Arranging Accessories & Books on Shelves: Before & After

Like most people, we have a TON of books. Since we moved into our new house last May, they've been in boxes in our downstairs hallway... NOT PRETTY. or organized. or easy. So, yesterday, we headed over to Ikea and purchased this bad boy for our living room: To go in this spot:

We'll still need some more bookshelves somewhere else in the house but I'm really happy with this start:

I mixed in lots of flea market/ thrift finds with the books:

I did a horizontal stack of books (these turquoise ones are some of my favorites- haha although I've only read one of them... it's just the color!!! but The Golden Fleece is on my 'to read" list) to make a little pedestal for my wedgewood bowl. The spot was looking really bare (and we need the space for books!) so I opened a pretty book behind the "pedestal."

I love this fun monkey "see no evil, hear no eveil, speak no evil" vase (and some more pretty blue books!) that I recently found in Volo, IL for $8.

I did a combination of junky paperbacks turned page-side out (I still have all of my Christopher Pike & LJ Smith books) and beautiful leatherbounds. My grandfather has been giving the grandkids a leatherbound classic every year for Thanksgiving since we were kids. (I think my English-teacher-husband was sealed on marrying me when he found this out! ;) ;) I also layered in a flea market painting & some prints to add some interest in the background...

And since I've got lots of green in my living room, I made this fun horizontal stack of green design books. I'm sure you recognize a few! ;) I topped it with tis crazy vintage peacock soap dish ($4) that I found in Volo this summer. Again, I opened up a book to go behind it because the space was feeling bare and I loved the etchings from The Aeneid. I also tucked in a few family photos:

The two bottom shelves are for (you guessed it!) toys!!! I'm using those old wooden wine boxes again & they're smashed in between more books. Even though it's the living room, I like to have toys in every area (as long as they look okay when put away) so that we can all enjoy all the rooms in the house.

And I know how weird & creepy this alligator head is, but we found it at one of my favorite shops at the beach & for some odd reason, we just loved it. (This is the first time my husband actually wanted an accessory MORE than me so I was really happy to get something he was so excited about.) We haven't named him yet...

Below is a bust that I got for around $2 at Unique Thrift Store in Merrifield (AMAZING if you havenm't been... He was made of black-reddish-bronzey glass. Really one of the scariest/ ugliest busts I'd ever seen but I painted him white & then tea stained him. He's been outside too & only gets better-looking with age ;) (Ignore the blue painter's tape!!) He's on top of one of my favorite series of books.

I was able to stack 3 columns of paperbacks in this space above the bookshelf. It will definitely be a pain when I am looking for something but this is the price of beauty ;) ;) I layered in a huge hurricane glass & candle because I needed items of large-scale up there:

And one last look at the new bookshelf. It practically looks built-in & I was so excited when the shelf was only 2.5" smaller than the wall.

If you didn't get the chance, check out this post because it explains a lot of the principles behind what I did here.

xoxo,

lauren

ps- did you notice that the baseboard is in around the floors too?!!! wahooooooooo (we have a little more to finish tonight ;)

How To Arrange Your Accessories @ Pear Tree Cottage!

I had such a great time doing the Pear Tree Cottage Design Seminar this weekend! Above is me with an arrangement I did for one of the demonstrations using sedum & some unknown bush cutting from my yard in a vintage milk glass urn. Here are the lovely ladies of Pear Tree Cottage:


It started off perfectly with some champagne and boy did I wish I could have a glass! (I was definitely a bit nervous before it started but everyone was so sweet & there were lots of smiling faces as I began.) One reader even came with a broken foot!!!! (see below) Thank you so much for making it!!!! :)

I really can't tell you how much it meant to see so many of you who show up & it was SO GREAT to actually get to meet you in person!!! I really felt like it was an audience full of friends... (I wish you all could have been there, so I'll try & recreate it ;)

Below on the left is Michele from My Notting Hill and I was so happy to finally meet her too!! Michele was one of the first people to take an interest in my blog & included me in her "DC Designer Series" and I was so excited when I read her post...

Ok, some of you asked me to videotape it, but I was nervous enough and also am technologically-challenged & unsure of how to get a video online (maybe future??) so I'm going to give you a serious breakdown of what I said & how it went. (I apologize to anyone there because this really is justy a play-by-play and might bore you to hear it a second time!!) I went around the store and arranged accessories on an antique vanity used as a console table, a bookshelf and finally a mantle. I started out telling a story about how my friends & family used to come to my house & every time it looked different. It was rearranged & the living room that used to be blues & greens was now beiges & golds. They'd always come in, say 'hi' to me and then start looking around to see what was new. They'd say things like, "You have WAY too much time on your hands," and "How can you afford to redecorate all the time?"

