Saturday, September 22, 2012

Rough Draft



I've always known I would decorate our home for our children during the holidays, just as I always enjoyed my Mom doing in our home growing up.  And even though Onyx isn't going back to school this fall, I thought it would be fun to decorate for the season anyway.


It didn't all come together from the start though.  Here's what I started with.  I didn't realize until after looking at the arrangement through the eye of the camera that the apothecary jars would work better in front of the low hanging frames, while the globe would better fill the void under the family picture.


Definitely an improvement from the start, but it could be better.  That's when this inspiration came along...



Surprisingly, I had forgotten how to fold a paper airplane.  Google came to the rescue, however, and things were looking more like this before too long.



Top it all of with an apple, and I think this final draft earns an A+.


Extra credit points were earned with a new bookcase arrangement.  I've always liked the look of books sorted by color, but I've been locked into sorting by genre (children's literature, text books, art history, etc.).  I finally took the plunge, figuring the worst that could happen is that I would put the books back if I didn't like it.  The other incentive of the new arrangement would be that I could incorporate some accessories within the color sort, where they would make sense, rather than being stuffed into cubbies over by the fireplace with no rhyme or reason.  

I started by piling the books by color...



The rest was all about deciding as I went, having a general idea of color order and how I wanted the larger accessories spaced.  


The results can only be described as satisfying - so much more attractive.



Looking back, I don't know why I didn't make the move long ago.  The new look is less jumbled and seems more clean, almost more restful for the eye, even though it is definitely more interesting.


Bonus:  Even Onyx gets into the spirit of decorating by adding her little touches... who says a spoon isn't an accessory?