“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
(This is the mantra behind the William Morris project, something you should totally read more about over at Pancakes & French Fries!)
Before I ever read this quote, I lived this quote.
My distaste for useless, pointless junk has been the reason why our house has had empty walls for over a year and a half! At the beginning of this year, I freed every picture frame, mirror and painting from their bondage in the attic and laid them each on the floor of one of our guest rooms. And then I waited for inspiration.
I’m still waiting.
From day one, I have been extremely picky about what is to go up on my walls because I’ve worked too hard scraping, patching and painting them to hastily nail decorations all over them. To me, it is worth the wait to have just the look I want…even if I don’t know what that look is.
So far, my biggest hang-ups with hanging stuff up is that:
A.) I don’t know where to start!
B.) I want every room in my house to be perfectly decorated from start to finish in one day!
This past Sunday, it finally dawned on me that I didn’t have to eat this decorating elephant all at once and that, in fact, it was better to let it build slowly on its own. Relieved and full of inspiration, I picked out only a few of my most favorite pieces and forgot about the millions of other things staring up at me from the floor.
My first item was this mirror from Ikea:
It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to get it on the wall, but I succeeded within the first try.
WOW!
What a difference a mirror makes!
My next item to go up was this gorgeous wooden mirror frame:
Fun story: I spotted this frame 14 years ago in my grandma’s neighbor’s backyard. It was propped up behind a shed, begging me to save it. When the neighbor finally moved, I wasted no time in asking if I could have the frame. Since then, I have dragged this thing from dorm to apartment to house waiting for the perfect place to hang it. It needs a new paint job but, sigh!, it looks so lovely up on the wall!
And so does this:
When I spotted this painting at a friend’s yard sale, it was love at first sight. Most people think it is an ugly painting and, in a way, so do I. But it’s ugliness is what makes it so beautiful.
(You don’t have to agree with me.)
I snagged this sleek black mirror for $11 at Michael’s. Once again, what a difference a mirror makes! The black really pops against the light blue.
I was having so much fun hanging things on my wall that I wanted to keep going, but unfortunately, I plum ran out of inspiration. Bummer!
Maybe I should move on to hanging curtains.
Or reupholstering some chairs.
Or painting my side tables.
Or installing my wainscoting…
Sometimes a little bit at a time gets the ball rolling! It worked for you, great job putting things up on the walls ~ it really makes your space your own!
Congratulations! I think waiting is wise. That’s a beautiful frame around that oval mirror–love the interplay of the shapes. Good for you.
Nice job! Mirrors always make such a difference!
Just this week I heard someone refer to having a “collected” look in her home. In other words, not having it looked like it was purchased all at once to go together. I like that concept. Sounds like it’s just what you’re doing!
Love the idea of the new mirror nestled inside the antique mirror frame. But what a tease……there is something fabulous going on over at the stairway just out of my sight! Perhaps words of wisdom to inspire you on your climb?!?!?
Read more about my staircase (and other projects) on this entry: