you’re ready to tackle a bigger project (your fireplace—hint, hint), we offer clever suggestions to give that structure more style. And if an autumn wedding is in your future, you’ll fall in love with all the beautiful and budget-friendly ideas in this issue.…

1. Use what you have. Jessica advises shopping your own home first for items that can be repurposed as wedding decor, such as furniture, crates, baskets and books. 2. Make something new. If you or your loved ones are handy or crafty, consider going the DIY route for some items. This can lend your wedding a custom touch. Choose projects that can be completed quickly and inexpensively, such as Jessica and Michael’s wood arbor or cow-tag guest book. 3. Borrow from a friend. Politely ask those around you if they’d lend you items for your event. Jessica borrowed many of the vintage furniture pieces from her florist, and most of the jewelry she wore belonged to her bridesmaids. 4. Rent basics locally. For items such as folding tables and chairs,…

NEST SET Need help pulling together groupings of home accents? Nest Set offers designercurated sets of home decor items, including books, pillows, throws, candles, trays and art, for specific areas of the home. There are groupings for the coffee table, sofa, bookshelf and more. Customers can purchase predesigned sets or mix and match to create assortments based on their home style, desired price range or a particular color. https://nestset.com LONE FOX Get a peek at a variety of room makeovers, DIY projects and more on the Lone Fox YouTube channel operated by Drew Scott, a Los Angeles-based interior design enthusiast. One of his video series, What Would Drew Do, focuses on providing budget-friendly design solutions to viewers’ decorating dilemmas. You can submit your problem space for possible inclusion in a…

As the saying goes, home is where you make it. And these four homeowners have made homes that perfectly suit their families. See how an Ohio couple downsized but carefully created the farmhouse look they still love. Learn how an 1812 Federal-style Connecticut home provided the historic details and charm that one couple craved. Enjoy reading about a North Carolina pair who moved from the city to the country and started a hobby farm. And see how after 17 moves, a Michigan family returned to their hometown to build their forever home.…

After years of living in rental apartments and a newer house, Kaley and Jaryd Cutting were ready for a home with history. In 2020, they found a charming Federal-style house in Canterbury, Connecticut, that fit the bill. Dating back to 1812, the residence offered not only 200-plus years of character but also a compelling backstory, as it was once owned by the brother of teacher and activist Prudence Crandall, who founded one of the first schools for African American girls in Connecticut in 1833. The Cuttings were attracted to the home’s many period details, including its original wood floors, seven fireplaces, arched doorways, and handcarved crown molding with rosette details. They were also relieved that the structure had been updated for the current century. “We were just waiting to find…

When Penny and Roger Ausley found themselves approaching an empty nest, the North Carolina natives decided to sell their family home in town and move a few miles away to a place in the country. The couple bought 8 acres in rural Burlington, built a single-story house and started a hobby farm, populating it with feathered and furry family members, including chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl and rabbits, and christening it Happy Days Farm. In addition to their new house, the Ausleys constructed a fancy chicken coop and a fenced raised-bed garden. One feature on the property is not new, how-ever—Penny’s 1800s log cabin, a cherished one-room structure with a loft that she has now moved twice. “Of course, my little cabin had to come with us, ” says Penny, who…

“It’s so easy, ” Dena says of the stenciled treatment in her master bedroom. She likes the technique because it’s less of a commitment than wallpaper. Below is an outline of her process to get you started. Find detailed instructions and a materials list on her blog at https://fletchercreekcottage.com, and watch a video demo on her YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/fletchercreekcottage. 1. Prep the walls by removing any nails or hooks and filling holes with drywall compound. Let dry and then sand and wipe with a slightly damp rag. 2. Tape off trim and remove switch plates. Protect flooring with a drop cloth, plastic tarp or large trash bag. 3. Paint the walls with your desired background color. 4. Secure the stencil on the wall using strips of painter’s tape. 5.…

1 Layered Makeover Textured trims and fall-hued ribbon give this pumpkin its autumn farmhouse feel. Choose a papier-mâché pumpkin and cut around its stem to remove it and create a hole. Set the stem aside. Cut a similarsize hole on the bottom of the pumpkin. Measure and cut rust-colored ribbon and various natural trims into lengths that can be secured inside the top and bottom openings. Cover the pumpkin completely with the ribbon strips, securing the ends inside the holes as you go. Alternate and attach layers of trim, using wider pieces first and then filling in with narrower pieces. Wrap the cut-off stem with jute twine in a spiral fashion, adhering with hot glue. Create tendrils from lengths of trim and attach them inside the top hole. Replace the…

Every home has at least one or two clocks hanging on the wall, and in many farmhouse homes, one of them is likely to be oversized. The trend toward extra-large wallclocks may have started through inspiration from industrial style factory or commercial clocks, which were made larger to suit the spaces they served. Today’s newer homes also feature larger rooms and higher ceilings, which call for appropriately scaled decor. Extra-large clocks can become a focal point or balance a substantial piece of furniture in these expansive areas. To best appreciate this category of modern clocks, it’s helpful to consider its place in the history of timekeep- ing. Early methods for measuring time involved sunlight, sand and water, which were neither accurate nor reliable. Mechanical clocks arrived on the scene in…

What shall we do with the walls? This question always poses a challenge. As you weigh your options, favor function before form. Here are some helpful considerations: High-Traffic Areas. Do family members, pets and guests regularly pass through the space? Do you have a catchall for coats, bags and shoes? If so, emphasize durability. Install wood wainscoting or board-and-batten in entries, mudrooms and laundry rooms. Low-Light Spaces. Do you have a windowless room or an area that receives little daylight? Powder rooms, pantries and walk in closets are ideally suited for vibrant paint colors, imaginative stencils or bold wallpaper patterns that cover the walls and ceiling. Include an eye-catching light fixture to complement the design with ambient light. Formal Settings. Living rooms and dining rooms traditionally boast decorated walls that…

