The Things We Bring Out Every Autumn
There is something about autumn that makes me want to bring familiar things back into the house.
Maybe it begins with the first hint that summer is finally loosening its grip. The days grow a little shorter, the evenings begin to feel different, and suddenly I find myself thinking about pumpkins, candles, old decorations, and all of those little things that have been tucked away waiting for their season to return.
We tend to think of decorating as making a room look pretty, but I think there is more to it than that. The things we bring out year after year become part of our memories.
One of my autumn tables from 2015. Even a simple table can hold memories of a particular season and time in our lives.
I took this photograph of my fall table back in 2015. Looking at it now, I notice the little amber glass pumpkins, the pinecone and candle in the center, the dishes waiting at each place, and all that wonderful autumn light coming through the windows.
But what I really see is a moment in time.
That is one of the things I love most about photographs. A table that was simply set for the season becomes something quite different ten or eleven years later. It becomes a little doorway back to an ordinary day that might otherwise have slipped quietly away.
I think seasonal decorations can work the same way.
There are always new things that catch our eye, of course, but often the decorations that mean the most are the ones that have appeared in our homes over and over again. Maybe it is an old pumpkin with a chipped edge, a Thanksgiving turkey that always sits in the same place, or an ornament that has been hanging on the Christmas tree for as long as anyone can remember.
They don't necessarily have to be valuable. Sometimes they aren't even particularly beautiful.
But they are familiar.
And there is something comforting about opening a box and seeing an old friend looking back at you.
A Love for Things That Seem to Have a Story
Perhaps that is part of the reason I have always been drawn to vintage things—and to newer pieces that capture some of that old-fashioned character.
I love slightly faded colors, old photographs, worn wood, handmade details, funny little faces, and objects that look as though they might already have a story attached to them.
The Decorations We Remember
Old-fashioned Halloween imagery is a perfect example. The grinning pumpkins, black cats, bats, witches, and slightly peculiar characters feel very different from much of today's seasonal decorating. They remind me of illustrations from old postcards and decorations that might have been carefully packed away in someone's attic.
Those are exactly the kinds of things that feel at home at Butterfly in the Attic.
Saving the Ordinary Moments, Too
While I was thinking about this post, I realized that this idea also connects beautifully with some of the journals I have been creating from my own photography.
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| The Dining Room – Vintage Photography Hardcover Journal |
Images of an old washstand, wooden chairs gathered around a table, or a quiet dining room may seem very ordinary at first. But ordinary places are where so much of life actually happens.
They are where people ate breakfast, talked over supper, wrote letters, celebrated holidays, told stories, and went about all the little routines that eventually became memories.
A journal seems like an especially fitting place for those photographs because it gives us somewhere to preserve our own ordinary moments before they disappear.
And Now, Thanksgiving in the Attic
With Halloween approaching and the rest of the holiday season not far behind, I've also begun creating a new little corner of the shop called Thanksgiving in the Attic.
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| Gobble Gobble Turkey Thanksgiving Figurine by Bethany Lowe Designs |
It will be filled with vintage-inspired treasures and nostalgic autumn finds that celebrate the warmth and whimsy of the harvest season. Trudy and her turkey friend were one of the first pieces to arrive, and I couldn't resist their sweet little Thanksgiving hug.
You can visit Butterfly in the Attic to discover the seasonal collections, original photography journals, handmade creations, vintage treasures, and other curious finds I've gathered there.
And as autumn settles in, I'd love to know what you bring out every year.
Is there a pumpkin, old decoration, favorite dish, family recipe, photograph, or other little treasure that simply doesn't feel like autumn until it has made its annual appearance?
Sometimes the simplest things are the ones that carry the most memories.
Until next time,
Colleen
Butterfly in the Attic
