Homefront: Accessorizing with Vignettes

I'm sure most everyone has seen a version of the "Home Rules". I loved this little vintage plaque of them I found thrifting and had to bring it home.

To me, I see things for more than what they are; the search of finding that little treasure and bringing pieces together to tell a story. The antique mattress spring I found at my favorite antique mall, the vintage leather gloves with the pearl buttons, and my favorite little brass owl family I found at a garage sale for $1. I see these owl families for sale on Etsy very often.

It looks so nice in my little vignette here. This is the reason I love shutters. They can be used anywhere (even propped on wall to hide outlets and plugs). But for vignettes, it creates that height it needs to create balance, otherwise it's just a bunch of stuff on a flat surface. Well, many people probably still think it is that too.

 Also, with larger accessries, like the ones on top of my hutch, it creates a little background for depth.

Basically, when creating a vignette, things to consider are angles, varying heights and groups of at least 3. Staggering the items, creating layers and playing with different textures are also essential. And for good measure, throwing in a touch of nature helps bring beauty and life. That can be accomplished with pinecones, acorns, seeds, dried leaves, flowers, branches, feathers, driftwood, wheat, potted grasses or sprouts, birds eggs, nests...

Try and avoid having an "Accessories on Parade" as penned by designer, JoAnne Lenart-Weary.
 It means to avoid the urge of stacking up all your favorite pieces and crated a 'parade' or straight line of them. Read how to break up the parade on The Nester. You will notice I break the rule of having 3 items, but one's got to live a little. I like to work in a triangle, a larger item in the back that acts as a spring board to branch out accessories in front and to the side.
 

My mom's little ice cream dish, makes a great notions holder. Old wooden spools, laundry clips and skeleton keys are the perfect size to hold small lengths of pretties. You never know when you will need a touch of lace, baker's twine, vintage seam binding or a dash of sequins to, tie on a necklace, wrap around silverware for a dessert party, wrap around your wrist, add to an accessory add to a giftwrap. You can read all about the use of goodies in my packaging series.

Part 1: Artful Giving
Part 2: Artful Tagging
Part 3: Artful Embellishing.

Homefront: Vintage Linens in a Playful Boys Bedroom

One thing I love about vintage linens, is that they are fun to mix and match, for a warm and eclectic feeling. Many, many I have found have stains... and a lot of little cigarrette burn holes. Different time, I guess.

But, kids vintage linens are my favorite. I even found an old care Bears pillow case the other day. Now send me a My Little Pony one and I will be in sugar heaven.

When decorating for my boy's room, it is all about what I can find at a garage sale. I had it all red and blue, but tired of the boxed in feeling of two colors that called for themes such as cars or cowboys.

The great thing about boys, is they don't care what matches... they just like colors and fun. My oldest wanted to have his wooden cargo bed painted yellow, and his comfortor painted green. (I must have been doing a lot of painting around the time I asked him what colors he liked.)

Well, with some addition of vintage Sonic, Scooby Doo, Superman and Battlestar Gallactica linens, the boys pretty much love their furniture free (aka safe) bedroom.

 

And that's coming a lot from a kid whose nickname is "Sonic Boy", thinks all athletic shoes are called "Sonic Shoes" and dressed as Sonic(and Knuckles) for Halloween.

Homefront: Colorful Vintage Master Bedroom

This was our master bedroom. Yes, this is the 70's french provincial dresser we had before I was born. We had the works, dressing bench, canopy bed, nightstands, dressers, chest... it's a very popular set and I see it online, in 70's themed movies, blogs, antique malls....  this is the only piece that is left over the years.

My painted striped cake stand tutorial is here. I love how I can add depth and height with it. 

I love my mom's vintage "Merry Mushroom" cookie jar from Sears Roebuck . Too bad the lid cap broke.

I see this mushroom kitchen set all the time at antique malls, Ebay, Ruby Lane and Etsy.

Some fun vintage jewels... the heart and wheat brooch was my grandmother's

I love this mermaid mommy and son aceo by Wendy Gaffaney.

Our only printed family photo... 2 years ago. I dry brushed orange on the raised frame and matted the photo area with a fabric swatch. I used the same fabric on our tv stand windows,  pillows, lamp and other elements.

It wouldn't be our bedroom without a line up of some of our boys cars. They really love organizing them.

I used a vintage sheet to hide the storage drawers of my jewelry making and craft supplies. One day, the jewelry holders and shelving will be painted and organized better, but this is the best I could do for the time.

Many of these haven't even been added to my shop yet, but lots more goodies are at Jeweled Ambrosia.

Some of my favorite prints, from The Dreamy Girraffe and The Black Apple.

Our bedroom plate wall post can be seen here. Basically, I got tons of pretty plates from Goodwill.

Love this Misty book and my little brass owl family. I painted this letter holder a soft pink, and love it.

I painted this popular Ashley furniture headboard I got at a garage sale.