When Donna and Randy Van Horn began the search for a smaller home in 2013, they weren’t expecting to buy the first place they toured. But after one visit to the 1970s three-bedroom ranch on a tree-lined cul-de-sac outside Columbus, Ohio, that’s exactly what happened. “We got in our car, drove away, and my husband said, ‘Let’s go look at it again, ’ ” Donna says, laughing. “So, we did, and he was ready to make an offer.” The couple’s attraction to the property wasn’t immediately clear to everyone—the house sported red walls and tatty carpeting, and it was just over half the size of the home they had lived in for three decades. However, the Van Horns could see it had major potential. The kitchen and the living and…

When Kaley first began frequenting antiques shops, she didn’t have a game plan. “I would just grab anything that made my heart happy, ” she says. While sparking joy is still crucial, today she’s more purposeful about the items she chooses. Before heading out to shop, Kaley makes a list of exactly what she’s looking for and notes what her budget will be. As she scours a store for her wish-list items, she’ll snap photos of where she saw each item and its price tag. “Then I can keep looking and see if I find something better before I snag it, ” she explains. In choosing where to shop, Kaley says to consider both variety and pricing—and she strongly suggests visiting shops with numerous booths rather than a single seller.…

Size and site. Each raised bed should be at least 3 to 4 feet wide, with a depth of 8 to 12 inches to allow roots to grow down and out. The location you select should receive at least 6 to 8 hours of full sun each day and be near a water source where you can hook up a soaker hose or fill a watering can. Building materials. You can purchase raised-bed kits, or fashion your own beds from wood boards or timbers, concrete blocks or corrugated metal sheets. Search online for easy instructions. You can also find elevated raised beds, which are ideal for gardeners who wish to avoid bending. Produce protection. To keep your backyard bounty safe from critters, surround your raised beds with fencing backed with…

* Neutral territory. Don’t feel like you must stick to a standard fall palette. One year, all the pumpkins Dena planted came up white and yellow. Rather than fret or head to the farm market, she embraced the unexpected. “Who says you have to use orange and dark colors for fall?” she asks. “I say use what you love, or in my case, what the garden gives you.” * Gathered goods. Forage for easy-care naturals like Dena does. “One of my favorite ways to decorate for fall is to scavenge the yard or flower garden and make a dried flower arrangement, ” she says. “I love the look of dried flowers for fall, and the best part is they’re free- and there’s no watering required!” * Mum’s the word. Make…

Spruce Up with Color and Pattern Bring new life to a fireplace using paint and faux cement tiles with tips from Stacey Risenmay of Not Just a Housewife. She took her sister’s fireplace from boring to beautiful in just a few steps. To complete a similar project, prep your mantel and surround first by filling any knotholes or imperfections with wood putty. Let the putty dry and then sand the areas smooth. Sand all the wood lightly with 150-grit and 220-grit sandpaper. Tape off any areas you don’t want painted. Apply three thin coats of gray paint using a paint sprayer. Paint your existing tile’s grout lines the same color if desired. When the paint is completely dry, apply peel-and-stick vinyl tiles over the original tiles. Stacey chose a moody…

On a sunny day in late October, Jessica and Michael Sigmon exchanged heartfelt vows on their family farm in Claremont, North Carolina. The warm autumn afternoon was perfect for an outdoor wedding, as tractor-pulled hay wagons transported guests to a rustic hay barn for the ceremony and past grazing sheep and cattle to the reception area. The guests enjoyed dinner and dancing, speeches and photos, all capped off with an amazing country sunset. It was a day the Sigmons will never forget. And the best part? They won’t be paying it off for years to come-the couple set a budget of $5,000 for the 150-guest event, and they stuck to it. As the creative spirit behind the Itty Bitty Farmhouse blog, Jessica is a pro at transforming inexpensive finds into…

CLASSIC MEATLOAF Serves 6-8 You don’t need to turn on the oven to “bake” this quintessential comfort food. Follow instructions from Blair Lonergan of The Seasoned Mom, who adapted her mother’s traditional meatloaf recipe to suit the low-and-slow cooking method. INGREDIENTS 2 pounds lean ground beef (or a meatloaf mix consisting of ground beef, ground veal and ground pork) 1 cup finely diced onion 2 eggs ½ cup breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1½ teaspoons salt ¾ teaspoon pepper ¼ teaspoon dried thyme ½ cup ketchup INSTRUCTIONS 1. Spray the interior of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. 2. Gently combine all ingredients (except ketchup) in a large bowl. Do not overmix, or the meat will be tough. 3. Shape beef mixture into a loaf and place in…

1. Choose Cheap Cuts. Tough cuts of meat are easy on the wallet and will become amazingly tender when cooked slowly at a low temperature. Leaner cuts tend to dry out in a slow cooker. Look for beef chuck roast, pork shoulder, chicken thighs or lamb shanks. Trim away any excess fat before cooking to minimize pooling oil. 2. Opt for Easy Recipes. Slow cookers are designed to work while you’re away, so choose simple recipes that require the least additional work from you—before, during and after the cook time. See the possibilities by searching “slow cooker dump dinners” online. 3. Cut Veggies to Uniform Sizes. For even cooking, chop larger produce into smaller, similarly sized pieces. This is especially important when using root vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes,…