Bookcase Displays and Vignettes

I absolutely LOVED hearing all the shoe tales from yesterday's post. Ya'll cracked me up with all the shoe love. Funny how we all remember so many details about those special shoes we loved and had-to have, which goes to show that we women sure can bond over our shoes, can't we?

One more thing, if you leave me a question in the comments, sometimes I forget to go back and answer it. I have my comments moderated for anything older than 2 days, so that I can see them all and keep up with them. I read every single comment that ya'll leave! So, if you ask a question and I don't get back to you on your blog, please email me and I'll be happy to answer. Some leave questions and they don't have a blog or a way for me to contact them, so that gets hard too. I don't mind the emails, I can shoot off a quick reply.

By popular request, I’m doing a post all about bookcases and vignettes around the house. Now mind you, I am totally not an expert on all of this. I just do what I like and play with things until they look good to me. I don’t particularly follow “design principles” or go by the rules. You're heard me say it many times. I’m not a minimalist and that is totally true, as I enjoy my collections and those things that surround me and make me smile.

But, I’ll give you all a few pointers of things that I have learned. It’s often said that things should be grouped in odd numbers and that’s one thing that does seem to consistently work for pleasing displays. I know everyone doesn’t like as much stuff as I do and that my house would be considered cluttered by many, but that’s OK. I do what I like. This is the bookcase in my blue guestroom and I’ve filled it up with all sorts of little treasures that I’ve found in my hunts. Most of this came from yardsales or were gifts or things that I’ve had a long time. I’ve got plenty of books that I use stacked on these shelves and most of them I’ve read. I sort of grouped some like things together with the finials on the right and then 3 items on the left with fake grass in the middle. No rhyme or reason, really just what is pleasing to my eye. Might not be pleasing to anyone else. The small round pottery piece to the left was a gift from a friend and the redhaired girl was a blog giveaway prize I won in the last couple of years, a handpainted tile.

Lots of bunnies here, and these were found at yardsales. I hung that little bunny plaque right up on the beadboard and sort of kept the 3 grouping thing going here. Added the small aqua jar that I just found here too. The yellow pottery piece on the left I found at an antique store and I love the shape of it. All those shells there were found by me while beach-combing in Florida.

More books, urn, armillary, and a nice white piece of coral (a lucky yardsale find for $3), all of this found at yardsales, except the framed print. The print I bought from Kari and Kjisa, since I couldn’t resist that cute bunny and it's hanging on the beadboard on a little nail.

On another shelf, this is a group of 3 again, with an iron bowl and fruit made out of beans & seeds (don't even remember where I got those), bunny planter, and a small bunny oil (a Tuesday AM find) on a bamboo easel. One thing that I love to do is vary the heights of things. That always adds more interest to groupings. If everything is the same height, it can be pretty boring, so keep that in mind. Vary those heights. And layering is always something I love to do. It adds dimension to bookshelves and keeps it fun to look at.

Here on the night table, I have the tall lamp, plus a dried arrangement, so I kept the middle part lower with the clock sitting on books and a small vintage oil painting hanging on the wall behind. This is what I mean about layering, adding that little special something on the wall.

In my laundry room, this shelf on the wall holds a symmetrical arrangement which is always a safe way to go. The large birdcage in the middle, flanked by the 2 small topiaries and then 2 different birdhouses on either end. Interesting, but not boring and the middle piece is the tallest.

Dining room table centerpiece. Again, a group of 3 things. Largest and tallest in the middle with the cloche sitting on a cake plate and flanked by 2 dark wooden candlesticks. Simple, but pretty.

My foyer table gets changed quite a bit, but I always go back to 3 big things on here and I like that the best for impact. I sometimes do some smaller things seasonally, but to me the tall something in the middle with the lamp and statue on either side is a good balance. The middle urn gets changed out periodically for another one too.

