spring mantle in bloom

Happy Monday, friends!
It was a gorgeous spring weekend, one of my favorite spring sights are the profusion
of beautiful crabapple trees blooming throughout our city. We're fortunate enough to have a
 huge tree in our backyard, I love bringing the branches inside and was inspired to create a
spring arrangement for our mantle.

 My abstract from Kerry Steele Art easily moves from room to room and is always a
 favorite to bring out for spring and summer. The intricate black scribble is by me,
detailed tutorial to come, haha! :)

Layering the sunburst mirror and artwork in front of a larger mirror adds dimension
 and interest. Off topic, but I don't think I've ever mentioned how much I dislike the
 color of our mortar - ugh! It has this peachy hue to it. (Except in a couple of these pics
it looks like a totally weird yellow!)
 One of these it's going to make it to the top of the to-do list!
 

Grab your pruners and go cut yourself a huge vase of anything fresh and green from
 your yard, and have a wonderful week!
 

     

fresh fall mantle...

Hey everyone, hope you all had a fabulous couple days off, we couldn't ask for more

a more beautiful fall weekend. Yesterday was a good day for my ORC room,  just

 as we were thinking we were going to have to buy retail, the Craigslist Gods smiled upon

 us and the ideal pieces showed up. Check back on Thursday and I'll show you what we

 scored for an amazing price! I fit in time for a fall mantle refresh using a few things

from around our house and yard.     

I borrowed a couple pieces from my blue and white collection, gave my favorite

 lady bust a shawl of Virginia creeper vine, added a few orange books, and propped

 my zebra tray from Target (did anyone not buy that?) up on an easel. 

I love my new gold sculptural sphere, a friend picked it up for me at Hobby Lobby,

it's a budget friendly ($8.50 with coupon) knock off of West Elm's sculptural sphere.

You know I'm all over using greenery from my yard, I was hoping for fall-ish

 looking branches of leaves, but no luck. I had two choices green or crunchy brown.

Have a wonderful week sweet friends,

 and thank you so much for all of your kind comments and excitement for the ORC! 

new client - fireplace update suggestions

I'm working with a new client and know they aren't the only ones with a

 fireplace that gets lost on a two story wall. They were kind enough to let me share

their fireplace and the ideas I'm suggesting. They're avid collectors of art and have

 beautiful pieces that would make a stunning statement against a white wall with

 trim detail. These are my ideas for them to consider.   

Add interest and texture to the wall surrounding the fireplace with molding in a grid

 pattern. A piece of their art would be beautiful hung on this wall treatment.  

desiretoinspire.net

Here is their fireplace, which could benefit from being beefed up by simply adding a larger

 board on top creating a deeper mantle and extending the sides to create the illusion of a

more substantial piece. I always find it helpful to take a photo of anything you're working

 on.  

Simple trim detail around fireplace.

bhg.com

Beef up the existing molding, building out closer to the edge of the wall. 

houzz.com

Decorative detail around the fireplace and cleaner lines above. 

bhg.com

remodelandolacasa.com

A mirror above the fireplace is one of my favorite looks, theirs would reflect pretty

 arched windows and the yard.

Add a deeper mantel, corbels, build out to edge of wall. 

 allthekingshouses.tumblr.com

Oversize mirror, similar to Ikea Songe, again add trim work to increase the size.   

 justinehughjones.com

Build out to edge of wall and add oversize mirror with framing detail

bhg.com

I'm anxious to see what they think, do you have a favorite?

our mantel...get the layered look

I've had our Christmas decor down for a few weeks and everything is slowly

 coming back together. Today I styled our mantel with my sweet friend

 Jennifer from The Pink Pagoda in mind,

she's having another awesome Blue & White Bash that I'm excited to join, don't miss the

beautiful inspiration on February 3rd!

I' thought I'd share how I went about creating this layered, collected look

 I was in the mood for.

 Choose a large mirror (mine is 32") as your background, then layer a smaller

mirror (mine is 27"), empty frame or piece of artwork in front.

Now move to the center, I like a nice sized vase, pot or urn

Fill it with something textural from nature (twigs, greenery, branches, flowers) I just

take a walk around my yard with my pruners.

Oh, this is just perfect - I'm right this second noticing my vase should be taller!

 Do you see how it would look better if it weren't the same height as the books to the left.

 (I could easily put a couple books under it, or replace the taller books with shorter ones). 

What's that quote? Do as I say, not as  I do - vary heights!! 

