Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Summer Desktop "Mantel"

Here in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), we’re lucky to have more than a month of summer weather (i.e. over 65 degrees) each year, and it’s not unheard of to have frost and snow even in July! So as soon as June arrives, I like to decorate and bring the summer inside, no matter what the thermometer says outside!

I don’t have a fireplace mantel, so my dining room bookshelf and my desktop are the main areas for my seasonal decorating. This year I’ve been drawn toward more of a sand-and-sea “theme” in my summer decorating. Since my bookshelf is decorated with blue and white—more overtly nautical—I kept my desktop calm and neutral.  I always love the variety and depth of textures you can find even within a neutral scheme!

The “stained-glass” and wooden sailboat was the inspiration for the “un-color scheme”—it was $2.49 from Goodwill. (Once again, nearly everything in this display came from either Goodwill or a yard sale!) The “nature” rock came with a candleholder-and-tray set that I got as part of a $3 bag deal at a yard sale. :)


I’m still on the hunt for sand and shells to fill these fabulous corked bottles (from a yard sale- $1 for the pair). The metal and glass star I found at Goodwill just last week—I love it! It looks like something from Pottery Barn, but I’m not sure. (Anybody recognize it?)

Every display needs at least one glass cloche, right? Mine is filled with a bird’s nest (actually two twiggy wreaths stacked together) and a pair of ceramic birds. (Wish I could get it to photograph properly… It’s so hard to take a picture of something inside glass! Argggh!)

The apothecary jar (Goodwill) is filled with twiggy balls from Walmart (for $4 the box, they were the most expensive part of the whole display! LOL). The rusty anchor used to belong to my in-laws, but they left it behind when they moved :). Hurray for hand-me-downs! I displayed it just as I found it.

As you probably remember, I picked up the lovely frame ($1) on the same day as my big rummage-sale haul! The clock came from Goodwill ages and ages ago, but always looked too small on the wall. As I was carrying my many thrifting purchases into the house, I hung the frame over it on a whim, and decided it was the perfect touch!

Underneath the vignette, I layered a lace tablecloth (folded in thirds to make a runner) and some square burlap remnants. Again, I love the many textures in this display—the nubby burlap against crisp lace, old cloth-bound books and rusty metals, shiny glass with rustic wood, sparkling metallics with natural twigs! Don’t get me wrong—I love color just as much as the next person—but sometimes you just need one area where you can let the textures speak for themselves!

What do you think? Are you a neutral lover, or are you addicted to color?


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