Looking for some easy fall kitchen decorating ideas? Here are some simple (and free) ideas for introducing a little fall into your kitchen.
I was on a podcast yesterday about clutter and design and how to create a home that you love and in the middle of the interview, the host asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks.
How much input does your husband have on decorating?
Husband?
Decorating input?
I literally had to press pause and think.
Really? Truly? Just between you and me and this cup of coffee?
Not so much.
But he does have two requests:
1. It has to be comfortable.
and
2. No freshy decorating.
You know.
Decorating that’s freshy.
Like this fall kitchen decorating I just added yesterday.
With freshy decorating there’s freshy stuff on every surface. Like leaves from the yard and plates in baskets and cutting boards that have four friends and leather sleeves on your mason jars and the measuring cups used for display instead of for baking.
Things that look amazing on Instagram.
But that totally, literally, indisputably make absolutely no sense in real life.
I’m not sure exactly where he came up with that term. It just showed up one day. Actually I think the exact quote was, “Why do we have to have so much freshy decorating around here?”
Hmm.
I remember thinking…what? Freshy decorating?
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that referred to on HGTV before.
And I’m pretty sure there’s not a DIY Network show called “Freshy Decorators and the Houses That Love Them.”
When he first said it, I remember staring at him blankly.
Willing him to go on.
Willing him to make me understand.
Willing him to explain the almost inscrutable, yet oddly almost understandable term, “freshy decorating.”
“Can you explain it to me?” I asked him.
He just stared back at me and shrugged and said, “You know. It’s like when the decorating takes over the house. When there’s freshy stuff everywhere.”
Then he paused and stated with great dramatic emphasis:
“Seriously. It’s like nothing ever stays in the same place. I can’t ever find anything. And it’s all…well…it’s all so freshy.”
Oh.
I see.
That’s what freshy decorating is.
And after that discussion I tried to unfreshy everything when I could.
When I remembered.
When I thought of it.
But sometimes when you least expect it, a little freshy shows up.
The other day I walked into the kitchen to find him searching frantically for a utensil.
He had a bowl of Cheerios and milk in his hand and he couldn’t find a napkin.
I simply walked across the room to the new basket I had bought for napkins and pointed.
“Here they are,” I said. “See, I put them right here under the counter.
He sighed the sigh of someone with a bowl of Cheerios who is married to a blogger with never-ending brilliant ideas.
“What was I thinking.” he said. “Of course they’re over here.”
And then he paused and smiled, “They had to go all freshy with the dish towels.”
Shhhh….don’t tell him, but I just moved the plates, too. 🙂
PS I wanted a little fall color in the kitchen to my fall kitchen decorating, so I had him cut the leaves from the yard.
I think he thought it was a little freshy.
But he overlooked it because it was free. 🙂
So funny! It sounds like you have a very understanding husband! Mine would not have been quite so 'gentle' with his observations!
My husband calls it "foo foo" decorating and that is when I know that I just pushed him past the point of liking anything in the house! So, I un-decorate a bit and he is happy again. Thanks for the smile this morning!
Lol... How adorable!! Perhaps it IS a good thing I'm single... 😁. I see now I've ALWAYS been a " freshy" decorator. But, not having kids and being single for so many years, this did not pose a hindrance to anyone else. I love your hubby's ' decorator' term and will add it to my verbage... 😉
You have the best husband! I'm glad he and his dimples are around you!
How are you using the kitchen counter cloches? Love finding more ways to utilize them, they're my favorite decorating items.
I loved it when you said he overlooked the leaves because they were "free". Our painter is here - Week #2 of apparently 3 - what does my husband do? He goes out for coffee with an old friend! The painter is going to hang all the new lighting - hopefully, today. My husband enjoys a light colored wall, a table for his coffee next to his leather club chair, and a good reading light. That's decorating to him.
My husband can't find anything in the kitchen anyway and most of my seasonal decor goes un noticed till I point it out or he has to help putting it up. He feels if it makes me happy it's ok with him. He does acknowledge the house always looks good so that's something!!
I love this! My husband doesn't usually care one way or another, but has accused me of getting rid of all comfortable seating and replacing them with old and pretty. I have to stare at him blankly when I show him a great deal on CL or Marketplace and he says "I just can't get that excited about a chair" The truth is I'm glad I have free reign!
I can so totally relate! My husband typically does not ask for input in our home décor decisions, which is terrific!! He does however demand to know why "something" he randomly puts down in a spot cannot stay there??!! How do you explain to this kind, caring person that his placement just simply willnot/cannot work? That much thought went into creating this particular vignette and his red plastic drinking cup does not enhance the overall effect.....at all!!! So I put my blinders on and live with the odd placement for a while, until I can move it without hurting his feelings!! Enjoyed your post today!
