Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Styling Evolution

First of all, thank you SO much to everyone for weighing in on the mantel painting issue. Pretty much unanimous for painting that sucker black. Can't wait to get on that project. Until then, I've turned my energy toward styling the mantel. It turns out that having a young puppy who requires you to stick close to home for hours on end + kids who want to OD on technology while on fall break = mantel styling antics galore. Don't worry lots of potty breaks (for the puppy) and technology breaks (for the kiddos) were taken during this process. First, a reminder of what it looked like sans styling . . .
As I may have alluded to before, I was honestly just lazy about styling the mantel because I didn't like it. But with all your fabulous suggestions, I was inspired to get on it. So, here's where I started. 
Now, don't judge too quickly. This is a process, remember? I basically just started moving art and accessories around my room. I decided I needed some natural element, so I grabbed my shears and cut the closest oak branch I could reach. Then, I stole this bowl from here:
And this brass and stone tree from here:
But, I wasn't quite feeling it. The bowl was too small unless paired with some other pieces. So, I kept on moving stuff around.
Another attempt. This time, I moved the small ikat bowl and tree off completely and put this faux bois bowl I recently bought from Homegoods in the center. I liked the scale of this bowl a lot better, and thought if I filled it with some pomegranates or something kind of pink-ish/red that would add more color. Of course, I didn't have any pomegranates just lying around. Does anyone? Except maybe photo stylists? Those people seem to have everything.

Then while taking a break from styling I read some blogs. While looking at Nelya's blog, inspiration struck. Nelya's blog often has that effect. If you're not already reading it, you should be. Because guess what I saw . . . 

books! On the mantel. Why had I not thought of that? Of course, I loved a lot of the other stuff going on here too, but don't have any of it. Except the books. Books I have. Aha!

Since books wouldn't fit under my TV upright, I turned them on their side . . .
Better, right? We interrupt this styling session for a gratuitous puppy shot:
So, after adding some more books and scavenging some apples from the kitchen (who needs stinking pomegranates anyway?), this is what I ended up with . . . 
Granted, it might undergo some slight tweaking later on (as I've been known to move stuff around), but for now I'm happy with it and think it looks a whole lot better than it did. 
Have you re-styled areas of your home that make you happy?

Postscript: During the writing of this post, my wily puppy peed on my cowhide rug for what is now the 10th time I believe. She loves that thing. You lose sight of her for 2 seconds, and sure enough, there's a yellow puddle on the white hide. Luckily, it's amazingly easy to clean.

18 comments:

Naomi@DesignManifest said...

two thumbs up. Somehow I missed the mantel debate but black sounds pretty cool. It's amazing what just a little greenery does!

nelya said...

I LOVE it! It looks so great already and I think it will just explode with fabulousness once painted black. AND, once you garner all that experience painting yours black, you can come do mine, because I am the ultimate procrastinator!

You have so many beautiful things, Kathy. I love the vignette with the lovely lady in blue.

Thanks for the shout out. Big hugs from Atlanta. xx-nelya

p.s.- I got a turtle shell and some coral with your name on it. Just sayin'.

Interior Design Musings said...

LOVE the results! As for you the puppy, totally relate. When we got our puppy (three years ago) it was around Christmas and her favorite place to do her business was under the tree! Talk about a present! M.

Ashley said...

Books! Genius! Isn't it funny how just moving a thing or two around makes a space feel fresher (and you didn't even paint yet!)?

Anne-Marie @ 10 Rooms said...

It looks great, love the layers you've added. And your puppy is adorable :) We've got two chocolate labs over here, and they both started out as peeing little bundles too :)

Jessie said...

I think black mantel will look fabulous! I always love a good contrast! Love what you did on your mantel!

By the way, I am hosting a fabulous giveaway. Come by and enter for a chance to win a stylish travel bag (worth $75) by Scout when you get a chance. Don't miss out!

Have a great week.

Jessie
www.mixandchic.com

Emily | Recently said...

Ahhh books, it's amazing what they can do isn't it? This looks beautiful, especially the painting and the colors of the books!

Bri@Meyouandawiener said...

Word. I especially love the way errything looks through those black lamps.

Puppy is cute and fluffy. Put him in a basket and take a picture!

My Many Moments said...

I'm happy to hear you are going to paint the mantel. You won't be disapointed. So I just posted your vignette to my pinterest page. LOVE it! I want to see more of your house!

heather (love your space) said...

Looks great--and the black will make anything on the mantel pop. I'm kind of glad right now that my fireplace is flush with the wall--no mantel--because goodness knows I don't need another surface to think about. Although it could be good to break from all the pillow re-arranging.

Kirsten Harr said...

It looks great...and cute puppy!

Laura@happyroost said...

Love it! Now I can't wait to see the mantel in black!

Erin said...

HUGE difference!!!!

(and I love the puppeh)

The Belvedere-Alyssa said...

I'm trying to comment on your pretty mantel, but i can't stop thinking about your cute puppy! Aww!

Love the snipped branch- great idea!

Tracey Ayton Photography said...

The mantle ..... very lovely. The puppy ..... adorable. Nice post!

my favorite and my best- MFAMB to you said...

it looks good..
i want more though. layers. and i think the nelya pic works bc of the uniform color.
carry on.

bluehydrangea said...

love seeing the styling process! and Zoe is so stinking cute..is she keeping you up at night?

The Glam Lamb said...

omfg... the puppy..

and yes - I agree with crazy Jenny from MFAMB :) It's lookin good!