And the truth was, I wasn't really redecorating all the time... I was simply reaccessorizing. (Although I probably do have too much time on my hands! ;) I wasn't buying a tons of new things - of course I shopped a little- but I was rearranging my rooms, moving artwork, pillows & other accessories from room to room. The furniture was still the same, the paint was still the same, they just didn't realize it. This is the power that accessories have to transform a space.

When accessories are done well, a room can be thoughtful, personal & beautiful, but if done poorly, it can feel cluttered, oudated or contrived. The talk I gave was all about breaking down the process of arranging accessories step-by-step so that people could go home & try to get their accessories right in their own homes.

I started out with a quick explanation of visual weight, which is how much space an object takes up, not how heavy it is or how much it actually weighs. For example, a rock and a bouncy ball of the same size & shape are totally different weights, but they visually, they weigh about the same, meaning they have the same visual weight. This comes into play when we’re trying to create balance... Obviously two identical objects placed on a table can create a balanced arrangement, but you can also create a balanced arrangement if you use two objects of equal visual weight. (This is called “informal balance” vs “formal balance.”)

Then I moved around the shop and went to a vanity that was empty & began arranging it as an entryway console table. The look IO was going for was a mix of antique & modern so I chose the antique vanity & paired it with the modern lamps... I layered it with these amazing silver antler candle holders and piled up a bunch of my own decorating magazines for some height & because I wanted to use "real" objects people have lying around their home. I tucked in a really interesting magnifying glass & letter opener (bottom left) for some a nice, low horizontal addition to the arrangament and I used a vintage drink mixer of ours with a branch from a bush outside my house for some freshness.

Finally, I loaded a pretty little tray atop the magazines with "not-so-pretty" things like my keys & cell phone & sunglasses so the audience could see how when you put everyday, functional objects with beautiful ones, the arrangement feels "real" and beautiful & the everday things look great. :

Here's a good step-by-step breakdown...
How to Arrange Tabletops:

1. Create a focal point- (The mirror)
2. Create balance with a pair of objects - (the lamps)
3. Add a “spontaneous” item to overlap the focal point a bit to one side - (the candle holders)
4. Add layers of interest for a personal feeling, using items of varying height & sizes (magazines)
5. Include a tray or low horizontal item such as a book or plate - (the magnifying glass/ opener)
6. Finish with fresh flowers or greenery (my branch in the drink mixer)
...... And then I added a tray of "stuff" for some reality ;)

Next I arranged an empty bookshelf. (Above, Baby #2 is almost 6 months along & you can really tell from the side!!)

I explained how starting out with your favorite objects in the most prominent spaces is a good way to start. I brought in a bunch of paperbacks & showed how if you flip them around so the page sides are showing, you can really get a beatiful look & pair them with other pretty books.

I set up the books first and then filled in with larger objects. (Small objects don't usually work very well in b ookshelves because they end up looking cluttered & knick-knacky)... I used some books on the horizontal and others vertically to add interest. I layered a print in the background for interest & filled in all the holes with pretty things. (Below is the arrangment missing some things, (bottom right) because they SOLD before I could get a picture afterwards!! haha)

And here's another breakdown...
How to Arrange Bookshelves:
1. Decide how you want your shelves to feel: formal, perfectly placed or casual & “undesigned.”
2. Start at the most prominent spot and work your way up and down or out, keeping things balanced as you go
3. Take a digital photo and review the finished shelf, then go back and fix any trouble areas
4. Switch it up & have fun whenever the mood strikes you!!! This is what keeps our homes fresh & beautiful.

And finally, I showed how to arrange a mantle. I started out with an empty one (above)-- do you recognize it? It's ours from our house! (Dave was installing the hardwood floors & it was off the wall so we brought it in for the demonstration) I first showed how just adding a focal point (the mirror- oh the silverleaf driftwood mirror! WOW) and 2 objects for balance (the sconces) and a beautiful centerpiece, you could be finished and have a beautiful, simple arrangement (try to ignore the cords).. it would be created using "formal" balance because everything used has an identical pair except for the central items.

Then I created a layered, collected look and explained how by adding in "spontaneous" objects, you could get a more casual, relaxewd, "off" arrangement. (I used a mix of metal, wood, green & white & made sure it was carried throughout the display.) Here's the finished mantle, below:

Here's the breakdown again:
How to Arrange a Mantel

1. Create a focal point (mirror)
2. Create balance with objects (sconces)
3. Decide how much you want going on… if more- add layers of interest (print, wooden mushrooms, white urn)and a tray or low horizontal item (little row of white -figs- (I think??)
4. Finish with fresh flowers or greenery (the urn with flowers)

It was such a great time & I had so much fun meeting everyone!! I would love to think of a way to meet more readers, so I'll be brainstorming. Here's Michele & I:

And here I am with the lovely (so sweet & happy) Frances, owner of The Pear Tree Cottage:

Thank you SO much to Frances & everyone who attended. I had the best time and you all made me feel so comfortable!!!!

xoxo,

lauren

ps- I have some more details on ideas for accessory display so I'll be posting them later this week.

