Explaining the Corners

I can almost hear Mr. Rogers singing right now about how Everybody's Fancy and So am I, and I'm growing every day - and how he's so proud of me. Because it's only mid-afternoon and here I sit...Ready to Blog.

No one is rubbing my back to motivate me. No point-deducting deadlines are looming. I'm not shaking my legs to try and stay alert and intelligent (sounding.)
Although the afternoon IS a drowsy time for me ....As is the first thing in the morning....Oh, and late morning, I struggle with alertness before (and after) lunch, for sure....And right after dinner, it's a wrestle with the eyelids at that time, too.

However, it feels good not to postpone doing the Hard and Moral thing. Not that it's immoral to blog late at night. That would sure be bad news for me...and for Laura...and even for the devout Lori. And if it was somehow more honorable and noble to blog early in the morning then Lea would sure have the Bloggy Bragging Rights.

But like I said, It doesn't matter to Jesus when we blog, just as long as we do it. Or something like that. (I think my theology is definitely being affected by The Shack.)

So, without further adieu - Here are some explanations of the random corners pictured yesterday.

This first picture is an empty frame with artwork in the middle.

Don't you get so much more out of these photos with my in-depth, detailed explanations? :)




Frames are overlooked pieces of art. I bought this one at a garage sale and was able to talk the guy down because the oil painting in the frame was scratched. I felt no obligation to tell him that I was ditching his grandson's masterpiece and only keeping the frame.

Large frames make a great place to showcase children's art - but the right frames also look great alone on a wall - or even perched atop an armoire or cabinet.

In my previous country-style home I had a grouping of three empty frames atop my china cabinet, with some artificial magnolia stems weaved through them.
Thanks to the Nester, I am now ashamed to even admit I owned artificial magnolia, but we all have decorating ghosts in our fashionable closets, right?

I think it's hilarious that my daughter, Jacqueline, left a comment on my Curtain Query Post informing me that combining patterns was acceptable. Hello! Who do you think taught you that little decorating tid-bit, sweetheart? I was mixing patterns before Martha Stewart made her first brioche.

I particularly like the red and yellow patterns on this blue plaid sleeper sofa (that I purchased from Goodwill for $40.00! And it's a La-Z-Boy!)- and isn't that great (Wal-mart!) red and gold toile on the footstool? In my less confident decorating days I would never have had a yellow pillow in sight of a gold patterned ottomon. But, after age 50...Rules take on less and less importance (at least when it comes to decorating.)








This is a sneak-peak into the Library (Yep. These houses with the big Foy-A's, they sometimes come with Libraries. And just tell your fluttering heart to be still when you hear this....Five sets of built in bookcases with enclosed cabinets at the bottom...All came with the library. Although we did have to paint them. Does that make your heart feel any better?



I included the library picture because when I saw Eva at Target last night she mentioned that she was sick of seeing the kitchen and living room. She insinuated the Blog Tour is going a little too slow for her and that I needed to move on to other rooms.

And I do aim to please my favorite (and only, for all I know) Blog Stalker.

I could do a whole blog series on decorating with books, but suffice it to say that books should be seen and not stashed. They're so beautiful! But you should try to mix a few other items in with your books. Just to keep things interesting for the non-bibliophiles. If you really have No Life, you might even want to sort your books by color. That makes a statement (the statement is: I can't find a book unless I know what color it is.) Very impressive looking, but a potential organizational nightmare. (BTW, Martha has all her books covered in matching colors. And so does Oprah. Don't ask me how I know these things. It's probably not because my kids are in school now and I have time to read magazines.)




Stacking books - Very chic'. Very Traditional Home. Very easy to reach. Lea took this picture with no previous warning, but normally I would have straightened the pile up a little (and hidden the books that are borrowed from any of you...)
These books are in my bedroom, but you can definitely stack books in living areas, on the floor or on chairs and tables, too.





Our family room was a porch in its previous life. And apparently it had an outside grill. We are not ones to waste space, so my HOH just plunked our flat screen television right on top of the grates and it's a perfect fit.

I did draw the line at storing videos inside that little iron compartment under the grate. You give a guy an inch....

I'd like to paint those bricks white - but I haven't gotten the nerve up to ask permission yet (but then again....he is out of town right now....)

On the other, more submissive hand, if one of you wants to mention it to him, next time the conversation turns to building materials, just tell him how avant-gard white bricks are (for those of you who don't speak french, that would be: innovative, trendsetting, original, progressive and offbeat.) And then you can listen to him give you his discourse/tirade on destroying the natural beauty of bricks/wood/iron/aluminum, etc. He would love to ban spray paint as a general rule - but he knew when he married me, spray paint would be a big part of our relationship.




And lastly, here's a picture of our family bowling alley. More on that in a future post. There are still 13 more days in September. I need to hold a few things in reserve :)