Snow at the Homestead!

Love how the snow glistens on the architectural details, making then stand out even more!

Here at the Brayton Homestead,  our house particularly shimmers with this lovely white coating in the recent snow storm. Historic houses like ours, built in the Federal period, have architecture that features clean simple lines and are symmetrical in design.

Thanks for visiting the Brayton Homestead...

A Country Homestead Christmas

My Homestead front door is completed; do you like it? 

Inspired by my recent visits to Colonial Williamsburg, I kept the decorations simple and authentic!

So fortunate that the woodwork is original, circa 1796. Fresh greens, red berries and a Tartan plaid ribbon bow is all that is needed at the Brayton Homestead!

  

Do you love to PUTTER?

Do you love to “PUTTER” around your home, apartment or room? I do. My homestead living room is the perfect room to putter. Puttering to me is rearranging your decorating items to please your sensibilities at that moment. My circa 1796 is always easy to change things around in. Perhaps because the room's style is English Cottage. In an English home you might expect to see family treasures that have been passed down through the generations all together.

“ Puttering is really a time to be alone, to dream and get back in touch with yourself… To putter is to discover."  Alexandra Stoddard 

No matter what or where your personal space is, I think "puttering" is rearranging your belongings to create a space that reflects your needs and wants at that time. “ 

Rearranging personal mementos, creating a floral arrangement, switching lamps and art work ,  makes us decide on what is important to us at that time.  I use a small bureau in my living room as an end table. Here I placed it in front of my window.  Sometimes I use it as a nightstand.

 Anywhere I place it , the bureau gives me additional storage, a great trick for small spaces where space is limited.

My collection of glass paperweights, vintage and new art pieces, sparkle with the light behind them. Old books and a ceramic piece my sister made spoke to me to be together. 

  

So go ahead and putter. When you move your favorite things to another room or give it another purpose you appreciate and love it even more. You can always move things back where they were. 

So can ahead and PUTTER!

Linking with these blogs:
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson
Elizabeth & Co.
Kathe with an E
Ivy & Elephants
The Dedicated House
From my Back Porch to Yours


    Visit Brayton's profile on Pinterest.

Skates, my favorite winter door accent

We are anticipating over a foot of snow here in Massachusetts. We expect that at least once a season in New England, but that does not mean we welcome it. It is charming to look out the homestead windows.But someone has to shovel it!  In this post I am sharing some older pics where I decorated the homestead with ice skates. My go- to winter icon in decorating my doors is vintage skates. My front door here boasts black skates with a plaid scarf , silver balls and silver stars. The silver reflects nicely with a spot light directed on it. 

I painted these skates picturing a snowman on a blustery day for my friend for Christmas a few years ago.A bit of fur and glitter sparkle placed in front of the fireplace. 

I am not a gifted skater but plan to try it again this winter. I should probably stick with watching the skating competitions, but am going to try.

Here, I simply added big red pompoms to the white skates. They remind me of  the red fur pompoms I had on my skates as a girl. A little fake snow was attached with a glue gun and accented with red check ribbon bow. A great bonus for decorating with ice skates is that you can keep them up all season long.

Stay warm and

thank you for visiting the homestead.

Karen

Linking with these great blogs:

Savvy Southern Style,

Elizabeth & Co.,

Dwellings the Heart of the Home,

My Uncommon slice of Suberbia, 

Coastal Charm

Memorial Day at the homestead

Greetings from my homestead! 

I have been so busy for the last few months. It has been a whirlwind of excitement since my home was featured in the Home Tour edition 

COUNTRY SAMPLER MAGAZINE... 

My Memorial Day weekend was quiet but nice, mostly planting flowers and getting ready for a season of outdoor entertaining and fun! My decorating this year was very simple. My favorite woven planter on the ed 

front door with all white petunia flowers. All in one pot, placed easily in the wicker basket.

My old buggy/ sleigh seat that usually goes out only in the winter months found it's way on the front steps.

