When I was younger I pledged to surround myself with beauty and let it inspire more beauty. Home is my sanctuary, and entering it is like entering a different realm. The wood-carved furniture, velvet curtains, and candles that cast a soft glow upon the wine-colored walls may very well make you forget that there’s a world outside. A hint of cinnamon and a mystic incense perfumes the house, while music creates an atmosphere of calmness.
I’ve always enjoyed the idea of bringing elements of nature into my home. My favorite time of year is without a doubt autumn. Nothing brings me as much joy as walking through a radiant forest where the sun sparkles through the trees. It awakens my soul. The crisp air seems to blow away all my worries. So when I was deciding what colors to decorate my home with, my obvious choice was an autumn palette. I want my home to give me the same sense of belonging I experience when I sit under the treetops and feel the earth below my feet—a feeling of truly being home and being able to rest.
Most of my furniture and home decoration, and even my clothes, are secondhand. I adore the idea that I’ll never know when I’ll find something that might fit into my world. I often find items that I like and redecorate them to add a personal touch. I decorate with tassels, beads, and embroidery. Since childhood, I’ve filled my pockets with all sorts of treasures from the outdoors. I have an extensive collection of seashells that I create jewelry from and an equally large collection of pinecones and dried plants. Decorating with natural materials is the best way to create a “cottage witch” aesthetic. I have a deep love for the medieval times as well, so I am rather influenced by that time period.
One of my favorite items to decorate with is plants. I dry plants to create my own tea blends, remedies for ailments, spices for food, and useful ingredients for paints and cosmetics. Also dried plants are stunning to look at. You can hang some herbs such as lavender, mint, and daffodils to keep the cute mice away from all the delicious food in the pantry. Some you can decorate with for more magical purposes. According to local stories and the eminent Saint Hildegard von Bingen, the fern has beautiful properties. It is said that no evil can exist where the fern resides, so of course I have ferns all over my home. It also grows right outside my front door—a blessing I discovered shortly after moving in.
My entire lifestyle is built around my love for nature. Decorating a dinner table is much more fun when you can beautify it with seasonal nature items. For autumn, what is more beautiful than autumn leaves, pinecones, and pumpkins?
To celebrate this stunning season, here is a small tutorial showing you how I made this autumnal wreath. If you put something like this on your front door, you may inspire yourself and your neighbors to appreciate the season even more joyfully while it lasts.
Step 1: Gather items for your project. This will make an excellent forest adventure. All you need are branches, leaves, pinecones, a thread to tie down stubborn branches, and a hot-glue gun. If you have some fake leaves and autumn decorations lying around, why not use them as well? The idea is to use what is already in your nearby area and use your creativity and inspiration to finish the project.
Step 2: Form somewhat of a circle with your branches and do your best to make them stay this way. I tied them together with wool thread. At this point, your glue gun will be a good thing to keep at hand.
Step 3: Once you have your branch circle ready, you can decorate it however you please! My best advice for this is to explore with the items you have before you fasten them. See what will look the best! I think if you choose a point where the leaves go opposite from each other, such as I did with the pinecones at the bottom, it will draw in the eye of the beholder.
Step 4: To hang it up on the wall or your front door, tie a small loop to the backside.
