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4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron

Ya’ll. Can you believe it? It’s FOR REAL THE FIRST DAY OF FALL! Hooray! Do you feel a chill in the air yet? I love everything about fall and I really want to savor it.

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}
Do you find yourself more energized to make your house inviting and welcoming this time of year? I do. I’ve actually been on a “cozy up the house” kick for weeks, puttering around and tackling projects around the house like nobody’s business. With a small house it doesn’t take much to get it cozier. I’m loving that!

As I said yesterday, next Monday you’ll be invited over for my (almost annual) fall house tour, so stay tuned for that. I was so glad to hear that you are excited for the tour!

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

But as dreamy as a “fall house tour” might sound (and is for so many bloggers, I saw some pretty dreamy fall houses this year!), my reality is our kitchen is about to be gutted and various other projects are still in process (and leaving their mark of chaos everywhere). No perfection here.

That imperfection means I’ll be welcoming you into both the cozy and the chaos. :) And, yes, for those of you who have asked, I’ll finally show you our (still incomplete) side yard progress and a peek at our white brick exterior!

The effort is all going to be worth it in the end. I keep telling myself it will get done when it gets done, so it doesn’t help to feel stressed out about it. In fact, sometimes with delays or more time to think things over, I’ve found we make adjustments or decisions that will work better for us anyway, either financially or design-wise. It’s all a part of the creative process, but the twists and turns do make life interesting sometimes!

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

One of my favorite secrets of balancing our busy life and still keeping up with all of our projects is to delegate everything I possibly can. As I’ve shared in previous posts, I often order our meal ingredients to be delivered from Blue Apron to help bring more sanity to a crazy week. We seem to always have a lot going on and this fall will be no exception.

Soon we won’t have a kitchen and we’ll have to wash our dishes in a bathtub for awhile. It’s going to be an adventure! Many of you have asked what we’ll do without a kitchen over the next couple of months. We are still committed to making as many meals at home as possible during the process, so we’ll set up a makeshift kitchen in our laundry room and rely on our electric skillet, a crockpot and BBQ (weather permitting).

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

Blue Apron always saves the day for our family because it’s a guarantee we’ll be eating well that night, no matter what kind of day I’ve had or what projects we have going on around the house.

I always do a little happy dance because everything arrives farm-fresh in a refrigerated box, ready to prepare. Which basically means I feel like I have a personal shopper to go to the grocery store for me (bless) and even my very own Alice from the Brady Bunch to help me get dinner on the table! Who doesn’t dream about having an Alice?

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

I also love seeing what new recipes are added to Blue Apron’s menu options each week and that the ingredients are sourced from quality suppliers and artisans.. It’s also easy to skip meals or cancel whenever you want, so there’s no pressure or obligation to keep up with a schedule or order meals you don’t need.

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

Recently we made Blue Apron’s Beef Bolognese, which felt like a perfect meal to transition us into fall cooking! And fall eating :). We have been working on cozying up our dining room (which I can’t wait to show you!) so we had fun setting the table all pretty and sitting down to enjoy every single bite of our dinner. Sitting down for a home-cooked meal helps us to feel more sane, too.

4 Ways to Savor Fall {Fall Nesting}

So, no matter what chaos or craziness is going on in your house, I hope you can find at least a few ways to slow down and enjoy the season.

Here are four ideas that always inspire me to savor fall:

  • Put flickering candles in lanterns on the porch.
  • Gather around a pretty fall table for a home-cooked meal
  • Sip hot apple cider from a giant mug.
  • Wrap up in warm plaid blankets next to the fireplace.

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What are some cozy things you are looking forward to in the coming weeks?

21 Comments

  1. Laura

    In this world if instant gratification it’s refreshing to hear you talk about patience — and sometimes even the benefits of setbacks/slowing down! I love your pictures of ‘not quite done’ projects, it keeps it real!!!

  2. Jo Jo

    Today is the first day of Fall ( my favorite time of year!) and it’s gorgeous today! We’ve been melting in the heat here on the East coast all summer long and now Inam so looking forward to the cool, crisp days of Autumn, where my morning walks will invigorate me and even tho the temps have been HOT here…I just couldn’t wait to begin my Fall menu rotations. Last week I cooked BIG for my freezer…Chili, Chicken Caccitore, French onion soup and a Chicken Curry dish! Fall means cozy meals, entertaining and evenings in front of the fireplace, reading, watching movies and THIS year…Organizing family photos to create a gallery wall in our entry and living room! Can’t wait for your Fall Home Tour Melissa! As for your “chaos”… Good things come to those that wait. ?❤️?❤️

  3. Cathy

    I’m looking forward to sipping hot cider and celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with family in a couple of weeks! I wish you all the best during your two months without a kitchen! It will all be worth it, though. That Blue Apron program looks pretty handy!

  4. Wendy

    Looking forward to seeing all the progress you’ve made and all the chaos too. I love closing our heavy curtains, lighting a fire and candles burning. I was thinking of putting lanterns in the porch too, it’s as if you read my mind.

