Books galore
I have been look at my book shelves and thinking of ways to make it look more…different. I am a huge reader so I have my fair share of books. Hence, the need for the standard bookshelves to cram them all in. However, lately I have been looking at it with a different eye. I want to spread my books and make them not just that library look, but a piece of art on their own. A stack of books on my bedside table? A stack of books on the floor? Some classic genres in the spare bedroom for guests?
Here are just a few ideas I have found and am going to have a play around with in my own home.
Inspiring Ideas
Upon telling a close friend of mine about my blog and also ideas for my house, she immediately thought of a quote she had read somewhere. It was after I had told her about my hook obsessions. She searched for the quote and sent it to me and I thought I would share it with you,
‘Make sure your home reflects you, a tapestry of gifts from friends, purchases from travels. You don’t want your home to look like you bought it in one day‘ – Terri Winter.
Hooked on Hooks
Upon visiting Melbourne on our trip to find hallway pieces of furniture, Jake and I visited several ‘bits and pieces’ stores. We found an amazing two-storey one near the Queen Victoria Markets. It had individual flair and turned old lamps, chairs, lights, rugs into something amazing. The style of the shop was vintage and we immediately fell in love with the store and spent a great deal of time looking through the rooms. However, what immediately grabbed us was the range of hooks they had. If you are into birds, creative little mirrors, letters, shells, old tiles, pineapples etc you will find it here. Wouldnt it be great to arrange different hooks in no particular order above our hall bench from Oriental Express?? Jake and I picked out our most favourite hooks and brought them home to Regent Street.
I believe the entrance to your home sets the tone for the rest of the house. It is important to show your guests what your style is and don’t be afraid to be a bit quirky. Our scattered hooks above our old hall table blends nicely with our bird-cage mirror and the hall table bits and pieces. This entrance reflects our vision of how we want our home. We dont want our hooks to be in perfect order and they look great. Best of all, we have such a big wall space we can continue to collect hooks from all over and add to our collection.
Here is another way of displaying hooks. This is the first image we have come across since we did ours so we were very excited to see the trend.
Family Photo Wall
I am very interested in the idea of creating a Family Wall. I want to create a wall which I can build on over the years. I want it to start with mine and Jakes childhood. With photos of our parents wedding day, growing up with our siblings and loved ones. Eventually, as we make our own family, we can add to this wall, thus creating a Family Wall.
The idea is to make it as individual as you want. Some displays include words on the wall, which to me in the long term can easily date the display. You can also create a wall with very structured frames or even no frames evident at all.
Here are some displays I found.
As you can see, these ones use unique black frames. They can either by all the same like picture 3, or they can be scattered and also vary with picture colour or black\white. Either way, they have a beautiful effect on your wall.
This wall display I have seen in children’s bedrooms. A child’s bedroom, I think is the only place for it. With the children’s heritage displayed on the wall in such a young and fresh way, would be a wonderful focus for the child. As it has a ‘youthful’ feel about it, it would look a bit immature and out of place if it were used in the main areas of the house.
Here is an amazing photographic display for a family wall idea. As you can see, it doesn’t just have to be family. You can be as creative as you like with photos of certain times, stages and parts of your life. You can make them as simple or as intricate as you wish. What I love about this display is the artist clearly has an eye for photography and has chosen a mix of photos which appeal to them. The size of the photos has an eye catching affect that just draws your attention straight away. It helps I think with the fact that they havent used obvious frames. It is purely their art, and the size and scale of photos sets a frame in itself.
Now, for the next part I need to sort through family albums and find out which photos we think will create a great family wall.
Can’t beat a bench
Over the past year I have often seen benches in home shops and thought ‘gee they look great but where would I put it’? Then it came to me…anywhere I want! I love how they can give a room a space for organised mess. Benches can go just about anywhere and can be used as a display for photos, flowers, magazines, candles, blankets, books, towels…you get the drift. I am all for finding another spot to display my treasures and photos without cluttering the bookshelves and TV cabinet more than necessary. After we purchased our first bench from a lovely shop in Unley, we put it at the end of our bed with a vase of flowers and voila! I was so impressed that I looked for other types of benches and their uses to have an excuse to need another one.
