Home Style: Getting your decor in touch with nature

Rae Anna Mayfield-Toman’s home includes a wide variety of natural objects such as shells and stones, many of which she found or people gave her.

An antique printer’s box is a useful way to display smaller items.

A simple shelf pairs some meaningful words with an intricate shell.

Here’s a simple home-decorating plan: Spend a lot of time outdoors, connect with your surrounding by noticing and collecting natural pieces along the way, arrange those items around your home in a way that feels good.

This is an approach that Rae Anna Mayfield-Toman has taken for accessorizing her Lawrence home, where items found in nature are on display in every room. Mayfield-Toman has always loved collecting objects from nature, and is happiest when she is outside walking, so using collections of natural objects to decorate her home is a way to extend that positive energy, she said. Collecting items found in nature is also a bit of a tradition in her family.

“I come from a long line of women who collect shells and rocks and stones,” Mayfield-Toman said. “My grandma had a huge collection of rocks from all over the world in her garden. I also have things my daughter picked up and gave to me. Having those reminders in my home brings me joy.”

Mayfield-Toman’s collection of natural objects, which includes everything from shells and rocks to butterfly wings and cicada shells, is not limited to items that she and her loved ones have discovered. She also regularly scours estate sales and auctions for interesting pieces.

“I’m the weird person at the sales who will be collecting the conch shells,” Mayfield-Toman said.

Mayfield-Toman’s approach to incorporating her collection of natural elements into her home decor is both relaxed and fluid. She has an antique letterpress box that displays some of her smaller items, and she typically creates vignettes throughout the house with larger pieces by grouping them in ways that take shape gradually.

“My process is pretty organic,” she said. “Once I have enough of something, I’ll play around by mixing and matching, then I might create a setup over time as the items call themselves into place.”

Lowen Millspaugh, of Lawrence, also has vignettes of eclectic, natural items in every room of her home. Her collections include everything from rocks, crystals and sea glass, to feathers, bones and bird nests. Many of the pieces she collected during trips, others she found in her backyard, and some were given to her as gifts.

Millspaugh said that arranging her natural items throughout her home is an intuitive and meditative process, but that she likes the look of natural objects tucked in among antiques pieces, which she and her husband also collect. Millspaugh also tends to create her nature displays using an odd number of objects, for instance, placing three or five crystals in a grouping instead of six — a piece of advice she picked up from her mother.

One of Millspaugh’s favorite nature-inspired pieces is a “chandelier” she created by hanging various found objects from an attractive branch.

“It started out as a Christmas decoration with ornaments hanging off of it,” Millspaugh said. “When I took the ornaments down, I decided I liked the branch, so I hung some feathers and crystals from it. I love it. I’ll probably never take it down.”

Collecting and decorating with found nature specimens in the manner that Mayfield-Toman and Millspaugh have chosen is not for everybody. Mayfield-Toman admits that some of her collections border on “creepy,” and Millspaugh mentioned that her mother is not wild about some of hers. But there are numerous ways of incorporating natural elements into any style of home, many of which don’t even require picking up stuff of the ground.

Millspaugh’s final piece of advice: “Collect what you love. Whatever you are drawn to.”

Here are some starting points for those looking to add natural elements to their decor:

River stones

River stones, sold at most landscaping businesses, have a smooth, neutral simplicity that can fit into nearly any motif. Creating an attractive display of river stones is as easy as thoughtfully arranging a collection into a bowl and using it as a centerpiece.

Cairns — stacks of rocks that have been used since ancient times as markers and memorials — can also serve as a way of displaying river stones on a mantle or shelf.

Wood

Driftwood, rustic and reclaimed wood pieces are popular at the moment and are simple to make or find premade. A mirror with a driftwood frame would fit in to many bathrooms, and a votive holder made from a log or rustic wood is a good accessory for autumn and winter.

Glass

Glass jars and bottles provide versatility and lend a clean feel to nature-inspired decorating. Try a collection of glass bottles with springs of greenery in them, fill jars with shells, pebble or even acorns, or simply place a glass cloche over a unique natural piece.