The black architectural piece has landed

We have a lower level den which I told you all about here, and it has a long wall right around the corner from the stairs coming into this room. You can see my office nook there through that little doorway.

So, I added 3 pretty blue botanicals that I found on Ebay, had them framed in black frames with white mats and also added 2 shelves underneath to hold a few of my seashell collection. I love the way it looks on this wall, but always felt it needed something underneath. I figured I add a piece of furniture one of these days. Turns out my sweet hubby really did not like that plan, since he is a big guy and needs plenty of room to walk and hates it when the traffic flow is impeded. And since that door to the left goes out to our garage, this is a well-used corridor and needed to stay open. Of course, a small little console table wouldn’t have made much difference, but to him it was ALL the difference in the world. You know the old saying, you need to pick your battles…well, this wasn’t one of them. So, my brilliant solution was to add something to the wall to balance out this space and ground this end of the room.

It did exactly as I hoped it would, it really balances out the wall and adds a grounding effect to that space, don’t you think? (Wallcolor is Believeable Buff by Sherwin Williams). My carpet is not really pink like it looks here.

It was a perfect solution and at only $55, a lot cheaper than buying a piece of furniture.

And it keeps my hubby happy. Of course, he doesn’t “get” the whole shabby old piece of architecture thing, but he indulges me anyway. His reaction: "It looks stupid, but at least it's not in my way...."

And I just laughed. I happen to love old and shabby, so that's fine with me. We both got our way.

Vintage mixed with new and fresh.

An unbeatable combo!

I got out my stud finder, found the studs and just hung it with 3 long nails, making sure it was level with my trusty little level. Easy! I’d love to add more of these things around my house, so I’ll be on the lookout for other ideas I can use. Every room needs something old, don't you agree?

For more before and after projects today, go by Susan's blog, Between Naps on the Porch. She's hosting a Mr. Linky party with more fun things to see.