Seasonal Spice

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

Seasonally Speaking...

Remember back “in the day” when your mom (or perhaps grandma) would re-arrange the furniture for the seasons? Or decorate the dining room in fall colors? Maybe she even changed out the china in the hutch or hung weightier curtains as the weather got cooler. Whatever the changes were, you knew that she had officially acquiesced to the changing of seasons. And those changes were exciting, weren’t they?

But somewhere along the way, we stopped putting out the winter linens or forgot to change the guest bathroom towels. Did we get lazy or did fashion simply stop favoring the more refined subtleties of seasonal decorating? When did the gaudy ostentatiousness of overt holiday-esque brick-a-brack supplant the discriminating aesthetic of good taste?

Well, I am here to tell you that those ideals are not completely forgotten nor lost. In fact, recognizing the seasons through your décor can be a rather simple endeavor; at once exhilarating and rejuvenating to your home. One simply has to try and forget (for a short while) that we live in a climate of two seasons. I don’t have to tell you what they are.

To start, one has to simply define what the fall and winter seasons mean to them; what invokes the memory of a sublime fall morning or a chilled winter night? For me the answers are color and texture. Warm, earthy, things-growing-on-a-vine colors have always made me think of fall pumpkins, piles of raked leaves, and crisp mornings. Off-white linens with shimmering details; throws to snuggle up in and stark contrasts of black, blue-gray, and silver have always made me think of long Wisconsin winters.

Our “before” picture shows a rather contemporary living space with all the potential for moving gracefully season to season without drowning in the festoons of Yule trappings. Beginning with a fall-oriented look, I gathered fabrics of a decidedly warm palette: rusts, golds, and greens. Covering pillow forms is a simple enough task; if one can sew a straight line one can make a new pillow in minutes for a fraction of the cost you’d pay at a department store.

Designer’s Tip: a raised fireplace hearth is a perfect opportunity for additional guest seating.

Simply soften with bolster pillows.

By keeping the décor on a coffee table to a simple minimum, you can continue the seasonal look without sacrificing functionality. A simple dish lined with fall “faux-liage” and nested with autumn-inspired decorative glass ornaments creates a striking look with barely any effort at all.

In our winter look, the stage is the same, merely the coverings have changed. This is the perfect time to bring out personal mementos and family treasures to share with friends, such as antique mercury glass finials or a great-grandfathers’ pocket watch. Sparkle and drama have been infused with the softness of a faux-fur throw and plenty of pillows for lounging while you and your guests ponder resolutions for the coming New Year.

Why not resolve to bring a little Normal Rockwell into your home by decorating like mom did?

Article appeared in our 26-4 Issue - October 2009