I love the blue and white vases in the kitchen! So very cute!! You rock girl.
The vases are beautiful ... Do you have a source for the vases? My kind of decorating thank you very much! - give me a window and color judycinnc
Judy, I got them at Target in the Chip and Joanna Gaines section! Happy day!karianne
I love all of the fall leaves! PErfect and simple.
lol, yes! My husband doesn't care how I decorate, as long as he can find things in the kitchen. He hates it when I move the utensils. So I try to do that minimally, and give him a heads up when I do. :)
LOL!!! Men are all the same doesn't matter on which side of the earth they settled down with their spouses... I'm living in Germany and my one really likes my seasonal decorating. Sometimes when I need something to fix / install for he gives me a hand on it. Maybe like all men he normally is taciturn in telling compliments for the decoration to me but he praises my deco talent to friends etc. ;) Especially at Halloween or Easter he actually buys me deco stuff, too :) All in all he is used to it that at times decoration or utensils have to move to other places.. I've to explain these rearrangements, sometimes he's wise but occasionally he doesn't understand the neccesity and the search for things begins (again)....
I absolutely love this story. My husband can't find things even when they've been there for years, so when I try to reorganize its total chaos! I love your blog best of all and have been following for a couple years now. PS this is my first comment as it really hit home
I could not stop laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!My husband has lots of thoughts on decorating and usually we agree,...but have never heard the freshy term before. LOL-it does fit though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband does the same thing-even standing in front of the item he is looking for. I just like to move things around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My husband says that I keep things "churning." Rarely does he complain, though.
My husband can't find anything simply because he insists on asking me first before looking! And he complains that I have too many candles! I say one can never have too many candles!
My mother, God bless her, was moving things in the house constantly....to the point that my father would constantly tell people that he never went into the bedroom at night without double checking to make sure the bed was in the same spot. He didn't want to hit the floor by accident. I guess I have her genes, lol.
Love the look! My husband same... tells my girls when they come over "She's moved "it" I dont know where" lol!
Fun post! When we were younger, I always had decorator towels and hand towels. Larry was always getting himself in trouble for using the decorations. He finally did get used to it, though and would ask, "Hon, can I use this towel?" Men are so cute..
Ha!!! Love it! My husband would totally get it!! Right now I think he'd take "freshy" over "wedding decor exploding all over the house and the wedding is OVER!" LOL!!
I'm reminded of 2 stories. One was how often my husband would comment "why on earth do you want that old thing?" and then would show it off when someone came into the house. - - Typical man. The other story is when one of my daughters kept changing her daughter's room around almost every day. One morning as she was dropping her off at preschool, she said "Mom, do me a favor. Don't move my bed today!"
Well I understand perfectly. When my hubby was in the hospital with a broken leg, I kept looking at that tired brown TV unit from the 70's. I think everyone had one! Anyway, I decided to cut it in half, rearrange the shelving units to accommodate the TV and my quilts, and of course, paint it white. He comes home and it takes him 3 days to say, "something is different in the living room". He says it looks nice. If I would never change anything in the entire house he would be happy. But....he knows after 57 years of marriage that things are never going to stay in the same place for very long!! Blessings to each one of you.
Yep, Denny is just like James. He is always searching for something that was there yesterday but gone today. And when I mention FREE, he's all over that. Love your fresh stems but we seriously have NONE around here yet. I'm so bummed.
Beautiful! Would you mind sharing the color of your island? It's just the perfect cream color!
We moved into this house four years ago, and my hubby can never find anything - STILL!! And I have it all where it was when we moved in... Lord help us if he tries to unload the dishwasher. My freebie this week is cutting the purple fountain grass and putting it into vases - it's getting tired from summer and looks pitiful in the pots, so it's coming into the house, clump by clump. Leaves on the oak trees are still very green, so i'll be just a bit before they start showing up; then the Friday after Thanksgiving, the pine tree branches will appear.
My husband and I are cracking up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are the same as you and your husband and it sounds like most are lol.
I love this. My hubby just goes with it all anymore, guess he has given up. haha
Too funny! Your husband would go crazy in my apartment. I'm all about changing things all the time! What's eye candy if it remains static? One of the things that makes the single life attractive. No one to please but myself, but I like his "freshy" phrase. He may be more creative than he thinks! Just remind him that life is an adventure, especially when he's sharing a dwelling with a creative!
This is SO funny! I'm with William Morris...If it isn't useful, it has to be beautiful (freshy)...