  5. Sallie

    My fall faves are chilly & rainy days where I can stoke a crackling fire, don warm socks, and curl up with a cozy blankie on the sofa, with a small pot of hot tea, a favorite book, and a view out the window to watch the rain patter down. Bliss!! So excited for your fall posts and your reveals! You are so RIGHT ON about the delays creating time to possibly change direction somewhere. I’ve had that happen with our upcoming bathroom remodel and was very thankful for the delay! Your kitchen is going to be stellar! Can’t wait to see it!

  6. Janet Woodman

    Hi Melissa, Would you mind sharing where you got your pretty dinnerware? Chargers, dinner plates, blue salad plates and pretty white bowls? Everything looks so pretty. Good luck with your kitchen remodel.
    Thank You ?

  7. Linda Holding

    Hello everyone it’s warm day here in Kansas city, but it good. This gives me a chance to clean up my yard. I do this every season. I look forward to hunkering down especially when the weather is changing. I also am working on some refreshing my bathroom making sure its pretty. But I love being outside it, make me feel renewed. Than when it’s time to come in, I’ll get excited about cooking, soup is my favorite. Love the fall. Thank you. Linda

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      I love being outside too, the weather is often so gorgeous this time of year! And soup is my favorite, too!

  8. Mark Mcdonough

    Love love love the color of Moscow mule mugs!

  9. Diane

    Love the blue pillow in your first photo. Can you share where you purchased it? When my 3 boys were young, we did a total gut of our kitchen (including repairing floor joists) in our first home. We went 3 months without a kitchen and used our laundry room as a make shift kitchen. Other than doing dishes in the bathtub for 5 people, I don’t recall it being too hard. My back would scream today though (and my knees lol) if I had to do dishes in the bathtub. If you have any way to have a sink at normal height for doing dishes, I would highly recommend it.

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Good point on the taller sink, that makes sense. I wish we had a laundry tub but its either going to have to be a regular sink or bathtub cause that’s all I’ve got!

      The blue bird pillow is from Pottery Barn! It was there awhile back. (PS. I have a page with sources and items from my house https://theinspiredroom.net/shop-my-house. Sometimes things go out of stock but often I find something similar to add! Hope that helps).

  10. Mark McDonough

    I have to say the way you are blending pumpkins in the photos really feels like Fall is here!

  11. Katie B.

    I love following your design tips and have all your books! I just love your style! And your Mary & Martha dinnerware!! All the heart eyes!!

  12. Angela Cook

    Chiminea with mesquite wood on the front porch!

    I have also lived through a kitchen/house remodel, including
    washing dishes in a plastic dishpan in the bathtub:-). The
    crockpot, the electric skillet (did you know you can bake
    cakes in those?) and the grill will assure your family
    doesn’t starve! (Nothing really stops us from eating!)

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      I had no idea you could bake a cake in an electric skillet? Really? Ha, good to know :).

  13. Anita

    Melissa,
    It’s almost as if we are living parallel lives! We too live in the NW and are in the midst of a HUGE 1910 farmhouse remodel. I savor every post about your remodel because it so timely and very much like my life.
    We are just now finishing the insulating, new windows, and siding this month. It has been a looong haul but we can see and feel the difference in our home. ?
    In the next few weeks, we will be gutting our kitchen and starting a new kitchen and I am ecstatic!!
    We have lived here 28 yrs so I’ve had lots of time to dream about it. Looking forward to the adventure of our makeshift kitchen on the side porch and to the patience God is growing in us. You are right when you say “It will be worth the effort!”

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Hi Anita! Thanks for your comment (waving to you here in the NW). We are definitely living parallel lives …and we will even be remodeling our kitchen at the same time, that is SO EXCITING! And after 28 years in your home I can imagine how excited you must be! Blessings to you on your adventures (I hope you’ll come share some pics of your home someday at Homelovestories.com :)

  14. Sue Davies

    A little over a year ago we finally were able to remodel our 40 year old kitchen. We went with Ikea cabinets, counter tops, sink and dishwasher. We love how everything turned out, but it was definitely stressful to be without a kitchen for almost 3 months. One way we managed was by setting up a small narrow table along one wall in our dining room and also using the top of an adjoining buffet. I packed away all but the most necessary dishes, pots and pans. We had recently purchased two induction cook tops (bogo) and they came in very handy while our stove was disconnected. We had the microwave, toaster, crock pots and outside grill to use. Basically that was everything we needed. I used two large plastic dish pans. One that I filled with hot soapy water from the bathtub and another with clear water for rinsing. That worked well and was easier than leaning over the tub or trying to use a small bathroom sink. I found one of the things I missed most was my disposal. So I kept a trash can handy near my dish washing station. It will be hard to deal with, but as I’m sure you know, worth it in the end. We love our new kitchen as know you will. Best of luck.
    Sue in Fl.

 

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