By Leslie Linsley

Author of “Nantucket Island Living” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang)

October 2025

As the days get shorter and cooler, time at home matters most. Transitioning into fall is to slow down and embrace the season. Rearrange furniture to respond to more time indoors. Create a wall of framed family photographs. Add a few accessories, one new piece of furniture, a new rug, exchange or rearrange artwork, or reimagine the use of each room. 

Last week I had a friend for dinner and told him I wanted to rearrange artwork. This led to an after-dinner activity of not only changing art, but rearranging furniture for intimate gatherings. The result was familiar but fresh. By eliminating some of the decorative objects, it left room for imagining what could respond better for cooler weather. If you’re putting accessories away, take pictures of each item before sealing the box. Take stock of items for entertaining and setting a table that encourages lingering. I’m in love with my battery-operated candles that remotely turn on and off. 

There is nothing quite like a restorative bedroom, a place where you shut out the noise of the day. This mood is created with color, texture, lighting, accessories and furniture; the most important being the bed. A new mattress is a good place to start. Crisp new sheets and a fluffy comforter with a soft blanket folded over the end, will absolutely transport you away from the day’s overload. Treat yourself!  Sferra, Matouk, John Robshaw and Peacock Alley bed linens provide nothing less than elegance and comfort. Top off the atmosphere with a ‘soft as a whisper,’ scented Archipelago Kashmire candle on the night table or in the bathroom.  Experience that “Ahhh” moment when you automatically close out the day with your “PowerView Automation” custom window treatment from Hunter Douglas. Get the facts from Donna or Shamona in Home Furnishings.

Does your house reflect your personality?

Kathy and Tom Ayars live in a charming cottage where they often entertain in the rose-filled garden. The interior décor perfectly expresses their creative, Joie d’vive lifestyle, filled with lots of color, patterns and arrangements of interesting “finds.” Tom is a wallpaper hanger and created a sophisticated focal point on one divider wall in the living room with Braunschweig and Fil wallpaper in a red and yellow pattern. An ornate mirror reflexes the opposite wall filled with artwork and Nantucket memorabilia. (Check out the wide selection of wallpaper samples in Home Furnishings.) Kathy says, “Every time we return to the cottage it makes us happy.” 

It's a small thing often overlooked,  but new lamps are a game changer. Home Furnishings has an outstanding front window display with a modern take on traditional designs. For accessories, the small sea foam bud vases in Housewares have interesting shapes Use them to line a shelf or to create a centerpiece on the dining table. Let the color dictate the placemats and napkins.

The Perfect Linen Closet

It’s a small but impactful space. Create as many shelves as will fit the space, with about 10-12 inches between each one. When stacking linens leave a few inches above the stack for air circulation.



1.     Paint the inside of the closet in a soft pink like “Benny” Moore’s “Marry Me”  (I thought the color name justified the intimate use of a nickname.)

2.     There’s something old-fashioned wonderful about shelf paper with a feminine pattern. Find Contact paper in Housewares or use leftover wallpaper. 

3.     Organize sheets and pillowcases by size or room. Fold into neat, evenly matched piles. 

4.      Fold and stack large bath towels. Put hand towels and washcloths for the primary bathroom on the left, others on the right. If you can separate them by shelf, put primary up, the rest below.

5.     Put one child’s bedding and towels on left, second child’s bedding and towels on the right.

6.     I like to tie the pile of guest towels with 2-inch wide, ivory, satin ribbon and tuck a bar of delicately scented Italian soap from Housewares, or a sprig of dried lavender under the ribbon. Same for sheets. Everything’s easy to take out and the linens have a faint delicate scent. 

7.     Keep an extra blanket and pillows in pillow protectors on the top shelf. 

Use the area under the bottom shelf for extra pillows, bulky sweaters, a duvet in a storage box (Housewares).