2024 Fall Living Room

Welcome to the 2024 Fall Living Room at the Dupont house. Right now, we are in the middle of October, and the whole of NE Indiana is ablaze in copper, terra cotta, golden yellows and burgundy reds. 

I simply cannot compete with that, so I won’t even try.

When Sailor and I were taking down the Fall bins, I noticed that my bin count seems to have gotten smaller. And then, when I felt I had everything that I wanted out and done, I realized we were putting bins away that still had some items in them. 

No one would make the mistake of calling me a minimalist.  But like many others, I am realizing that bringing the warmth of Fall into the Dupont house is not about quantity. It’s about a curated, thoughtful approach. Less busy, less crowded, less overdone. (Well, maybe except for the dining table…see below.) More simple, more inviting, more charming.  

In many of my past posts about the Dupont living room, I kept saying that adding a new sofa is on the ‘to be done’ list.  As you can see, it became a ‘to be did’. 

When the new sofa finally did deliver (we ordered it in late May, it arrived in late July!), I fully expected we would send the consignment-shop-Ethan-Allen blue love seat onto its next new home, either via Facebook Marketplace, or the curb.   But it was not to be.  Sailor had a vision of keeping the love seat, and turning it at a 90-degree angle to the new sofa.  I thought it would look crazy; I thought wrong.

Coming in from the front door, you are ‘greeted’ by the back side of the loveseat.  It’s a little bit off putting, until you get past the love seat. When you come around the corner, the cozy, conversation corner just jumps out at you.  Of course, the fabrics are a little off kilter, but my brain is (slowly) processing the options to make the two pieces more visually harmonious.

No doubt you have come across this problem; when you add a piece of furniture to a room, something has to give, or has to go. That’s when the domino effect kicks in. Such was the case with us.  We (forever) had 2 chairs against the window, with my Grandmother’s mahogany tilt table between them.  When the sofa arrived, and the love seat took a 90 degree turn, there was no longer room for 2 chairs. 

The bigger of the two chairs (the ‘miaow’ lounger, you may recall) was marched out to the workshop.

The smaller of the 2 chairs moved into its place, and the table cozies up to it.  As soon as I saw this new grouping, I thought “reading nook”. 

So, I pulled this thrift store lamp out of the guest room, stacked some books under the ivy, and added a little ceramic pumpkin from Sur la Table (back when they actually had retail stores…).  I’m pretty pleased with it; I’m finding myself very drawn to Instagram and FB Reel homes that show a look of curated groupings conveying warmth and hospitality. 

The coffee table in this 2024 Fall Living Room is layered, starting with a runner from Bed, Bath & Beyond (back when they actually had retail stores…oh, did I say that already?), and one of my favorite (San Diego) thrift shop baskets.  The pewter pitcher was my Mother’s, and the candle holder is part of a trio I have had for years.  The little metal basket is the rookie of the group, a local thrift shop discovery. 

On the sofa and love seat are a collection of fall pillows.  Actually, out of all the pillows, only 4 could be considered “fall pillows”. (I will talk about the ‘background pillows’ in a bit.) (And yes, they have increased the overall count of my “100’s of Pillows”!) 

On the sofa are these ‘leaf’ pillow covers that are my favorite.  I cut them out from a tablecloth I found at Home Goods, but there was only enough of the leaf pattern to make 2 pillow covers. I love how they ‘say’ fall without all the shouting.

On the love seat are 2 pillow covers from another pumpkin/leaf pattern. I like the pattern, but the tablecloth fabric was a bear to work with so I quit at two covers. 

Next on the 2024 Fall Living Room tour, we are going to sneak around the dining table and take a little view of the (Facebook marketplace) hutch. 

A simple grouping of 3 mason jars in a wire frame, complemented with Fall picks and Fall crackle glass candle holders.  (I think that pillow ticking runner has been sitting there all year…!)

Then we get to this…

I was really at a loss as to what to do with the dining table.  But I still had one more bin that contained all my oversized pumpkins.  So, I pulled out my Mother’s flower cutting basket, and dumped the contents of the bin into it.

Okay, I didn’t actually dump everything out.  I did a little bit of arranging, but something was still missing.  I pulled out these vines of leaves (they’re everywhere in thrift shops), and created my own little “pumpkin patch”. 

Will somebody please pull out my soap box, because I’m about to jump on it! I put this whole 2024 Fall Living Room together using thrifted support players, some family heirlooms, and my inventory of fall fruit and fall accessories that I have had for literally years. 

Can I please bore you with a list of all the NON-Fall items in the room? A stack of old books, an ivy plant, a woven basket, a pewter pitcher and black candlestick holder.  A flower cutting basket, a trio of mason jars in a wire carrier. A black pillow ticking runner and a spring green buffalo check runner.

A handful of neutral colored throws.  Background pillows in taupe buffalo check, terra cotta window pane check, and a green gingham check.  

All of these “neutral” accessories could be (and often are) called into service at any time of the year. By incorporating these ‘support players’, I can bring a Fall feel into the room without having to resort to bins and bins of Fall décor. (Which is not to say I haven’t had my years of bins and bins of Fall décor.)

I always like to say that the big pieces like couches, love seats and chairs should be in neutral colors as well.  But with a blue and white love seat that’s not playing well with a neutral colored sofa and the arm chair, I guess I don’t really have a leg to stand on!

 Yet, the basic truths still hold true. Buy what you love, even if you don’t immediately see where it will go.  One day your eye will look at a coffee table/mantel/book shelf/dining table and you will see exactly where it will go. 

Invest in basics, even (or especially) while thrift shopping.  Over and over again, I am simply gob-smacked at the beautiful pieces people let go of. I recently scooped up a cottage-y blue tea pot with the most charming details.  I make my afternoon tea in it.  Every. Single. Day.

 If asked, I will say Fall and Christmas are my two favorite decorating seasons (with Early Winter skidding in, just under the wire!).  But they are both VERY different for me.  For me, Fall represents a sense of deep calm, a feeling of settling in.  The rich dark colors in the leaves, and by extension in my decorating, just wrap me a cocoon of relaxation and respite.  In whatever way Fall speaks to you, I hope it brings you and your family a sense of joy and delight watching Mother Nature unfurl her beauty in this annual ritual.

P.S….if I may?    A few days ago, I volunteered for a canine trial taking place at a (locally famous) farm and event center.  We had to arrive by 7:25 AM, when it was still pitch dark.  After our orientation, we walked outside the building to get to our ‘posts’.  As I stepped out to cross the road, I swiveled around to catch the sunrise, and whipped out my phone as fast as I could.  Here are the results. 

From our home to yours!

Kristine