Ha! That's hysterical KariAnne - I love that story! My husband has very definite opinions, but I pretty much know his style and pet peeves, so we do ok! :) Thanks for the great tips, and the laugh!
This one had me laughing out loud, Karianne! Most men just want to find a spoon, a dish, and a napkin, and they could care less if any of it goes together; I set the table pretty with cloth napkins even when it’s just the two of us, and he asks why? Also asks who’s coming to visit when I buy fresh flowers. ❤️ He doesn’t get the “freshy” either, but we love them anyway!
This is so true! My husband will stand in the kitchen or whatever room he's in and look like he's inspecting the place. In reality he's still not sure where everything is. I rarely move anything. Now we have a little saying when this happens.....he looks at me and say " I was just stopping in for a visit". That's my signal that he needs directions to the object he's looking for. : )
Too funny!
So, Karianne, can you explain leather sleeves on mason jars?
Beth, LOL! Of course! Here's the post where I show how to make them: https://thistlewoodfarms.com/how-to-make-a-leather-mason-jar-mug/ Happy day friend!karianne
Husbands .... ya gotta love them. My husband doesn't like anything too fussy but overall he is pretty tolerant of my decorating whims. However, he has a whimsical sense of humor, so I'm likely to find things turned upside down or sideways .... the other day I found an action-figure toy "diving" into my bowl of decorative gourds .... it makes me laugh so it's all good.
between you and me, if I don't freshy up at least every two weeks I will go crazy ha!
Maybe "freshy" will be the new trend...My husband doesn't get too involved with my decorating. Like yours, he just wants things to be comfortable. Ironically, when we got married he wanted to be involved in choosing the wedding china. I have no idea why and his sisters still make fun of him for that! Husbands... -Shelley
Made me smile! Sometimes I think he doesn’t notice the decorations. We moved into a new house (new for us not “new” new). After a couple weeks settling in he said “Don’t you think it looks a little bare in here?” WHOA!! He may not notice exactly but I guess he likes the feel of my decor when things are settled.
Laughing so hard my mascara is running. Def not a freshy look! My Hubs can’t find anything, and that includes what I file in the den drawers. There’s just so many freshy ways you can file! RR
I must say I agree with your husband. There is never anything on the counters. Your home is beautiful, but it doesn't look like anyone lives there. I would like to see more realistic pictures. Neat, but not so sterile and perfect looking.
KariAnne,, that's such a cute new word your hubby used! It made me laugh! Sometimes it seems like our husbands just get used to our décor -- until something in the kitchen gets moved to a better spot! Ha! Ha! Have a great week!
This sounds like my husband. I am constantly moving stuff around and he can’t find things. Now that I think about it other than large furniture he doesn’t have a lot to say about decor other than all the pillows.
Ha ha! My husband is usually very laid back about our decorating. Recently we were turning my art room back into a bedroom to stage our house for sale. He had placed a heavy antique sewing table on one side of the bed. I said it needs to go on the other side. I saw a bit of annoyance in his eyes. I immediately explained that as a buyer comes up the stairs, they will glance into the room and instead of seeing a blank corner they will see a warm setting of furniture and a cozy bedside lamp, plus it will open up the entrance to the closet. I saw the tension leave his face and he nodded. I just had to give him plenty of logic instead of just freshy. He often surprises me with good design of his own. I was resistant to ceiling fans, but he bought two new ones that are actually gorgeous. Who knew?
I love this! It's real, it's true and it's SO reFRESHing!!! xoxo
Yes, My dear husband would agree. He keeps lobbying for labels on all the kitchen cabinets so that he can better find things. By the way, what are you using for a doorstop in these photos? Have an amazing day!
Haha, this is so funny!!! I'm not usually a literal "LOL"er, but I'm really truly laughing... out loud. 😊 Poor men... My husband plainly states that he is befuddled by decorating, but he loves having a nicely decorated house and brags to friends about it. 😁 He'll tell me that he doesn't get it though. I sell decor stuff through a small local store, and he is constantly astounded at what I sell - WHY do people want that?!? Haha! Sometimes I decorated with odd things just to see his eyebrows rise. 😁 It's a fun life... And I love all your "freshy" leaves. P.S. I'm going to have to add the term "freshy" to my vocabulary. I like that!
Doesn't he know that fresh is exciting?! Wait... isn't there a song that says that? Love all the simple and fresh touches!
My husband always tells people he is glad he doesn't drink...because the way I always move things around he would break his neck.😛🙃 I always explain it is easier to clean when you move things. It's been one of many running dialogs in our lives for more than 30 years. 🙄 I do know he secretly likes a lot of my decor though, because I overhear him telling other people. LOL