falling in love with fall. {better late than never.}

this is the 2nd fall in our downtown farmhouse.  and boy has it been beautiful.  such nice weather and walkability.  i spent more time outside this past summer than i have in quite a while -- embracing my new neighborhood by opening our doors to the parade of homes and zeeland historic home tour, taking up running (1/2 marathon style, thank you.), walking to work, celebrating ordinary summer nights with neighbors and enjoying a little sun bathing on our new balcony.  (i am not usually a sun-aholic but it felt good this summer to let the heat soak into my skin.)

so it was hard to see summer end -- although i always, always have an extra sweet spot for fall.  and this fall has been extra zweet.  (the zeeland version of sweet.)  we have had beautiful weather and an active community.  i wanted to share a glimpse of some of the ways our little downtown farmhouse celebrated fall.

pumpkins, wreaths, mason jars, osage oranges...sounds like a perfect fall to me!



enjoy the last few weeks of fall everyone!

Linked to:

house of hepworths

layered rugs + master bedroom photoshoot.

plazarugs.com

so i'm going to ask the question: how do you feel about layered rugs?  i see it happening all over the place.  well, not all over the place, like not in boring places.  more like in anthropologie catalogs, country living magazines and in other intheknow design resources that i stalk.  check out some examples above and below..

housetohome.co.uk

apartmenttherapy.com

so, here's the question..can i pull it off?  read on.

somewhat unintentionally i have found myself collecting rugs.  it all started because i wanted something to put down in our master bedroom. 

1. because our dogs were scratching up our newly refinished floors.  bad dogs! 
2. because i wanted to absorb some of the extra floor space and make it feel cozier and
3.  to keep my tootsies warm.  (although this isn't really a big deal since i tend to wear socks to bed.)

so i was at ikea (thanks megan and marcus for taking me) and i found a great price on a big white rug that would fit under our bed and take up a lot of the extra, cold, floor space.  so i snatched it up, i also went home with a couple identical throw rugs that looked primitive to me.  i think they were like 4 bucks each.  score!  (when i am at ikea i tend to buy anything i see that looks primitive...mostly because i am so impressed to see that style in such a big modern warehouse of a store...i just can't resist.  especially when it's cheap.)

anyway, when i got the big white rug home and laid it on the floor it just looked big and white.  with the white bed skirt and the white curtains it was just a lot going on.  plus (although i should  have seen this one coming) the white rug has started to get quite dirty in the 2ish short months that we have had it.  thanks a lot york and finn.

but then last weekend taylor and i were at target and there was this bright yellow rug that matches like everything in my house.  i liked the color and the texture.  and the price (14 bucks.)  so it came home with me too. 

and then, without  planning it, i got the idea to start layering my rugs.  (the 2 matching ikea rugs had been folded in a corner for the last 2+ months since i bought them.) 

so what do you think?

yorker likes it.

here's your close up.

notice how much space i still have between the rug and the closet door.  just imagine if i didn't have the rugs there how bare it looked!

so, i think i am liking the layers.  but am i crazy?  does it just look sloppy or random?  be honest, now.  i might not take your advice (i tend to be bullheaded sometimes, right taylor?) but i really do appreciate feedback.  leave me a comment and let me know what you think!  thanks, in advance!

and now just a few additional shots of my master bedroom.  i figured while i had the camera out i might as well give you more to look at.

i'd still choose you. 

i bought that sign from my friend christy's tag sale last year.  fyi -- the 2011 tag sale is next week!  i can hardly contain myself i am so excited!  want to see what else christy does?  check out her blog

room 4 change

i realize my wreath is too high.  don't judge me -- i hung it up about 3 minutes into my photo shoot -- on my lunch hour and without a nail -- in other words -- it's just barely hanging on.  i was afraid to move it or i wouldn't get it back up in time to finish my blog.  i will adjust it later.  in fact, it has probably already fallen by now.  (haven't checked yet.) 

i think my bookpage wreath actually looks pretty cute there. 

may have just found a permanent home for that sucker!

ok, so i am all ears.  are the rug layers crazy like "oh abby, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"  or are they one of the coolest things you've ever seen like "oh! abby, you should be featured in a magazine!!"  :)

I beg your pardon.

