Bookshelf Spruce Up
Dear Readers,
It is Tuesday! You know what that means…Blog Post from Lady K Creative. I hope wherever this post reaches you, you are:
Doing well
Enjoying a cup of coffee/tea
Able to find a moment of quiet rest in our often full and busy lives!
Springtime is pulling at my heartstrings! Flowers - new growth - life! The area of the world I live in is certainly beautiful, but every winter, our landscape looks dry, brown, and utterly dead! Our area definitely gets a taste of all 4 weather seasons. No complaints from me on the weather lately, as it has been 50-60 degrees! We will take what we can get for February weather, especially if it delivers warm enough temps to be outside and clean up our yard! Yardwork is soothing for me. Anyone else? I finally got all of the bean pods and leaves cleaned up from our front lawn. In our front yard, we have one of those trees that produces flat banana bean pods that turn from green to brown and the pods drop endlessly every winter. Maintaining that thing is no joke!
The transitions through the seasons often prompt us to decorate our living spaces accordingly. Let's set the record straight, you do not have to be an expert interior decorator to have beauty in your home. Additionally, you can set parameters around your decorating vision to help prevent you from dropping loads of cash you were unprepared to drop. A good way to budget for home decor is not only setting a dollar amount, but also a timeline for your project (i.e. how many months should you save X dollar amount for furniture, my decorating project in X room will last 3 months and I can spend X amount per month to achieve my look) :) “You do you,” in making your home a space that you love!
I could not have said it better than this quote from Louisa May Alcott, “The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.”
Our homes are an invitation to all those who enter through the door. What feelings does your dwelling bring to the surface? What colors and design elements are you drawn to?
Our home was built in the 1960s and features awesome original hardwood floors and fantastic built-in storage. We have a formal living room immediately to your right as you walk through our front door and an informal living room right off the garage.
Formal Living Room
Informal Living Room
These 2 areas are where we spend 75% of our time at home, so naturally, these areas get “spruced up” the most frequently! Slowly, I have poured love into filling and staging these bookshelves in our informal living room over time. If there’s one thing I adore, it’s a scrapbook of photos that prompt all those sentimental feelings of nostalgia. Over the years, I have been gifted and designed my own Shutterfly photobooks. (Scroll to the bottom of this blog post for more details on Shutterfly photobooks)
I wanted to find bookends to display our photobooks on our built-in shelves. This project was held in a backburner spot in my brain for an entire year. Does anyone else do that? Whenever I shopped at TJ Maxx or HomeGoods, I searched for bookends without any luck. I searched online at Wayfair and Overstock to see if they had something unique. Nada!
A few weeks ago, I was adding items to my monthly Walmart pickup order, and I searched “bookends,” not hoping to find much. What do you know…I found these retro-style rattan bookends IN STOCK at my local Walmart. A happy moment indeed for $13.84!
Walmart - Arched Black Metal and Natural Rattan Indoor Tabletop Bookends https://bit.ly/3SP3N55
This is how I styled my bookends:
Features to Highlight:
Lady K Creative - Zach Bryan Song Lyric Print and Poco A Poco Art
Freaking cool wine bottle personalized by hand from a special family member for my 2020 Graduation from Oklahoma State. The wine was Grove Pinot Noir from Oregon. Very delicious!
The re-purposed can covered in clay was also a very thoughtful gift!
That candle with the gold base is broken, but you can't even tell when it is strategically placed on the shelf!
Features to Highlight:
Framed handkerchiefs from our wedding were my something borrowed from my Mom and Nana. The floral in the middle is preserved from our wedding bouquet.
The pink paisley bible was our guest sign-in book from our wedding. My Nana and Papa gifted me that bible for my 1st Communion at age 9.
Hand-painted Pistol Pete wooden block made by a lifelong family friend.
The gavel...oh gosh - that is from high school when I was the president of the Dallam County 4-H Council. I can't bring myself to put it in a storage box yet.
My KB initialed turquoise cowboy boots were my first pair of stockshow boots. (Thanks Nana and Papa!)
Making a welcome space of rest and relaxation is truly a form of art. While I do not own much themed seasonal decor (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving), I am all about “sprucing up” different nooks and bookshelves by color coordinating with the seasons. I am not listing out the right or wrong way to decorate; I am just providing simple details of what fills my cup in terms of decorating through the seasons.
