There’s a little piece of wall in my family room between a window and the side door. It has a light switch in a totally rational place, but it messes me up when I try to figure out what to hang there. For a couple of years, I’ve had a tall, skinny shutter there, but I removed it when I recently shuffled around the furniture.
See the wall I’m talking about…?
So, it’s just been naked for a while, but it looked naked. I noticed its nakedness every time I looked that way. Yesterday, when I was hit with inspiration, I grabbed some things from around the house.
As I was scurrying around, gathering plates and hangers and random pictures, my husband looked up at me. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m just hanging some stuff on the wall real quick.”
I think that dinner was on the stove at the time or something like that, so it was a strange time to be hanging pictures, but I was ready to hang some pictures and I was going to hang some pictures.
I came up with a sort of an asymmetrical arrangement of small blue and white plates, an ironstone lid and platter and an antique European print I picked up recently at an antique market for $10.00.
It’s nothing overly inventive or complicated, but it makes me happy when I look towards that corner. It’s just what it needed.
The print reminds me so much of Germany and it even has a signature in pencil in the bottom right corner. It’s a little tired, but I even love the yellowed mat and gold frame.
I’m going to be replacing the graphic trellis curtains with some cream linen panels, so I’m putting the pattern in other places (like toile on the French daybed.) I have a pretty quiet rug in there right now, which I love, but I’ve been keeping an eye out for something with a bit more umph. Most of the floors in my house are wood, so I’m always looking for pretty wool rugs.
I just found this one at Joss & Main and bought it immediately with some credits I had. It’s classic, but it definitely brings some umph. I’m not sure if it’s going in the family room, but I know it’ll work in several rooms in my house, which is a good thing since I play musical rugs as often as I play musical furniture.
It’s called the Thrace Rug and it’s on the “Best Sellers Rug Sale” ending June 27, if you’re interested.
(This isn’t a sponsored post, but I do get credits if you sign up and buy something from them.)
A few days ago, I received a Facebook message congratulating me on my feature in Romantic Country. WHAT!? Really? What issue?! I knew a feature was happening, but I sent the pictures in a while ago and I wasn’t sure exactly when. So, I went on the hunt for the issue. It took a few days and a few stores, but I finally found it…
The article is so kind and made me a little misty. Seeing my home on a glossy page never gets old or common or ho-hum. It’s special and overwhelming every time and I still have to resist the urge to open it up and show the cashier.
Lastly, today I got a little crafty for my next round of HGTV.com tutorials. I wanted to do a project using vintage pennants, but all of the vintage ones I liked (with lots of layers of felt) were pretty expensive, so I decided to make my own. I made four different patterns and they look so cute! The full tutorial (and what I’m using the pennants for) will be available in a couple of months.
(This banner is for you, Mike. I made a VMI one for my dad.)
62 Responses
congrats on the feature! love the wall arrangement! sometimes you just have to go “with it” when the inspiration strikes!!
What? You don’t open the magazine and show the cashier? I would be walking through the aisles of the store showing EVERYONE! lol
Love what you did and that you were able to shop around your own home to do it. That’s something I’m trying to do more of.
Stephanie
The cashier would LOVE it! Besides, she’d have a celebrity story for when she got home.
Yes, I bought that issue last Friday and was excited to see a home I recognized on the pages. Congratulations that is very exciting. Also, I love your wall display by your door and light switch. That is just what the space needed. I love reading your blog every day it gives me inspiration.
As I’m sitting up in bed reading this, it just makes me smile….and that’s a good thing to go to sleep on! You’re such a precious soul, MMS, and I so love your posts. And the arrangement you made for the wall by the door – you nailed it!! Congratulations on the spread in the magazine!!! I am like the lady above, who mentioned she would have not only showed it to the cashier, but everyone there! Your blog is the FIRST one I look at in the mornings, and it was nice to end my day here as well!
Love the wall, adore (dang I wish I could bold & underline!) the rug! Wish I had the $$ for a pretty rug right now. Maybe I should finally paint the walls first huh?
Hi Marion,
I was looking through the magazines at the market yesterday and saw the article about your house. Great spread! Your are so inspirational-in may ways! Congrats and Thanks!