Here on the kitchen shelf, I’ve just filled this up with all my green Bordallo pottery and it’s sort of staggered in height to keep it interesting. The small leaf plate is hanging up on the wall with a plate hanger. I love to do that sort of thing whether it’s in a bookcase or shelf.

My fireplace mantel is totally symmetrical, with the large painting, 3 pears centered and the fleur de lis sconces on either side. I should play around with this more, but I sort of like it simple. You can see I found a place for those recent yardsale finds of the candle sconces.Had to move another pair to make room for these.

So, to sum up doing vignettes and bookcases, here's what has worked for me:

• Keep in mind that odd numbers work well for displaying things, think in groups of 3’s or 5’s when you put items together.
• Sometimes displaying a collection of all one thing is the way to go, like my white dish collection in the diningroom. Since it’s all the same color, that makes it more interesting than if I threw in other patterns or colors.
• Vary the heights when you are displaying things. If you line all your items up on the fireplace like little soldiers, that will not be a good look. Nor is putting a bunch of tiny little things on the mantel either. They will just get lost and it's not pretty! This is probably one of the most common mistakes I see that a lot of girls do.
  
• Go for bigger and fewer items when you’re working on a table or coffee table. (not that I follow this suggestion all the time either, but I try)
• Adding books or some sort of riser is a good way to add some height to an object when you need it. I love those small plaster pedestals for that sort of thing and have a few of those and look out at yardsales for things like that.
• Use what you love, don’t just buy something because it is trendy. (and yes, I don’t always follow that either) :)

One thing that I’m working on doing is getting rid of the cheapie accessories that I’ve collected. I’m really, really tired of the Made in China mass-produced stuff and I’m on a mission to rid my house of it. I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it. No more resin and cheap China things will come in here. I’d much rather look for American vintage or European vintage things to bring in and get rid of the other stuff. So, I’ve got a ways to go, but I just might have to do another yardsale this fall. I’ve also gotten rid of about half of my fake plants. Not all, but many of them are gone and I’d love to use mostly real, since I’ve always loved real plants so much. It really isn’t that hard to take care of them and I have a lot already.

I’ve noticed that dishes made in China are not nearly as durable as Italian and Portugal made china pieces are. There’s a world of difference in the quality, so no more of those either.

So, I hope you got a little bit of good and useful information with this hodge-podge of stuff I’ve shared. Like I said, I’m totally not an expert, but don’t mind sharing what I do and how I do it and hope it will benefit all of you too.

A big thank you to Artie, at Color Outside the Lines, for sending me this Martha book, Tag Sales & Flea Markets! Hmmm, wonder how he knew? :) Very nice surprise after I sent him something, but totally did not expect this at all. So, thank you Artie! I’ll really enjoy adding this book to my collection.

Check out my newest sponsor, Her Southern Charm (click on the sidebar link). We'll be having a fun giveaway next week for a fabulous piece of jewelry, the Aniston singles necklace. It's adorable! Go and have a preview and don't miss the giveaway coming up next week.

Don't miss both giveaways in the 2 posts below! You will not want to miss out on possibly winning one of those.

My First Chalkboard

Remember the old mirror I found at the rummage sale over the 4th weekend, for $3? I knew I’d paint it and do something fun with it, so I figured this was finally my chance to do a chalkboard, like I’ve seen ALL over blogland. I think I’m the last one to do this one. I was waiting for the right piece. :)

And this chunky wood shelf with the ugly faux grain laminate was a steal at $2, and I’m so glad I snapped it up. After a coat of black paint, it looks totally different and really a shoe-in for a Ballard’s look-alike shelf. Are you ready to see them finished?

I did a few coats of spray chalkboard paint on this one, then taped off the inside and sprayed the outside with the trusty Heirloom White that is all over blogland too. Great color, by the way! I have a quart of the stuff that I've had for a couple years, but the spray paint really comes in handy for fast projects. And to answer your questions, YES, I did paint right over the mirror with the chalkboard paint. It seems to be holding up fine, so even if you're not supposed to do that, you know I don't follow rules. I did about 3 coats, letting them dry in between. I'm sure it might scratch off if I tried, but it is fine for writing. Tape and newspaper come in handy for masking off areas you don't want to paint.