Nothing sparks the start of a new season like a signature candle scent! Candles bring my heart joy, I find that lighting one fills the home with peace and contentment. I also included my most loved candles for each season of the year.
Lady K’s Guide to Decorating Through the Seasons:
Spring/Summer: Bright navy, pink and orange tones, turquoise, lively greens
Bring out my porch cushions that have bright colors
Add colorful ribbon to my front door wreath, incorporate bright florals as desired
Spring Candle Scent: SAINT - Our Lady of Guadalupe (might be my favorite candle of all time) Notes of Oud and light florals. This candle company supports St. Jude's Children Research Hospital with every purchase. Smaller candle HUGE burn time.
Summer Candle Scent: NEST Candle Wild Mint and Eucalyptus. Notes of wild mint and eucalyptus with basil and Thai ginger.
Fall: Warm colors - terracotta, dusty orange, and mauve, set out ceramic pumpkins, decorate my dining room with my framed Fall art prints.
Add fall floral elements and ribbon to my front door wreath
Fall Candle Scent: Capri Blue Tinsel and Spice. Notes of juniper berry, cinnamon, and clove with a twist of orange mandarin, vanilla, and forest woods.
Winter: Winter means = CHRISTMAS! Tones of blue and gold accents describe our Christmas Decorations
“You'll be doing all right - With your Christmas of white - But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas
Advent Wreath - Battery-operated advent candles are a WIN https://a.co/d/8O9uONW
Nativity Scene - Fontanini https://www.fontanini.eu/en/nativity-set-and-figures
Christmas Tree - Tree Filler, Floral, Ornaments, and Garland Shop B.Whimsy to make your Christmas decorating wishes come true https://www.bwhimsy.com/
Embroidered stockings from Lands' End hung on the fireplace mantle
Set out my O-ring stacks of Christmas Cards
Place my Santa-shaped Salt & Pepper Shakers on the dining room counter
Green floral and garland
Update my front door wreath with Christmas elements that match the inside of the house
Help Colten place the Christmas Lights on the roof
Winter Candle Scent: Frasier Fir by Thymes - A real life Christmas tree in candle form!
Candle Scents through the Seasons:
Shutterfly Photo Books:
I would highly recommend Shutterfly photo books (I used this company to compile our wedding photobook, and I could spend hours flipping through that book)! P.S. They also run great sales and coupons, so look for those on your next project!
Shutterfly Tips & Tricks:
Average Cost = 8X11 Hard Cover Photo Book with Matte Finish (20 pages) = $35.00
Wedding Book = 8X11 Hard Cover Photo Book with Matte Finish and Keepsake Envelope (103 pages) = $141.00
A standard book includes 20 pages; additional photo book pages typically cost $2.00 to $3.00. The more book pages you add, the cost per page will decrease.
Don’t have time to design a book online? Utilize the Make It For Me - FREE 24-Hour Designer Service. You get to approve the designed book before it is sent into production.
Shutterfly will 110% stand by its customer satisfaction guarantee. On the first wedding book they shipped me, there was 1 distorted image due to improper printing. I sent photos of the distorted image, and they shipped me a re-printed book at 0 cost to me.
Lady K’s One Thing:
A once-daily email containing a Daily Devotional reflection by “Blessed Is She (BIS).” You can subscribe to the daily email here:
They also have a mobile app on the AppStore, which features the daily Scripture readings and the Blessed Is She Daily Reflection.
True story: I subscribed to the BIS daily devotional email a year ago and unsubscribed because I felt overwhelmed and inconvenienced by the daily email that I was certainly not taking the time to read. Flash forward to the present day, and I look forward to reading this email and rooting myself in a prayerful reflection to kickstart my day.
“Lord, deliver me from hardness of Heart.” There is a time and a season for everything. His word weighs more than my mindless social media scrolling.
Here is a snip-it of today’s reflection:
Don't Forget a Valentine's Day Card for you Sweetheart or Bestie!
Printable Valentine’s Day Cards: https://bit.ly/4bpfA15
Yours Truly,
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