I love changing up vintage lines with our white down comforter. It's very cheerful and springy right now, 

but it can change anytime by simply switching out the linens and a few accessories around the room.

Homefront: Vintage Granny Square Afghan and final Mantel Scape

My afghan finally arrived. The description from the seller, "This is a lovingly made 1940's Granny Square afghan by my Pennsylvania Dutch nana when she was probably in her 60's. She passed seven years ago, at the age of 103. I have so many memories of her crocheting afghans for everyone in church, and those in need. I bet she made 500 or more in her lifetime."

When I got the afghan, I was amazed at the perfection of each little detail and color groupings. I really love how the main color is a dark navy, instead of black for a less severe look. I would love one in a cream color one day.

The question is, how do I clean a vintage, handmade wool afghan? I found some information online, but if anyone has any tricks, feel free to let me know.

 And this is my final mantel scape in this home. It will all be packed up by tonight. I would have changed it more than last time, but everything is already in boxes. I'm so glad I painted my mirror white. It looks so pretty with the white mantle. The white chair needs a fresh coatsoon, but I kind of like the shabbiness of the old green color showing through.

The chair was in front of a dumpster in our first apartment, we've been carrying it around for 7 years now, and the little wood truck I got at an antique mall for $7. It's so cute, it's usually on the wall in the boys room with their toy cars lined up on it, but we never had a chance to put it in their room. It's special to me because my grandpa was a truck driver. We really need to paint that armoir one day.

*why do my mirrors always look streaky? I cleaned it today!? 

**linked to: life in the fun lane's first fresh coat friday,  sew much ado's, we did it wednesday, blue cricket designs show and tell

Homefront: The Vignette Staging Area

This dresser is always in a state of disarray. It is where objects go that are being switched out from mantels and such. A staging area, the green room, if you will. A lot of projects end up here. The green candelabra I painted here. The damask lampshade I slipcovered here. The cream dresser painted and newly knobbed here.

I love how my little nest can be stored in the Cinderella carriage I painted. I love pulling it out and filling it with vintage wooden spools, jewels, buttons and such. It's so fun to play with. Shutters are the perfect accessory. they can be found at antique malls for cheap and can be randomly placed anywhere for depth, color and height. Wouldn't an entire shutter wall be pure genius? Ooooh, snap diggity, I feel a project coming on.

The vignettes are ever changing. Not in love with this, but it doesn't matter. A lot of things go missing due to my boys curious hands. They especially love my vintage brass owl family that is usually here.

Our boys dresser has to be in here, since we can't have furniture in their bedroom. Otherwise it would surely be tipped and clothes strewn about every day. Our youngest is fond of climbing in the drawers. Breakage would ensue.

"I Love to see the Temple" print by have joy. I know I need to frame it, just haven't found the right frame yet. This is the Salt lake Temple, but you can custom request almost any one. What is a temple you ask? What is it's purpose? This short lovely video explains what we believe them to be, and why we believe they are so important.

Antiqued Salt Lake Temple portraits found at a flea market. I would love to have one.

Homefront: The New Digs

Our move went well, 6 helpers per side and only 2 hours of loading/unloaded each side. Had I not been sick, I probably would have everything unpacked by now, but given it's only been 6 days, we've accomplished a lot, only about 2 boxes left! I have 4 boxes and 2 chairs given to Goodwill already and a few more to go. Of course, that probably should be done before the move, but sometimes, it's easier to have an objective eye when you are unpacking.

I had planned on showing the home before we started Christmas decorating, but a lost camera prevented that. I added 2 red pillows to tie in the Christmas colors, otherwise they will all be the black/white/charcoal combo. I painted that wrought iron circlet above the couch a shabby textured aqua and white, but am thinking of doing a lot more white since my aqua decorations are put away for the season.

We are really trying for the crisp, white, uncluttered look in this new (temporary) home. It's nice refreshing and airy with the large windows and archways. So, of course, Holly's all white and ebony wood floor home is in large part an inspiration. Eventually, we are going to paint our furniture white and the table black, but that won't be until well after Christmas, when I get my orders all made and shipped. Right now, I'm loving our Pottery Barn slipcovers, I haven't had to bleach them yet, but they have been cleaned and toddler spots come out quite nicely.

It's funny, our little 4 foot Christmas tree was *too big* in our last place as the only room for it was on our table, but now it is dwarfed by the windows. I'll put some garland up there on those windows soon. We still love the trees and the boys had fun decorating it too. Maybe daddy will surprise us with a real tree, hmm?

 I'm contemplating hanging something from our archway. A couch sits right below it, so the void is kind of interesting as you can see in the photo, and a little room divider coupled with the couch would be nice. I thought that this contemporary white  wooden chandelier from uncommon would be beautiful there, maybe I can add some vintage chandelier crystals to the bottom, or just leave it plain, what do you think?


(less wordy posts soon, I promise)