library love: Collected: Living with the Things You Love

Do you ever take a stroll at twilight and peek into the living windows where the curtains are still open? I really love to see what color the walls are and what art adorns them. Well, the book Collected: Living with the Things You Love by Fritz Karsh and Rebecca Robertson will satisfy that same curiosity! Not only do you get to gawk at amazing, unusual, obscure, and massive collections but you get to see how their owners display and live amongst their favorite objects.

I had such a good time looking through this gloriously thick, photo-filled book. I enjoyed it so much that I read it cover to cover! The authors arranged the collections into categories of their own invention. I myself related to being a "colorist" where you collect items of a certain color or the same item in a beautiful rainbow of colors. And I also found myself realizing I was a bit of a "naturalist" (hello obsession with nests!).

Check out this book and find out what kind of collector you already are… or what kind of collector you might be inspired to become!

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Found, Free & Flea

 Do you love old things? Do timeworn treasures, clearly loved, appeal to your senses? Can you appreciate the thrill of a treasure discovered at a flea market or in your grandmother's basement? Then you too will find great joy in read this book!

I found this fabulous new book for free at my local library on the new shelf. The full title is Found, Free, and Flea: Creating Collections from Vintage Treasures by Tereasa Surratt. The book tells the story of an old summer camp she and her husband purchased and all the items they found within the buildings. Since the camp also had many previous lives as a time a speakeasy, a "house of ill repute," a resort, and a retirement home for Latvian priests, you can only imagine all the objects left in the all the nooks and crannies.

The book, which is truly eye candy for anyone with a love of home decor and vintage finds, showcases how the author has restored the rooms and lovingly decorated them with collections found, or at least started, from objects discovered on the grounds. I devoured it in one lovely summer afternoon!

I can see clearly now

My last decorating scheme on the mantel was my milk glass collection. I appreciate the solid graphic nature of the white shapes but I was ready for something fresh.

Displaying multiples of anything tends to be visually interesting. I realized I had an accidental collection of clear glass vases in a variety of sizes, shapes, and heights and decided to go with that. My original thought was to simply layer them alone but I quickly changed my mind choosing instead to add autumn-appropriate elements from nature.

Brown has never been my first choice when it comes to colors but I think there is something pleasant about the connection to outdoors it has. I've used seed pods, acorns, driftwood, feathers, and dried flowers from the garden including the dramatic alliums. I think the dried blooms look a bit like fireworks. I will confess to nabbing a couple of extra pieces from my mom's basement to round out the collection. I have been rearranging and adding bits for a few days now but I think, with perhaps the exception of our growing acorn collection, I am done for now.