An Autumn Mantel

I'm fairly certain I was enjoying myself so much yesterday, that I was humming as I selected and arranged pumpkins on our mantel.

I just love our fireplace.

I knew I would love the look of it and relaxing by it, but I didn't realize that I would love it quite as much as I do. I spend as much time in this room as possible. In the morning light with a coffee and my study, cozied up with a boy on either side and a book before bed (currently we're enjoying The Indian in the Cupboard immensely!) and stretched out in front of the fire with a throw and the lights off while Ryan is working late and the house is quiet.

You can see in the photo above that we have temporarily put out a rug. It's much too small for the space, but we're waiting for a rug we've ordered from Pottery Barn that will fill the entire space. We just needed something to keep the couch in place,

I went back to the pumpkin stand just outside of town and spend longer than I should have picking through pumpkins and gourds, trying to find just the right shades and sizes and varieties.

I will endure a lot of comments over Thanksgiving for my lack of colour, but it looks just right. I often forget that for most of you, Thanksgiving is still weeks away. We're lucky to enjoy it this weekend!

The seeded Eucalyptus is something I always put in our arrangements at the store as it's whimsical and last forever.

And this nest was from my Oma's patio. She spent a season watching the Robin's putter about it. It was actually my sisters, but it sat around for weeks at the store, so I finally just brought it home. I wouldn't be surprised if I came down one morning and it migrated over to her apartment, which is next door.

Ryan laughed when I told him even the stems of the pumpkins have to be considered; ones with a slight curve, and good length are ideal. They must also be turned in a variety of ways.

He just laughed... But I secretly knew his inner design-background agreed whole-heartedly.

I just love when they have the little bits of stem still on them. It makes them even more charming.

It's so cozy.

Once the rest of the room is set up, I have a couple more things to put out.