Please allow me to beg your pardon.  It has been just shy of a year since I last blogged.  Inappropriate.  I know.  But, it's never too soon (or too late) to claim a New Year's Resolution, right?  So, Happy New Blog Year!!   Let's try this whole blog thing again and see if this time we can get it to stick...

Sometimes I might write this blog as though we're the closest of friends, and I will often make assumptions you know who & what I am talking about.  And other times I might write as though we're strangers and spend too much time describing people and places -- so just bare with me, please.  If you expect me to blog often you can't be too critical of my blogging style.  Deal?.

To Recap: Last year's blog was an account of the transformation and journey of our little old Zeeland (farm)house.  (We don't live on a farm.  We live in the city.  (a cute little city, called Zeeland, actually.)  But I tend to refer to our house as a farm house because, well, back in 1865  people lived on farms.  And, well, our style mimics that of an old farm house.  We're not so much country, not so much primitive, not so much vintage.  Just eclectic.  (that's the polite way to say "random") but somehow, it all seems to work.  Or at least I am hopeful that it works.  Updated Farmhouse.  That's us.

If you want the whole story on our new old little farmhouse, you can dig back deeper in this blog.  I think it's back there.  But here's the short version: the house was built in 1865.  It's the second oldest standing house in Zeeland (or so we've been told.)  Most recently the house has been a two family rental for 40+ years.  We bought it December 23, 2008 and started working on it January 2009. 

312 East Central BEFORE:

312 East Central: DURING

More DURING (poor thing!)

Ta Da!!  312 E. Central: AFTER

We moved in May 2009 and have been living happily ever after ever since. 

So who is the US behind this blog?  We're the deRoo's.  Taylor & Abby (mostly Abby...Taylor doesn't blog.  But you will hear about him a lot because he's great.)

We're just two young kids, pretending to act like grown ups when all we really want to do is play with our 'dales.  (Airedale Terriers: meet Finn & York.) 

Yorkshire deRoo - turns 4 yrs old January 2011

alias': Yorker Porker, Buster, Buster Brown Dog, Yorkerboy, Yorkchop

Finnley deRoo - turns 2 January 2011

alias': Finner, Finner bo, Finner b., Finner b. Good, Finner Finner Chicken Dinner, Skinny Finny

So this blog will vary on topics but you can mostly count on: crafts, decorating, fashion, airedales, and commentary on our little deRoo life.  But please understand that I am both obsessive and lazy at the same time.  I go in very sporadic streaks when it comes to follow through on my hobbies, which now includes blogging.  For example, this summer I read like 20 novels -- I couldn't get enough.  But now it's October and I haven't picked up a book since August.  My other hobbies follow similar patterns: cooking, running, visiting friends....and when it comes to crafts it's the same way.  Lately I have been making every craft I see -- but I make no promises that I will actually keep this up for an extended period of time.  Decorating is more of an ongoing hobby -- but of course this one relies on money and time.  (two things that us Zeelanders are pretty stingy about.)  !!  But regardless of my varying levels of ambition to create new projects...I am quite the self proclaimed blog stalker. I am very good at stealing style & craft ideas and combining them so it all fits together like a style dream!   

So...now that I have talked myself up :) .... let's see what kind of entertainment we can come up with.

This evening I am hosting a craft and wine night with my neighbor friends.  A couple are crafty and a couple, are, well....not so crafty. (girls, you know who you are.) Since I am hosting and taking on the roll of Martha Stewart for the night, I got to pick the crafts.  Here are the projects we are going to work on:

      My Book Page Wreath                        



You can find a how-to tutorial at here at Living with Lindsay.

Linked up at the Jones Design Company Link Party!



My Felt Birdie Pin

You can find a tutorial here at Lemon Tree Creations.

Corn Husk Wreath (I have made 3 but haven't taken pictures yet)

Picture and tutorial found here at House of Hepworths.

...and finally Potato Stamped Pumpkins

pictures and tutorial found here at Lemon Tree Creations.

I went craft binge shopping last night at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnn's to gather all of our supplies.  I just need to track down some extra large potatoes to carve my {FALL} stamps.  Not entirely sure how that is going to go...

wish us luck! 

um...by the way.  I am playing around with this new blog makeover...so don't be surprised if the look -- or the title changes as I go.  Just warning ya..