1. Books. Our go-to accessory has always been books. Kristian is an avid reader and I try to be, depending on the season of life we happen to be in the middle of. To add to the books that we already have on either side of our media unit I covered a book we already owned in fabric. This is a nice option if you want to hang on to a book that doesn't go with your accessorizin' color scheme. So far I have used black and white houndstooth which was leftover from another project, and you betta watch out 'cause next time I go to the fabric store I might just end up with some chevron.
2 More on books. I have been crushin' on these classic penguin books for a while now, their artsy meets classy covers are fantastic. I recently ordered the one pictured above [The Odyssey by Homer] from amazon because it was the right color. Maybe one day Kristian and I will actually read it. But for now, it makes me happy just looking at it and judging it by it's artsy, graphic cover. Robin Hood would be a perfect accessory in a boys room, Les Miserables is fantastic if red and black work in your home, and A Christmas carol is a blue and white wintery addition I would like to make part of my holiday decor.
3. Is anyone else loving the Nate Berkus line at target? I have been eying this metallic, pokey, orb of sea urchin for a while now. I was told they had been discontinued after calling every target within a 25 mile radius. [It seems that status has changed as they are now available online and in store.] And then I happened to be at target browsing and there was one left and now it is best buddies with my favorite blue book. They make quite a pair. This tortoise shell is fun too.
4. A box. Ooo, this fun oak washed box, yep Nate Berkus again. Containerizingitis: the over the top desire to hide items not pleasing to the eye or that cause clutter, but are nevertheless necessary, in something aesthetically pleasing. Yep, I have that. At night I dream about the closets you see on pinterest. Everything has a drawer, a bin, a box, or a color coded hanger, and everything is labeled. Part of my containereizingitis is that our remotes, all three of them, need a home. And I think the above mentioned box is indeed the box for the job, but for now they have a white ceramic home.
And here are all of these elements together. We purchased the tray from target just after Christmas when it was 50% off.
And when we don't have a 2 and 5 year old jumping around, our tufted ottomon/coffee table is it's home.
5. A clock. How many times have Kristian and I gone through Z gallery, restoration hardware, or pottery barn, just to find a clock of large scale that we love and want but can't afford? Many, many, many, many times. Here is one from restoration hardware that makes me want to shout all about from the rooftops because the scale is perfect, and it fits with our style. Ah, good design, it makes ya wanna cry. But $995 really makes me wanna cry because it just isn't in the budget for a clock. So our search has continued until last week. While we were in Arizona hanging out with family Kristian must have had his clock-finding-powers blazing because he lucked out at Marshalls and found this oversized alarm clock, and the price of $18.50 made it even better.
I think it looks great on the mantle with everything else we have going on. The ampersand (& symbol) has been on my accessory list for a while as well. After drooling over them on etsy I finally just went and bought one at Michaels for a few dollars, gave it a light sand, and spray painted it silver.
Check back in on Wednesday for more on accessorizing in other rooms. What is your favorite living room accessory?