Wow, that made a huge difference! Beautiful!
wow! I really love what you did on the wall! The eclectic things you used, how they all fitted in together nicely, as if the light switch was part of the mix.. great thinking! love your blog.. take care, Maryann
VMI…my husband graduated from there in 1983, they are special men.
Congratulations on the feature, how exciting! And I love that you put that art arrangement up on the fly, it works there really well. I’m looking forward to seeing how your living room evolves.
I am searching for a rug (9×12 or larger) now and can’t find anything I love that doesn’t break the bank. Suggestions?
I don’t know what style you are looking for but I purchased a wonderful all weather rug from the garden dept at Lowes last year for my family room. I think it’s about 9 x 12 and $179.00.
It fits perfectly into the decor of my room and I couldn’t ask for a better price. sometimes the best deals are in unusual places,
Gwen, when all else fails, I check amazon.com. They sell almost everything and their prices usually meet or beat any others, plus if you’re a Prime member, there’s often no shipping charge.
Another suggestion 🙂 Look at the Childrens stores for PB and Restoration Hardware in the sale/clearance section. I saw on a blog that a woman bought cheaper roman shades for a guest room at RH kids. I am going to buy (today!) a wonderful 8 x 10 chenille striped rug, tan and cream, for $229.99–regularly $399.99 for our bedroom. I have yet to do the room, nor do I have the funds, but WILL buy this rug now because I know it will work with my vision. Be sure to check on return policy first (sometimes ending in certain number can’t return). I have even looked in the kids for furniture–at the bigger dressers for an entryway area.
Try Lowe’s.. they usually have a good selection. of course there’s Home Goods, TJ Maxx and Marshall’s
Marion,just a thought, how about lengthining (sp) the curtain in your family room .That would give the illusion of a larger window? Then you wouldn’t have to hand anything buy the light switch?
Thank you for addressing an awkward wall with a light switch. I have one too and it was empty forever, then I hung a few things and I finally got the idea to put an empty frame around the light switch within the arrangement and it looks so much better! I still think it could be better but until “inspiration” strikes again it looks better with something than nothing. 🙂 Looking forward to the vintage pennants tutorial too!! I have been wanting some myself. 🙂
Love that banner and can’t wait for the tutorial. I would love to share this for college dorm decor!
My daughters think I am obsessed with your site, kind of trus:). If you are going to change out your curtains, I am very interested in them for my house:)
I have followed you for a while and love everything you do! I have used your milk paint in ironstone and boxwood and absolutely love the way the pieces turned out! I went to the ironstone cottage you linked to in last post and love the color on the value chest on the wall to the left of her mms milk paint display….which is AMAZING!!!! Do you know if at is one of your paints….maybe kitchen scale diluted? Thank you so much of any info and thank you for always inspiring!!
Okay…that was supposed to say blue chest…not value;). The blue chest on the left wall under the white chest…on the book page wall? You paint ? And what color?
Ha! Love the new arrangement – especially since I have an ironstone lid with no bottom. Now I know what to do with it. My husband thinks I am crazy sometimes and sometimes it’s true 🙂 It’s a productive crazy. Thanks for that inspiration. I would have been showing everyone in the store as well – congratulations!
The prints and plates look perfect for that wall, Marian!
The small plates even tie in with the curtain print. Would the wall lose the “oomph” when you replace patterned curtains with the solid ones?
Oh, and the rug is just so you! 🙂
Love the new wall look. That is how I feel when I have a super bare spot on my wall. LOL It looks naked. The plates, print and lids look just lovely.
You totally should have shown the cashier, then she could have gone home and told her husband she met someone famous! I know if it was me I’d be more excited about it than you were about the article 🙂 Congratulations!
I was all set to write in a suggestion to “make something artistic out of the wall switch plate itself” (I have a few of these to hide contemporary light switches in a 19th century farmhouse), but I see you figured out how to deal with it on your own! Well done! That pot lid REALLY diverts the eye!
This is sort of funny, in a coincidental kind of way. I was looking at said magazine yesterday and when I saw your house it made me feel like I was seeing a good friend’s home being featured. That is what happens when I “visit” you everyday. On another note, love the arrangement. I just recently did pretty much the same thing on the same kind of wall space and am now on the hunt for a small half moon shelf. And don’t think I didn’t notice my favorite chair in the photo.
