Tag Archives: library

My Favorite Finds

Today I’m linking up over at Victoria Elizabeth Barnes and sharing my favorite find(s). Old, new, trash, treasure, bought, found, salvaged, or stolen. Whatever you love.

It was impossible to choose one favorite find. I find lots of things that I love and I find things a lot. I love finding whimsy, quirky, and eccentricity. I love finding color. I love finding pattern. I love finding characters (especially of the winged variety). So, here’s a sampler of some of my most favoritest finds, broken into categories.

Books

I have vast and vivid dreams of having my own library. Floor-to-ceiling. Crisp white shelving and trim. Soft grey walls. Pops of magenta and tangerine. And of course, books. Tons of books. I love all of my books, but my most treasured books are the turn-of-the-century copies of Jane Austen’s works that I salvaged from my dad’s uncle’s house. I cannot show you an actual photo of said books because they are packed in a box in my parents’ basement (until those glorious floor-to-ceiling shelves are built), and I was too busy/lazy to drive to their house, unpack the boxes, and photograph the books. But, imagine small chapbooks, bound in worn black leather, stamped in gold, with tissue-thin pages printed with the beloved conversations between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy. Kind of like these:

Art

In the meantime, I can’t forget the other library necessities, like a map of the world and a bust of a famous author or two. I am still hunting for the bust, but I’ve got the map-o-the-world covered:

purchased from RightGrain on Etsy

This, also, is waiting on shelving to be built before being hung in my office. Oh, one of these days…

I consider this next piece a ridiculously fabulous find because it was $3. At Ikea. Kari Herer is an awesome artist, whose work I’ve had my eye on for a while (visit her Etsy shop here). Her prints are so unique. They’re the kinds of things I wish I’d thought to do. Because they are genius in their simplicity and creativity. Her prints are by no means outrageously priced, but when I spotted this one at Ikea (again, for $3), how could I say no?

Lastly, but not leastly, I’ll leave you with my latest winged find. Not only is this little guy adorable (his name is Chip, by the way), but I painted him myself at the bachelorette party of one of my best friends. I got to customize my color palette, and have a great memory attached to it. Whooo, whooo can resist those eyes?!?

I hope you’re sharing your favorite find too!

New Desk Accessories, or Who Doesn’t Need a Giant Clothespin?

While I wait for my “dream office/liiiiiibrary” (say it with a British accent) to take shape, I decided to spruce up my desk space a bit.

From left to right: cool, twisty blown glass by my cousin, owner of Glassometry Studios. The giant clothespin is from Michaels; I spotted it over the weekend, and for $3, couldn’t pass it up! I picked up the postcard at a photography portfolio share at my work a few months ago. And the 2013 calendar is by Pinwheel Print Shop.

Do you have a fresh new desk look for a fresh new year?

Articipation

Just ordered this colorful 8″ x 10″ print titled “The Rain” by Michel Valenton from the Erin Loechner Specialty Shop at The Foundary. (Not a member? Want to be? Send me your email address and I’ll send you an invite!)

I love all of the different colors, but particularly the bright oranges and pinks. I think it will perfectly complement the color palette I have planned for my Library/Office, which is white, magenta, and tangerine! Plus, how could this print not make you smile every time you see it? It’s so bright and cheery! Can’t wait to get it, frame it, then put my entire office design together (ha!). For more on that, check out yesterday’s List-O-Mania post!

List-O-Mania

I don’t know about you, but I love making lists. In the Notes app on my iPhone. Especially when Tom & I are driving to work (we carpool; he drives), running errands, or in those moments when I can’t fall asleep because I have too many thoughts running through my head. During our 13 hour car ride back from Florida, I made a lot of lists. Tom gets carsick if he’s not driving, so he drove the ENTIRE 750 miles home. And I spent those miles reading the September issue of HGTV magazine, and coming up with countless ideas and projects for our house. The best way that I could think of to soothe my racing mind was to create room-by-room lists.

I am sharing these with you in an effort to help 1.) Turn some of these ideas into reality. Decorating is like dieting. If you tell people what your goals are, you’re more likely to follow through and stick to it. Right?? 2.) Have a back-up, just in case I lose my iPhone or accidentally hit delete!

Obviously, there are more rooms in our house than are listed here. But I’m starting with the ones that seem reasonable and realistic.

Family Room:

– Gallery wall above small bookshelf; maybe small wall of photos between TV and stairs (MUST make progress on this soon! I should probably give myself a deadline…)

– Add a basket/something to stash pillows and throws

– Buy a rug for the corner where the piano will go

– Have piano moved from my parent’s house

– Accent table needed between cream leather occasional chairs

– Paint! (this is on the books for early 2013!!)

– Crown molding

– Frame out windows or build cornice boxes

– Eventually… would love a pouf! And a new coffee table and end table

Kitchen:

– Add a tile backsplash

– Paint!! (also early 2013)

– Install under-cabinet lighting

– Crown molding

– Considering a fun, modern wall-paper on the wall underneath our island, that faces our family room

– Eventually… would love custom blown-glass pendant lights.

Master Bedroom:

– Dressing table and chair

– Armchair (and ottoman?)

– New bedding

– Art / photos for walls

– New lamps for our nightstands

– Crown molding?

– Custom closet system

Library/Office:

– Built-in shelving and window seat

– Window seat cushion and pillows

– Frame out window

– Crown molding

– New desk & desk chair

– Hang art

– Feature wall for quilts (my mom is a quilter; she’s made me some cute, sentimental and “inside joke” quilts over the years and I need a way to display them!)

Now, the fun part will be seeing how many of these we can actually accomplish! Is it silly to admit that I’m nervous?!!?

House Tour: Part 1

I guess it’s about time for a house tour, right? Since everything is better / makes more sense with pictures? Well, here are a few pics to get things rolling!

First things first – the exterior! (which you’re probably tired of seeing given all of my outdoorsy photos)

Once inside the front door, you have a straight-shot view to the back of our house / family room.

To the right is the “formal dining room.” Or at least, it will be someday when we finally treat ourselves blow our life savings on a dining set. There’s not much to see here. Just our “mini bar” and some knick-knackery.

To the left is my library / office / study, i.e. The Room I Dream About Daily. Again, not a ton to see here yet, but it’s in better shape than the dining room. At least it contains a desk and a reading chair that I can actually sit at and work / sit in to read a book. We’re planning to install built-ins to the left of the window, along with a picturesque window seat (in order to maximize book-reading nooks in this room). Not sure if my desk will stay against the opposite wall or not. I’m open to layout suggestions!

That’s all for now! Mainly because 1) the evening light is messing up pictures of the family room / kitchen and 2) my kitchen is a mess and by the time I get it cleaned, I won’t have the benefit of natural light (I know, that’s a poor excuse.)

**Note: Let’s call this a preliminary house tour, mainly because I think it’s becoming more evident that I need to take photos with a real camera and not my iPhone, haha! Stay tuned for more house, and (hopefully) better photos!