Where It All Began

Several weeks ago I was looking around my living room, feeling a little discontented with the way that things were looking. We live in a house that was built in the late 30's with wood floors and wood walls throughout. Although I like the natural look of the wood, it can get a bit dark, and for a girl who loves things to be bright and fresh looking, all of this wood can be a little much. So, wanting to make some small changes that would go a long way to refreshing the feel of the room, I decided to re-do one of the shelving nooks in our living area.

Unfortunately I don't have any "before" pics, also our camera is on the fritz so I only have one after photo...which I am surprised I could even get. I was tinkering around with the camera tonight and got it to take a picture before it crashed. So the pic isn't that great, but you can get a feel for what I tried to accomplish. Before I refreshed this little area it was fairly crowded, too many pictures and nick-nacks for such a small area. Also, since the walls are already so dark, I had way too many dark colored decor items crammed onto the shelves. I wanted to show more of the painted panel behind the shelves and brighten up the nook as much as I could.

-Top Left - A frame with a picture of me and my mom which says underneath "Her Children Rise Up & Call Her Blessed" from Proverbs 31...one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Beside that is a glass frame with a picture of me, my mom & all my sisters in it, taken at the beach on my 25th birthday. Top Middle - A picture of my sister Glenna, eating a slice of watermelon, taken that same day at the beach. This has got to be one of my very favorite pictures of all-time, and I love how the frame has a beachy/coastal feel to it. It matches the picture just perfectly! Top Right - A picture of my sister, Gloria, next to some of my "Mema Plants"...{Pothos to be exact}. I repurposed a baby food jar, a pickle jar and a salad dressing jar as vases for my plants. I wrapped them in burlap (which I am in love with) and added some ribbon which coordinates with the colors in the frame beside them.

-Middle Left - I stenciled "LOVE" onto burlap and put it in a frame that I had already. I placed a picture of Aaron and myself on our third anniversary next to it. Middle Right - One of my favorite candles, Paris, by Tyler Candle Co. sits next to a basket with a photo of my sister Gail and I in it. Behind the photo is an antique book which matched the look I was trying to achieve.

-Bottom Left - A Basket with some of Johnathan's favorite DVD's in it. In front of the basket is a little tin that I made which holds some matches/tealights that I use in one of my wax tart warmers in the living room. Bottom Middle - A vase that I got for .01 at Michael's! I found it on the clearance shelf, and boy, you don't get any cheaper than 1 cent! Haha! I'm going to put some pothos in the vase, but just haven't gotten around to doing that yet. Bottom Right - A cute little Letter box I found at Marshall's several months ago for under 10 bucks. I like it because it's yellow, and that's not a color I use much of so it stands out a lot. Plus, it's very handy for storing outgoing mail, keys, etc. Lining the bottom shelf, which you can't really see, is a length of burlap...can you sense my obsession with my newest favorite textile?! You can not believe how much fun I've had with the 3 yards of burlap that I bought at Joann's. After I get my new camera - which is now on top of my to-do list - I will show you all my burlap beauties!

Anyways, this is just a little snippet of where my new home re-decorating obsession began. There are so many other areas that I've re-done that I wish I could share right now, and believe me, as soon as I've got pics to share I'll do just that!

She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night. -Proverbs 31:18