I LOVE THAT! I have several awkward places, and I always get stuck on how to fix the spot that re-homed object leaves.
Love, love the wall. Thanks for keeping us inspired.
I think there is no problem to wait before hanging things on walls. I always go with my feeling too. Congratulations for all of your works.
Wow, you never cease to amaze me. You talents are endless. Congrats on the magazine.!
When I saw the before picture, I was thiking of a mirror or a mirror collage for that wall (mirrors are always my “go-to” for lack of anything else to fit a space. Then I saw what you did and you once again inspire me to think outside my comfort zone. I have been thinking of painting an empire chest (cherry) that my husband bought me for a wedding gift at an auction 14 years ago. I’m still “afraid” to take that leap, even though I have used chalk paint on another very old china cabinet and loved the results!!!! Maybe someday…….
Beautiful home. My thought about the light switch is why don’t you decorate it to blend in of maybe stand out.
What is the color of your family room walls? It’s beautiful and just what I’m looking for!
(Also, I agree with those above and would have DEFINITELY shown the cashier). 🙂
It’s Glass Slipper by Benjamin Moore. Yes, I LOVE it!
I live 5 minutes from an adorable little town in Ohio called Chagrin Falls. It’s loaded with charm and it has numerous shops and antique stores. I found myself thinking of you everywhere I went today. One antique store was loaded with ironstone and another had a stack of grain sacks. You’ve trained me well! But then I saw something that would have definitely grabbed your attention. It was a beautiful blue and white pinwheel quilt. It looked like it was made for your house. The colors were so crisp and beautiful. I would have bought it myself but it wouldn’t match my house (I’m a robins egg blue girl). This town has MMS written all over it. You should definitely plan a trip here sometime…you would love it. Congrats on the magazine!
I grew up in Geauga County!! Awwwww, small world! I love Chagrin Falls!
My hubby went to VMI…so I will be looking for a squashed spider on a pennant sometime…maybe in the fall?? Keep up the great work and congrats on your latest published profile!
Are you selling the curtains? I’m looking for something like these!!
You are a talented one, that is for sure. I have made arrangements on my walls (not recently but in other houses) where I used just lids from things. Most antique stores have a selection of them or you can find them in boxes at auctions sometimes. I really like the curtains you have now! But I know you like to change! Congrats on the magazine. You should be SO proud!
Congrats to you for the magazine layout, I’d have showed her plus the other people in line. I love the picture and arrangement on that wall…always fun to stop by!
This made me laugh! I remember being on the way out the door to go to CHURCH, and deciding to DECORATE for just a few minutes!!!!!! Love all the things you share!
You are amazing! I love the look of plates on the walls and the rug is just too perfect. I am a blue and white girl too, but always just my kitchen.
The magazine article, yeah I will get a copy next time I am anywhere they sell it!
Kudos Marian!!!!!
Love how you solved your naked wall. I have a few similar spots in my house that I’m still trying to dress! And congrats on the magazine feature ~ how fun!
I picked up Romantic Country this week too, not knowing you were in it. I was so excited when I turned the pages and saw your living room. I can’t imagine how excited you must have been. I love the plate arrangement. I have three plates sitting on my kitchen counter ready to hang but I’ve been putting it off because I wasn’t sure how to arrange them. You are always an inspiration! Thanks.
Love your idea…and hate to critize because you most always ‘get it right’…but I would center the platter over the etching….I think that would look much better. Then, don’t forget, go out and get a stainless steel stove…!!Thanks for your blog…it is great.
Can’t wait to see your project with the felt. I think I might have to create some pennants for my boys.
Yes! You just incorporate the switchplate as one of the design elements. Works every time. And I love the print just the way it is.
that was supposed to say blue chest…not value;). The blue chest on the left wall under the white chest…on the book page wall? You paint ? And what color?
Good job on the wall arrangement! I <3 that little picture. Here's a completely 'unrelated
to the awkward wall' question: Have you treated your tobacco basket with anything? Stain?
Wax? Poly? I have one and it just looks totally dry. So, hopefully you can give me a hint on what to use to treat a basket? NO paint! 😀
How do you hang plates on the wall, I’ve always wondered that. It’s a beautiful arrangement, and very inspirational.