My copper trim under the door is aging with a great verdigris patina. Because the

 original base trim is 216 years old and cannot be removed I covered it with copper

to protect it. The trim is partially underneath the original door frame and would be very 

difficult to take out, and of course I would not want to. 

Have a great week!

Thank you for visiting the Homestead,

Karen

Book away the summer

My living room's books have company with another

 dog under glass.

You may remember my dogs under glass cloche on a 

silver tray on my coffee table...

This is my favorite dog figurine of all. It may be a copy of the

RCA dog.

Surrounded by paperweights, a pleasant vignette it make,

hope you enjoyed !

Karen 

So excited and honored to be featured at 

THE DEDICATED HOUSE.

check out her beautiful blog here: Dedicated House

Bedroom mantle for summer

These hot days are perfect for relaxing. My chaise lounge calls me 

when I want to read but do not want to unmake my bed.

The bedroom is visible from the parlor so I try to keep it made up. 

clearly I am not using the bedroom fireplace in this weather

 but is always nice to look at.

A vintage hat I bought on Etsy for a wedding I attended a

and  was also the wedding planner, accompanies 

a handmade deer box and vintage candlesticks and candle followers.

An etching I created of my son, pillows I made of leftover fabrics

and a huge tapestry pillow fill the corner...

thanks for visiting the homestead,

always appreciate the visit.

I am so grateful and flattered to have my last post featured at the beautiful

blog

IVY AND ELEPHANTS

thank you Paula!

Lilacs Say Welcome to My Kitchen

Welcome back to my Federal kitchen at the homestead. Could not resist bringing lilacs from the year into the kitchen, albeit they make me sneeze!

Maybe you remember when I restored the kitchen fireplace wall

 to it's 1796 original look..

Under the wood that covered this and the rest of the kitchen walls

 lurked a beehive oven and opening for wood storage. 

Last post I mentioned that an old portrait of the Brayton Homestead hung over the living room mantle, now over the kitchen mantle. I love the barn board wood ceiling even though it is not authentic!

Baskets on the hearth keep linens handy...

Thanks for visiting 

from my kitchen to yours...

Dogs in my living room

I took some photos of the opposite wall to my living room mantle showed on my last blog post. Thank you for your kind words on my mantle of mementos. 

My circa 1796 home still has many of it's original architectural features.

    

You can get a peak of the lovely raised panel wainscoting that I really love. It is painted a brown color, my fav go to color. Creamy white wallpaper and tapestry old Victorian couch

keep things light.

An old preschool table is my coffee table; it holds a huge silver tray and porcelain dogs. 

A side view highlights wood beams, a sculpture form Rome and family photos. I prefer the contrast of dark deep tones like brown, navy blue and burgundy against creams and tans; kind of my decorating signature personally and professionally..

A big tapestry bow holds a reproduction painting and is flanked by wall shelves.

The houndstooth hat that the dog figurine is sporting is actually

 Krumpets!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Karen

Living room mantle : fav items

Thanks for your emails asking for a larger picture of the living room fireplace! I was especially touched by your desire to see more of my Mom's burlap painting. When I took these pics it was a bit dark in the room, sorry for the blurriness...

Above my living room mantle piece hung an old watercolor painted in the 1920's of my home, Brayton Homestead . I moved the watercolor to the kitchen fireplace that was restored last year to it's 1796 original Federal architecture.

Looking for a piece of art to replace the watercolor in the living room I came across this painting on burlap that mom painted years ago, boy was she ahead of her time, a Burlap country cottage...

 Staffordshire dogs that I purchase at the Portobello Road Flea Market in London, England years ago have graced the mantle since they were unwrapped on my arrival home! Doyle's violin fills the middle and great memories of when he used to play it. He stopped playing when he went to college yet I constantly ask for a tune...

hope you enjoyed a few of my favorite things from my homestead to yours!

Karen