Used some Kilz on that nasty shelf to make sure the black satin spray paint would stick. Sorry, I missed the other spray steps, but you get the picture. See what I do for you girls?

Here’s the mirror with her fresh coat of white paint. Ahhh, so much better and such a great fit for my kitchen now. Maybe I will now have a place to display a weekly menu for my hubby who has been strongly hinting that I should do some meal planning around our house. Ha! Whatever for?? I actually did write the weekly menu (Monday - Friday) on here this week and he loved it. My man likes to eat and when he's not eating, he likes to read about what we are having for dinner. :)

And the black shelf. I debated on which color I wanted on these and finally came to the conclusion that I needed to mix it up with black and white. How you ask?

Well, here’s my thinking process. I looked over this area and decided that all white would be too much white in one area by my antique cupboard here in the breakfast part of our kitchen.

So, a mix would be better. Black on the shelf and with the chalkboard being black, the best balance in my eye was to do the frame in white and I’m really happy with the way it all looks together. Sort of picks up that black and white zebra runner too.

Now some would think this is all way too much stuff, but you know how I feel about that. I’ll say it again. I’m not a minimalist and I love to layer things. Added more of my green dishes to the black shelf to balance out that side and with the chalkboard underneath, it works for me. I love the trend towards a simple tablescape too, but I also enjoy hanging stuff on the walls. It just makes me happy!

Those are Splenda packets on the bunny dish within grabbing distance for my morning cappuccino.

There’s an old phone jack under the chalkboard that we’re not using, so this was also a good way to cover it up.

I know how we all love a good Before and After project, so there you have it. From shabby to chic! This wall makes me smile.

Kimba's DIY party is also going on, so stop by there for lots more DIY ideas!

My Sis’s House

My sister has been married to Bruce for going on 10 years now and after initially moving in here and decorating the house, she’s been making some very nice changes. They recently got additional hardwoods installed and all the floor sanded and restained and it all turned out beautiful. They are looking to downsize in the near future, but will have to see how it goes with home sales since it's not looking great at this time. In the meantime, with all their kids out of the house, they can enjoy the changes for themselves.

As I’ve mentioned before, we usually have our family gatherings at their house, since they have such a nice outdoor porch and back yard to enjoy on these nice spring and summer days. So, I thought y’all might enjoy seeing their house. This is coming in the frontdoor. It was time to get the walls repainted too, so she decided to use my Whole Wheat paint by Sherwin Williams as her main color this time.

The foyer is flooded with natural light, so it really looks light here and you can see how much darker it looks towards the back of the greatroom. Renee loves decorating almost as much as I do and enjoys puttering around with it too.We didn't get this trait from our mom, as she could care less about decorating and changing things around. I'll show you a glimpse of my mom's kitchen in another post.

She’s going to be replacing the familyroom furniture in the near future too. And she’s been scouring Craigslist in Atlanta looking for some bargains and boy, did she score on a couple of deals recently. There are some great things on the Atlanta Craigslist. I can't believe how much better it is than ours in Birmingham.

She found this HUGE entertainment center in an ad from a store selling their furnishings and got this gorgeous piece, as well as the island that goes with it. If you’ve ever heard of Habersham, this line is very similar, although it is not an official Habersham piece, it certainly has the look. It’s in 2 pieces and she said they had a heck of a time getting it in the house. Had to haul it on 2 trucks. And the price of this beauty is amazing. $1,000 for this large and magnificent piece, a real steal if you’ve priced entertainment units lately. And it’s solid wood. It’s hard to tell in this pic, but it’s a soft beigy color with a little green undertone and has very nice distressing.

With their huge greatroom ceilings, this piece fits perfectly. She said it’s 9’ tall.

