Removing Mundane

I wanted to share with you a few new decorative items I have added to my house in recent days.  Thought it might prompt a new idea for your house!

The first one is with apothecary jars.  I have always had an attraction to jars.  I love how there are so many shapes, sizes and colors.  And apothecary jars are even more wonderful.  They just shimmer and make the house feel so clean.  I know that might be weird but that is what they do for me.  Now mind you, if they aren't sparkling clean, they won't give me that feeling.  The nice thing is the large variety of things you can put into the jars to make them work in your home.  Most of you know my home is not a girlie home.  Every man that walks into my home says how much they love my house.  I know.  My husband is blessed to have a wife like me.  (Smile)  I have always had some tomboy in me and that comes out in my decorating style.  So apothecary jars didn't quite fit in.....until now.  I finally found something that would make them work in my home!

Old games!  I found this old bingo set at a garage sale for 10 cents!  I bet the lady would want it back if she could see it now.  As a child, I played hours of bingo with my family and friends.  This brings back warm and fuzzy feelings for me every time I look at those jars sitting right above my office desk.  Another thing I found was this -

Old wooden dominoes.  A piece or two was missing but that didn't matter to me at all.  I found these at the Canton, TX Flea Market and because of their large size, there were enough pieces to fill this jar and a jar for Whitney too.  If you have never been to this flea market, and you love looking at junk and even new things, it is touted to be the largest flea market in the world.  Honestly, if you stay close by (which is hard to do due to the size of this event) and shopped the entire weekend, I dare say you could not walk the entire event.  To find the really neat things, you have to shop the outside vendors.  These dominoes came from a little elderly black couple that had set up shop.  He was so sweet about telling me there was a missing piece.  I am thinking I don't care cause I am decorating with them, but I acted disappointed.  Then when I got ready to pay, he sent me to his wife.  That was one smart little old man! ha  Still looking for old Scrabble games.  Those little wooden letters would look so cute displayed in another apothecary jar.  Never think they are only for lemons, plums and apples.  Think outside the box.  That is what makes a home unique.

The next item I got was from Pottery Barn and was a lot more than 10 cents for sure and my husband posted on Facebook that it looks like the old time dryers women used to dry their hair.  It is my touch of contemporary added to my relaxed home.  See what you think.

Sorry the second picture is dark.  I am not a professional photographer and don't really care as much about the quality as the affect on the look of my room.  That lamp is so heavy that I could barely carry it from my office, where I assembled it, to my living room - maybe 20'.  It is real quality.  I think it has to weigh that much due to the boom arm that sticks so far out.  If you like this lamp and want to order it, make sure you read the size and know for sure it really is 52" wide!  It takes a rather large space to display this lamp but I think it updated the living room just a bit.  I think every house needs a mixture of styles.  Nothing bores me more than a truly traditional house that is matchy, matchy.  I look for the unusual and figure out how to make it work in the house.  Speaking of unusual, take a look at this.

It is an old, stained window frame that my LOVING husband so GRACIOUSLY hung for me.  Another heavy piece, hung in a difficult place, but I knew he could handle it. I put some hooks into the frame before he hung it and have plans to change the things hanging on it from time to time.  Of course, it would look good with nothing hanging, but it gives me an outlet to change things around.  That piece may stay with the house should we ever sell.  It took quite a bit to get it into place. 

Hope this inspires you to look for something besides a painting to add to your walls.  I love paintings, but a house full of one type of thing gets mundane and boring.  Kind of like people with only one interest in their lives!  Broaden your horizons whether it is in the home or in your self.  The more things you try, the more chances you have of getting it right.  We all fail sometimes but it is those who learn from failure that go further in life.

Have a Blessed day!