Update: In May of 2021, Sailor and I packed up our home, our lives and our cats, and moved 2,000 miles, from San Diego, CA to Fort Wayne, IN. Although we didn’t find a new home in Indiana with red shutters, we did find a cozy, airy ranch sitting on an acre of land, surrounded by beautiful green grass and trees. (I’ve nicknamed it “the Dupont house”.) But since Red Shutter Cottage is a frame-of-mind, I am keeping the name. To me, it represents an approach to living comfortably from season to season, in a home that serves as a restful haven, filled with warmth and beauty. If you are interested in reading about our journey, please click this link “Our Story”.
I am always reading about people who walk into Target, and find the most interesting, useful, super-cute things in the Dollar Section. I often would wonder, how do they do that? Are they in ‘Disneyland-Target’? Because I NEVER find cute, useful and interesting things in the Dollar Section.
Until now. My brother lives (for a little while longer) in another town about 90 minutes south of us. I was down there helping him with packing up his house, because he has bought a new house here in Fort Wayne, and is moving up here next week! None of which has anything to do with this post, except the “Target” part.
Brother and I walked into Target to pick up some packing items, and of course I beelined for the Dollar Section. And that’s where the magic happened. I found a small, lifted decorative board. You see them everywhere, and they are useful for so many things. And almost instantly, in my mind’s eye, I could see my new little lifted board looking like this!
At this point, maybe I should mention that I am decorating for fall for the first time in 2 years. During fall of 2020 I was recovering from a series of surgeries, and during fall of 2021 we were living in an 800 square foot apartment, waiting for the renovation work on our new NE Indiana home (“the Dupont house”) to be completed.
So here I am, thrilled to be able to decorate for fall, and even more excited to write a post about Fall 2022 in the Dining Room!
Even though I was holed up last year in a postage-stamped-size apartment, I couldn’t resist making a few fall purchases. The branches in the corrugated pitcher (Walmart) are from Meijer. A few of the pumpkins I am showing are from Hobby Lobby, and a few yards of a terra cotta window pane check fabric also came from Hobby Lobby.
For the past few years I have started to lean into a more curated look for my seasonal decorating. Hopefully what you see here translates those words into action. And I am by no means saying I have achieved the end goal. Old habits die hard, and I sense there is still a bit of “go big or go home” in my decorating instincts.
Let me introduce you to the newest member of our household: our china hutch.
Red Shutter Cottage, our home in Southern California had built-ins in the living room that stored my china and wine glasses. But the Dupont house, built in 1976, has no storage in the dining room or living room area. Pretty quickly I realized I would need a china hutch, and honestly, I could easily see where putting one against the back wall would help define the dining room area.
My inspiration piece came from Bonnie Mongeau Schmitt. She is the admin for the Facebook group “For the Love of Buffalo Check and Decorating”.

This beautiful china hutch is from Bonnie Mongeau Schmitt, who is the admin for a Facebook Group geared to lovers of buffalo check. And, that would be me.
What inspired me about her hutch was the warm color of the wood, and the simple, classic style. Clearly it’s beautifully made (it’s a Broyhill Attic Heirloom), and would look appropriate in any home, anywhere, for years to come.
It took weeks, actually months of combing Facebook Marketplace to find exactly what I was looking for, but that patience paid off.
I wanted upper cabinets behind glass doors. I also wanted a few drawers. But what I REALLY wanted, and was quite hard to find, was behind that row of closed cabinet doors. Behind those doors are 2 shelves that run the entire length of the hutch. Storage galore!

Those doors! Those doors! Hard to find, but worth the wait!
This little shelf in the middle with the mirror in back is just gravy.
I will leave you with a few pictures of the renovation work we did in this part of the house. The dining room is actually the back section of a long room that includes our piano and tv, a living room sitting area, and then finally the dining room. Please keep in mind that this room is far from finished. We’re at a sort of ‘here we are for now’ stage in this room.
Here are some pictures, both before and after, that help with understanding the layout of this room.

This is one of the listing pictures of the Dupont house. You are standing in the foyer; the front door is to your right.

New paint, new flooring, crown molding and baseboards. Done.

This is one of the listing pictures of the Dupont house. From this position you are looking towards the foyer; the front door is to the left of those closets.

This is one of the listing pictures of the Dupont house.
All we did in here (and the rest of the house) was change the flooring and the paint. This flooring was already in the kitchen and breakfast nook. We extended it into the family room, living room, and hallway. We painted most of the house with Sherwin Williams Cotton White, and then added crown molding and baseboards. As you can see, this south-facing room gets lots of light. (In the winter with snow on the ground, it’s like klieg lights!). I will do another post about the ‘living room’ part of this room soon!
Happy Fall from the Dupont house!
Kristine
Sharing at these link parties:
Create with Joy Inspire Me Monday // Life & Linda Love Your Creativity // A Pinch of Joy Busy Monday // Between Naps on the Porch Monday Metamorphosis // A Stroll Thru Life Inspire Me Tuesday // Follow the Yellow Brick Home All About Home // My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia Inspire Me Monday // My Family Thyme Tuesday Turnabout // Karins Cottage Linky Party // Eclectic Red Barn Wonderful Tuesday // Vintage Home Design Fabulous Friday // French Ethereal Share Your Style // Country Road 407 Farmhouse Friday //
Gorgeous as always! Glad yo hear that “Brother” is moving close to you! Exciting! Please send me his new address.
Thank you Nancy – I will do so! His new house is super-cute and he is so excited to be up here near Darrian and I. We are all about 11 minutes way from each other. Thank you for stopping by!
Hi Kristine. You have worked wonders with the house. Looks gorgeous. Love the flooring.
Thank you so much Sara! It’s a little different than our San Diego house! The flooring was already installed in the kitchen and breakfast nook area. We liked it too, and just bought more to extend through the rest of the house! We did do carpet in the bedrooms, but I do not miss having it in living areas!! Thank you for stopping by!
Your dining room looks lovely with your fall touches. Love the dining table display. How wonderful your brother lives close. I am happy to feature your pretty fall decor at Love Your Creativity. Happy Sunday.
Linda- Thank you so much for the feature! It means so much to me! This is my first blog post in 2 years, so I am still feeling my way a little bit! Again – Thank you!
Your home and new hutch is just beautiful! I love the transformation photos. I’m visiting from Linda’s link-up. So happy to meet you today! Happy fall!
Cheryl – I am so happy to meet you as well! I appreciate your kind words, and yes, the transformation has been an adventure! Thank you for stopping by!
I am in love with your hutch and those leaded glass windows? I am swooning over! So nice to meet you through Linda’s link party. Your transformation looks great too~
Cara – I wish they were leaded glass, but alas, it’s simply an overlay to make them look that way. Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful hutch, and I am so grateful to own it! Thank you so much for stopping by !
Wowza, your centerpiece with its Target riser looks amazing! Love the colors, the pitcher, everything. Not sure I would have had your kind of patience but so glad you did because the hutch was meant to be there. Hope you start linking up at Farmhouse Friday link party (Friday 6AM thru Monday at noon, CST). Saw this on Common Ground. Happy Fall!
Cindy – thank you so much for your kind words! I was willing to wait for that hutch because I knew it was out there, somewhere, just waiting for me!! I so enjoy reading your blog, and I would love to join Farmhouse Friday! You will see me there this week. Thank you again!