Find something beautiful and create a little corner of charm! Especially if you have small children, and you really can't have your entire home filled with nostalgic, vintage treasures. And then there is the whole dusting thing ;o) But if you love the look of days gone by, or even if you are more into the kitschy kind of decorating style of the 50s . . . . just start in one corner, with one or two small pieces and build around whatever you have.
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed when we try to re-create some of the ideas that we see in decorating magazines. And I think that might be because in a magazine article you typically see lots of beautiful home decor items all staged together to be attractive. Why would be buy the magazine if the pictures weren't that gorgeous? But normal families with kids, a dog and a cat (or two, or more, and whoever else lives in YOUR house!), with a real job (inside or outside the home), bills to pay, a lawn to mow, and muddy boots and mittens piling up in the kitchen during the winter months . . . . well, it is just not NORMAL for our houses to look like those pictures in the magazines!
But we can re-create the peaceful or whimsical or funky or elegant ambiance that we love, even if we focus on just a corner or two. Besides it is so much easier to dust that way ;o) So here's a place to start if you are:
1) Limited on expendable income (who isn't these days?) . . .
2) Loving the look of orderly elegance, vintage charm, or wonderful whimsey . . .
3) Looking for a way to incorporate YOUR personality into a crazy, kid-filled house . . . .
4) Launching out on the beginnings of a collection of treasures to display . . . .
5) Lacking the time and / or resources to "do it all" at once.
One day, a long time ago, when I really had very few options for updating my wardrobe (this really does relate to the topic at hand . . . . but then it could also be the beginning of another Frugal Friday blog post), I decided to try something different. So, I pulled everything out of my closet, sorted it all out, tried it all on, and then rearranged everything that I could think of! Instead of this skirt with that sweater, how about THAT skirt with THIS sweater? And would that jacket look good over that dress to make a completely new outfit? A red ribbon from my sewing room was added to a simple white sweater to create a sweet little bow at the neckline, and now it really looked very nice with the red and black plaid skirt that had been hanging in the back of the closet because I didn't have "anything" to wear with it.
That's how it can be when you want to redecorate a corner of your little world! Here's just one example of what I'm talking about: the dresser in our bedroom is kind of tall (it is beautiful, but not my favorite piece of furniture!), so I removed everything that had accumulated up there since the last time I dusted ;o) Really, I try to dust the furniture every week, but that doesn't always happen! The jewelry, hubby's wallet, keys, change, and guitar picks all were put into a pretty little vintage dish and set aside. Pictures, last week's mail, bills to pay (out of my sight!), and sucker sticks the girls "forgot" to throw away. OK, they don't get suckers very often, so I'll just deal with it . . . . but NEXT time . . .. .
Once the top of the dresser was cleared off, of course I dusted it! How easy was that, dusting the top of a dresser that has absolutely NOTHING on it ;o) Now this is the fun part! I had a curtain . . . . just one curtain that I found at a garage sale last time we went to Grandma's house . .. . that couldn't be used as a curtain anymore. But it is beautiful! Is is a sheer golden fabric with embroidery and the most gorgeous golden lace trim . . . . I love it! I might actually cut it up eventually to use for some of my garment reconstruction projects, but for now it's going on the dresser. And since I love the lace trim so much, I wanted to be sure to display it prominently. So I draped it partially over the mirror that hangs just over the dresser (also a thrift shop treasure), down the side of the mirror and onto the top of the dresser with the lace trim all along the front edge. One more little addition to the mirror . . . . an old charm necklace (who knows where that came from, but it's been around here a long time!) that I love but don't wear as a necklace (or for anything else, either) was hung from the mirror to reflect the whole golden theme I have going on.
Then it was time to add all the other discoveries that I had gathered up in my treasure hunt around the house and in the garage! Well, the first treasure that got this whole thing started is the "thing" on the left side of the dresser. We took a drive up through the countryside a week or so ago and stopped into the "Curiosity Shop" in one little village. Didn't find much there, but I did see this "thing" in the corner of the shop for $3.00. When I asked what it was, no one seemed to know, but it is definitely beautiful (at least I think it is beautiful!), and the price was right. We brought it home and I decided that it could be a candle holder, but Sweet Hubby warned me not to put the top on when I had a candle in it, even though there are holes for ventilation. That was my interpretation, anyway! I suppose it could also be turned into a real electric lamp if we wanted to wire it, but I like it just the way it is.
I also found this old alarm clock in a box in the garage, and then I remembered this sweet little shadow box that I made a few years ago. The frame is painted gold (perfect to keep my gold theme going) and I filled it with a variety of vintage sewing items, a vintage handkerchief, and a vintage bow pin. A few vintage buttons with the tiny spools of thread, and I think it is pretty cute! In a corner of another room, long forgotten, was this vintage-looking miniature dress form, a Victorian-style photo frame with a picture of our Shoe Diva as a baby, and a vintage green bottle that was on a shelf in another room. Then I found another vintage-style necklace that I wore to our Adventurous Son's wedding. The necklace is a dark gold with red stones. A few touches of color to my golden corner!
Finally, I went to my sewing studio to search through my vintage "stuff" that I have collected for reconstruction / restyling projects, and found this gorgeous black beaded evening bag. Just the right finishing touch for my little corner of elegance! Now, if I tried to create this kind of scenario in my entire house . . . . well, that would last about two seconds! But here it is high enough that (usually) no one will NEED to drop a bunch of junk up there, no one will NEED to move things around, and it is out of the way of all of the "practical" events that go on in a family home. But I still get to have a tiny corner of my world that provides me with the joy of beauty, tranquility, peace, and elegance. Now it's back to the rest of my life, the singing Hubby, and giggling Girls (Shoe Diva in her raggedy jeans and Miss Determined in her matching red blouse AND sparkly red "high heels"), bills to pay, dishes to wash and laundry piling up . . . . . but it has been fun to express a tiny bit of my creativity, even if it is only on the top of my dresser!
Have a wonderful Friday, and may all your dreams be created through the use of YOUR own imagination and determination!
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