That reminds me of another TIP:

 Take a photo, it's much easier to see what looks out of place! :)

Books are one of my favorite ways to add color and as a base to vary the height of

accessories. Estate sales are a great source to buy them, 

(no one wants to move a load of books, and they'll practically give them away).

From the center I work to the left and then right balancing accessories,

including opposing elements gives it interest. Some examples I've used here: 

smooth, rough = porcelain, concrete 

traditional, modern = ginger jar & black and white artwork

traditional, modern = ornate mirror & round mirror 

formal, casual = boxwood & branches

formal, casual = gold peacock & concrete sphere 

shiny, matte ~ round, square ~ curved, straight

You get it.

Look around your home, think of using items in a new way,

bring in garden elements, I went outside and grabbed my DIY concrete sphere out

of the dirt. 

And then keep tweaking until it feels like you! 

christmas mantel and bookcases...2013

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my mantle today.

I've gone mad for plaid this year, along with my all-time favorite gold! 

I gathered up a few gold mirrors and layered them, along with a favorite 

ornament, and that little pine tree was a Home Depot steal last spring.

 

I knew I wanted to include tartan plaid with a fresh, modern spin this year, a

 few simple diy urchins were the ticket. But the real key was my fun paisley and

dot pillow from Therese Marie Designs new Etsy shop, which I highly recommend. The

quality is beautiful, and it would be a great gift. You guys know I love a bargain, but

there is nothing like a unique one-of-a-kind piece to give your your home a little pizzazz.

It's easy to pair a great statement pillow with lower-end pillows, the black and white from

 Ikea, and white fur from Walmart.

I found the tartan plaid wrapping paper at the The Container Store and backed my bookcases.

It ended up being a perfect spot for my favorite faux taxidermy from Homegoods

 that I made over.

What was I thinking, I should have had a fire in there!! 

  

Join me @ Holiday Cheer in the Blogosphere

with Michelle @ Ten June and Carmel @ Our Fifth House
to check out all the Merry Mantels

and

12 Days of Christmas Decorating Link Up @ Songbird

fresh, simple vignettes...

Simply...branches from our yard in a vase. 

Remember the knock off Riad pillows from Costco?
I chose green, and they'll be outside on our deck soon.

I couldn't help but add a dose of freshness to our mantel as well.

My uber sweet blogging friend, Lisa @ Shine Your Light, just happened to do a great
 post yesterday on how adding something green to your space brings it to life!
 I agree!

She also shared a helpful list of Hard to Kill Houseplants, if you're in need. :)

our spring mantel and bookcases...

My 'modern meets antique' post yesterday was inspired while I was updating my
mantel and bookcases. I wanted a sophisticated library look for the bookcases,
but needed something with a little edge to mix it up. Remember this
diy framed abstract fabric, it was in the dining room, and had the look I needed to keep
 the gold frames from looking too formal. Since every bud and blossom in our yard is
 buried in snow I resorted to Hobby Lobby for my forsythia branches.

I've always loved the look of artwork hanging on the frame of bookcases, these three
 pieces were cross-stitched years ago by mr. simple's mom and we love having them out.
The sunburst mirror is my all-time favorite thrifting find from a few years ago.
I had planned to line the back with a patterned paper, but decided it would have been a
 bit busy with all I had going on and opted for a clean, simple background.

Fingers crossed, 'Fifi' my Fiddle Leaf fig is still doing well after two months. :)
One leaf turned yellow and brown and dropped, I'm hoping that was because of the transition
from FL to CO. It gets a lot of light, I put it in the sink and give it a good soaking
about every 10 days or so. It's next to the window and fireplace...I'll let you know how it goes.

I think it could use a couple more modern accessories in the mix,
something with a fun jolt of color...maybe for summer. :)
Do you know before blogging I only changed my mantel and bookcases at Christmas.
Do you change yours up?

Come check out the inspiration at:
 Kim's @ Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays

the art of layering...

One of my favorite looks is layering mirrors and art,
and if an ornate gold frame is included, all the better in my book.
As I was putting my mantel back together after the holidays I was stuck in my same
familiar decorating rut...gold mirror, layered sunburst mirror, art, and a vase filled
 with something from nature for texture.
I thought I'd check out Pinterest for some fresh ideas for layering.

I guess I know what I like...these were some of my favorites...no surprises here!

numberfoureleven.blogspot.com

thedecorista.com

bhg.com

House and Home

House Beautiful

splendidsass.blogspot.com

housebeautiful.com

I have a fun bookcase project planned,
it will give me something to do while I'm waiting for the emerald paint to dry! :)