One of my best friends in the whole wide world wrote for Southern Living – still writes for them on a freelance basis. Her mother, now deceased, wrote a cooking column in the Shreveport, LA newspaper for years. Southern Living did a wonderful article on my friend and her mother. a couple of years ago and our buddy didn’t say a word to those of us in her close circle of friends. It even made reference to a few events some of us were present for and remember vividly! I learned of the article from one of my customers who’s a SL subscriber. Those of us in her close circle of friends were more hurt than I can say that she hadn’t told us about the article…really devastated. What friend doesn’t share something like that. And by the time we did learn about it – it was no longer on the newsstands and we had a heck of a time getting our hands on a print version! GRRRRR!!
Anyway, as it turns out she had deliberately avoided sharing it for fear that we’d think that SHE thought she was a big deal and just “all that.” Needless to say she got an earful from us. We are all each others biggest champions and were thrilled about the article. So MMS…you show that article to EVERYONE! We like think we’re your friends in a cyber sort of way. Frankly, it’s only when you stop thinking it’s a big deal that you need to start keeping tabs on your ego. Congratulations!! I’m going to go right out and buy it. It IS still on the newsstands, isn’t it? ;0)…
You know, that’s a good point and I would feel the same way if one of my friends was in a magazine and didn’t share that with me! Yes, it is still on newsstands.
On the “strange wall” issue: That triple switch obviously gets a good bit of use so has to remain accessible. It could have been a real obstacle to getting a nice look on that wall. But what a great idea to use the switch as a subtle part of your wall grouping! Its shape and color plays off the other items, particularly cream ware pieces, really well!
One of the things I recommend to my customers who complain about a thermostat or other odd, infrequently used protruding “blot” on a wall’s landscape is to cover it by handing a piece of art with some empty space behind it…e.g. something on a canvas with a deep back, a piece of 3-D metal wall decor. a basket with the inside to the wall, etc. All have the depth to cover the “blot” and still lie flat on the wall. Works great!
Those small blue-and-white plates are my mother’s first set, eventually used only for Thanksgiving (she gathered several platters, covered dishes, and a gravy boat). Nostalgia! Nice to see them on your wall.
Marian, you are a gem!!! But I have known that for a long time. See y’all next week and GO NAVY!!!
Marian, how do you hang your plates on the wall? I keep seeing this trend, and I’m digging it, but I don’t know how everyone hangs the plates flush like that! I’m also coveting your new rug – just had to add that. Thanks!
Love the wall arrangement, love the rug, love the print. I LOVE that it looks a little “tired.” It shows a life well lived, doesn’t it?
Congrats on the RH feature!! I had 2 projects in the July/August issue of Cottages and Bungalows (first feature ever) and it was such a surreal feeling finally seeing it in print. I can imagine that it would never get common place feeling! Do you get the same feeling every time you see your book!?
Good Morning,
I just ordered the same fabric you used in your family room for my family room; I never thought that I really liked blue but love the vintage medium blue fabric you use.
i also used your living room/dining room material and made drapes for my dining room; Love them; still shake my head at my use of blue tho, ha.
I am getting ready to paint my family room OC-47 Ashwood and then plan on making valances for the family room and my husband’s office; do you have a tutorial for making valances??? If not I plan on using pattern from ones up in family room now.
I love your vintage french farm house decorating ideas and use alot of your ideas plus love site for the love of a house; I’m on the look out for a buffet dresser to use for my TV cabinet and have two wing chairs coming from soft surroundings for the family room. It is rather dark in the lower level family room so I think this will lighten it up; did paint my husbands office which connects to the room SW oyster bay and his plane pictures go very well with that color.
I look at your site every day to see what great ideas you have come up with; thanks so much!! Have a great day!!! P.S. i found a bench from TJ Maxx just like your x back chairs only it is a two person bench, and i bought it before I had seen your chairs; just loved it and had to have it; it is so sturdy and neat design. Didn’t realize that they had same pattern in chairs until I saw yours.
Love how your pennants look! Have you got a full tutorial up yet?! I am looking for a way to create some pennants for my son’s baseball team!