The detailing on it is exquisite.

Over the fireplace.

Looking back towards front door.

Greatroom looking into kitchen area and onto back porch.

This is a true open floorplan house with great flow for a party. The greatroom opens to the kitchen, which then connects to the livingroom and diningroom combo.

Several of you mentioned the backyard, here's the link to my Mother's Day post, which shows a lot of their lush backyard and pond. Click here!

Say hello to Buster, the Boston terrier. He’s a fun dog and loves to play tug o’ war. And he once got so excited, he peed on my husband. At least my hubby laughed about it.

Breakfast table looking into kitchen. There’s the island she also scored from the same sellers. She got it for $350, which I thought also was a great deal. Mom made her kitchen window treatments too.

Very pretty piece, it looks wonderful in her kitchen. If they do move, she’s taking it with her.

And this is Holly, a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix and she is a real sweetie.

The diningroom is right off the kitchen. She left this room red, but I think I’ve talked her into lightening it up too, like I did with my red diningroom. She mentioned that she thinks she is going to paint over the red too. When she and Bruce got married, he had all this cherry furniture made by Kincaid. Very nice furniture, all solid wood, but it’s all exactly alike. Queen Anne Cherry. Too much of a good thing. It was in the foyer, greatroom, dining room, and master bedroom. All Queen Anne Cherry. She’s prepared him over the years, that she is going to get rid of some of it and bring in some new pieces, not so matchy-matchy, so now she’s finally getting around to doing that. They asked for my advice on some things they should change out. She just spray painted that brass light fixture to black and it looks so much better already. So, in case you have a brass fixture like this one which is in a lot of homes all over the country, here’s what it would look like painted.

Looking into kitchen. She’s going to sell the table and chairs, as well as the china cabinet and that wall is where the newly painted hutch will go. Anyone in the Atlanta area interested in a solid wood Kincaid table and chairs and china cabinet?? She’s going to sell it for a good price.

Livingroom sofa.

Livingroom chairs. She is tired of these chairs too and they will also be going.

Recognize this piece? Yep, we both bought this from the decorator a few years ago. She’s going to change her knobs to black too after she saw my piece.

So, that’s a little tour of my sister’s downstairs main areas. Hope you enjoyed seeing more of her house. They’ve been working hard on it and it looks great.

Hop over to this blog and this Etsy site for a fun vinyl wall art giveaway! Lots of great stuff to choose from.

Sticks and Feathers

Added to Kimba's DIY Day!

Here’s a quick, easy, and cheap little arrangement I put together recently, using some black yardsale sticks that I picked up for $1. I have to admit, I’m really liking sticks these days and have started using them a lot in my decor. This is a $5 yardsale urn that I scored along the way in my yardsale journey and it keeps company with all the creamware. But, I decided it would be a great container for some sticks and feathers, since I saw a beautiful white ironstone container at a shop filled with sticks and feathers and loved the look.

Out came my bags of moss that I have stashed in my craft closet. This is a must-have to keep handy. And the best thing, it’s reusable, so I just recycle it to the next one.

You can see in the first pic, I added some foam to hold everything in place. Didn’t even glue it, just jammed it in the urn and it stays fine. Added the moss, no gluing, it stays in place just fine.

I began adding my black sticks one at a time until they were all arranged the way I liked them. I made sure that they were balanced all around with the height & the direction they were going .

I had picked up a dried bunch at Hobby Lobby on their last dried naturals sale for $2.00. Added those in too.

Then, I took my Hobby Lobby feathers than I bought on the 1/2 price sales along the way and just arranged those around the circle of the sticks.

I had 3 taller feather picks too, so I put those in.

And there you have it, a quick and easy arrangement. I moved out the pinecones and added this in its place on the console table.

Let’s see, I think there’s about $10-12 in this one (including the urn). Not too bad for a new look by using yardsale finds and recycled natural materials.