Some benches don’t need to have anything on them at all. Like the white pin-cushion bench in picture one. This bench helps to shape the bed and creates a framing by having photos at the end, and the clean white bench at the end. However, the third picture is used in an entrance to keep your handbag, shoes etc. It works as a welcoming spot to drop your things and head into your home.
Benches can be used, like in the middle picture to create another wall display like the photos and frames above. It acts as a frame to draw your attention to the display, whilst also being a unique piece all on its own.
Once again, benches can be stocked with bags, magazines and shoes placed beside, or even a tray of tea for your breakfast in bed. But they can also be just a brilliant touch all on their own. This last picture I love as it adds to the raw feel of this entrance. With the different frames, the worn and rustic floorboards along with the wall heater, with this natural straw bench it gives ‘shabby chic’ a whole new meaning.
Brown Leather Armchair – tick
For a long time now, both Pen and I have been on the lookout for a vintage brown leather arm chair. Now, I never knew it, but these suckers are hard to come by! We have come across a few in Adelaide, but either they have been too uncomfortable, too ‘trendy’ or just too damn expensive. We have also found a few in shops in Melbourne and Sydney, but the price factor rears its ugly head each time, with price tags usually between 2K and 3K. After visiting my favourite home period reno house in Adelaide, Stepney Salvage, I stumbled across one of these beauties, and it was 20% off, totalling a price of I think, $800. The biggest bonus about this is it is pretty bloody comfortable also. Here it is below:
Hallway Pieces
How lucky are we to have a long hallway to fill with art, benches, rugs and photos? Very lucky. Jacob and I have a love of finding individual pieces in magazines or shops and making them work in our house. We travelled to Melbourne in search of a sidetable for the entrance of our house. We wanted something different. Something with imperfections and history. Our journey took us to several stores, one of which gave us exactly what we were looking for. “The Orient Express”. We found our sidetable in a beautiful light brown, not too perfect and it would go beautifully in our entrance.
A White Picket Fence
When we moved into our house, it had a dark blue painted interior, grey-blue carpeted bedrooms and a lot of dated curtains. The front yard was all paved, with a tall brush fence struggling to support a leaning tree. Such a gorgeous single-fronted cottage was being smothered by all this. It created a very dark entrance to the house.
First things first, we decided to start from the front and work our way back. The brush fence and tree were the first to go. This was the hardest part, but it had to be done.
Second, the picket fence was installed. We chose a standard white picket fence with black posts as the gate we wanted was a shiny black to match our front door.
Once our picket fence was installed, we started on designing our front yard. With the big tree and fence no longer blocking our cottage, we knew we wanted a feature tree in the middle. Jacob drew designs to give to our landscapers. We purchased the big pots from a Nursery in Virginia and they looked ridiculously big when delivered, but once the Weeping Mulberry Tree was planted it was perfect!
A stepping stone path was put from the gate leading to the front door as an extra edge to our front yard. Easy to maintain too.
Lavish Lamps
Whilst organising furniture in our spare bedroom, I realised we do not have bedside table lamps. A must have! How are our christmas guests supposed to feel welcome when they cant even enjoy a book in bed? I popped down to the local Target, and look what I found! They have a ‘mix and match’ policy with a huge choice of lamp bases and lamp shades. These lamp bases cost $30 each and the shades were $20 each. So all up $50 per lamp which is not too shabby!
You can see the fabulous folds in the lamp shade even more once the light is turned on.
As our spare bedroom is wanting to be neutral with flair in the artwork we eventually display, I chose a crystal base with a beige gathered shade. Now it looks much more inviting and welcoming to our guests.
Antique Poster-Art
I am trying to find Antique Posters to display in our large family room. I love old advertisements and these two I found have such a unique and eye-catching colour. I want to purchase them, and once framed display them by not hanging on a wall, but leaning against the wall on top of a cabinet. I love this look.