Accessorizing with Ferns

I love fern. Whenever I see a photo of a room with it in it, I take a second look. It just gives this awesome fresh jolt of green & energy to a space. It has a classic feel yet it's a bit wild & untamed & perfect for any modern space. (And they're so inexpensive & available!!!)

When I saw this room by Carlton Varney (in HB), it was the fern that got me. How beautiful is it against all that white?!!


I've always wanted a house with a front porch & hanging ferns on it. Something about it is so romantic & nostalgic. (2 images below from Martha Stewart)

How perfect is this porch?!! (below)

Eddie & Jaithan had a fern in their apartment:


And Eddie used one as the centerpiece for his New Orleans Showhouse dining room:



Below is a fern I used at my old townhouse a couple of years ago... (I killed it pretty quickly though--- eeeeek!!) I loved sitting in here with my fan going (this was the old big square plastic one that broke) and the windows open, blowing in the white curtains... Something about the fern and all these elements really relaxed me. Great place to read a book or take a nap...

Love how the fern below (BHG) is just sitting casually on the stairs. (It's much better than my pile of stuff that needs to go either up or down!!!)

Below is a pretty little fern in a bucket in the kitchen of the Ruthie Sommers house we all love so much: (Also, Things That Inspire let me know that the adorable crab painting is actually by a very talented artist friend of hers!!!!)

Here's a simple fern arrangement accompanied by fern plates (Country Living):

LOVE LOVE LOVE the table setting below from one of my favorite houses, Rice Cottage.

The plant below isn't a fern but I included it because it's so fern-esque ;) (BHG):

The fern in the corner gives just the hit of life this room needs (below, BHG):

Here's another pretty little fern from BHG in a shabby chic dining room:

And finally, this fern in a room done by Carrier and Company is one of my favorites. I LOVE what it does in this room (again, a white background) and it looks so perfect next to the turquoise gourd lamp. So much life!!! love it!!!

I've been waiting to get my ferns this year because we're going away for another 2 weeks and I don't want them to die while I'm gone!! (I've pledged to take better care of the next ones ;) I'm putting one in my dining room in an urn I just found. Home Depot and K-Mart have a ton for under $15. Also, if you plant them in the grount just before it gets too cold, they'll come up next Spring!! (I did this when I started to kill my indoor ferns and the ones that made it were beautiful in the Spring!!)

We'll be in the Outer Banks (North Carolina) and I'll be posting from there for the next 2 weeks!!! The house we rented is so pretty and I can't wait to show pics!!! (hahaha totally picked it because of how it was decorated ;)

xoxo,

lauren

Cheap "Vintage" Fans!

I love fans. Especially at night when I sleep. But I also love a chandelier in my bedroom and don't want to sacrifice it for a ceiling fan.

SO, I've been dying for a vintage floor fan or vintage look-alike fan. (check out Haskell Harris's bedroom below. You can see her whole house here.)


When we were visiting my dad (we're home!) I went to my FAVORITE antique mall, Volo, and saw so many beautiful vintage fans (below found at retro.net)


However, I really didn't like the visual I got when I pictured Christian's arm in the fan. (The slats are so far away!!!) I've also been wanting Restorations Hardware's Allaire Telesoping fans (below) but was having trouble justifying forking over $200+ for a floor fan when the ugly ones are so cheap. So, you know me... I went almost a whole summer without a fan because I wasn't willing to spend the dough or buy an ugly one. haha



Ahhhh, so pretty!!!






Anyway... Enter Walmart. Oh wow. We never go because we don't have one near us at home. But we love that place. My eagle-eye husband saw fan boxes labeled "vintage" and we snapped them up right away!! At only $38 and $25 (?I forget exactly?) I couldn't have been happier!!! Below is the desk on and it's almost identical to RH's desk fan.

(hahah like my vintage map styling? ;) ;)

And here's a closeup of the floor fan in my bedroom. (The top pic in this post is also of my walmart fan):

a bit more of a gunmetal finish in some places (why there would be more than one finish, I have no idea) but for $38, I'm ok with it... Actually I should say THRILLED with it! :)

(I'm almost ready to show you some after pics of the bedroom- just waiting on a couple of items to arrive!) We found some more amazing deals this past week & can't wait to show you!!!

xoxo,

lauren