House tour: living room, part one.

I keep finding myself wanting to blog about projects I did awhile back, which seems a little silly in some respects, as this should be about what I'm doing now, not something I did last year. A good solution came to me in the idea of a weekly house tour segment, exploring the various nooks and crannies of my home.


I thought I'd start with the side table in my living room. Looking at this picture now, I actually think the table is a bit overcrowded, which hadn't occurred to me before. My aesthetic definitely does not fall into the minimalist, bare room with just a few little trinkets displayed kind of decorating style. Quite the opposite, I'm always buying new stuff and trying to figure out how to cram it all into the same space. Anyway, I'll probably rearrange this a bit in the near future, but am regardless continuing with the tour.



I do like the top shelf, and would probably not change too much here.



I made the stuffed cat from a pattern from this book. Part of me wants to make tons more, each in a different patterned fabric, and then line them all up in a row. Maybe one day.



I bought this letter organizer as a way to, well, organize my mail, remember to pay bills, etc. But now I pay most of my bills online so this has become more of a showcase for various cards and paper items I've received.




I discovered not too long ago that typewriter ribbons came in an amazing assortment of beautifully designed tins. This is one of my favorites.




I used record covers I found in the dollar bin to create these storage boxes. The tutorial can be found in this book.



Some of the boxes I've made have been used to house cassette tapes, pens, and the like. These two are filled with old family photos.



I'm not really sure why but I love antique skeleton keys. I bought these at a flea market not too long ago, and haven't been able to figure out what to do with them just yet. I thought about stringing them on some twine and hanging them on the wall, but then they all clump together and you can't really see all of the individual detail. More brainstorming on this will occur in the near future. Either way, this was not intended to be their permanent spot.




A stack of postcard sets (I am a postcard-buying fiend). The top one is a collection of thaumatropes.



Underneath the table is an old wooden bin I got at a flea market over the summer, which I use to stash all of the knitting projects I'm in the middle of.



The glowing fireball--err, lamp--believe it or not, was a $10 Ikea purchase. I'm not the hugest fan of Ikea (maybe it's the whole big box store thing that turns me off, not to mention my vow to replace all the cheap fiberboard furniture in my house), but they are definitely a good source for certain well-designed yet inexpensive household items.