Monday, May 9, 2011

A Lesson In Layering

Happy Monday everyone and Happy Birthday to the best man in the world.  No, not Santa but he is pretty cool...my husband!  (I am only a week behind him so no old people jokes please!)

So this weekend I have been giving myself a lesson in layering.  Layering is something that is a challenge for me.  I tend to lean toward the simpler side when I first put an idea together but I find that in others' homes I am drawn to more layered full look.  And to me there is nothing better than a group of beautifully layered goodies that look totally effortless.  Like over time it just ended up that way.  So that is what I am working on.  And working is the key word here.  It is going to take time to get good at this but you gotta start somewhere, right?  So this is where I started.

While I was snapping shots for this post I noticed that the desk area was a little sparse looking.  (Side note - it is amazing how much more you see in a photo then through your every day eyes.  So take a picture of an area you are working on and so much will come to light!)  So I went shopping...around my house that is and collected some good stuff!  I started by grabbing some of my fav books...


Thinking I needed some kind of bookend I grabbed a vase and filled it with stones I had used in a hurricane in the past...


I then needed to balance things out on the other side so I dug up this tile that used to be on our patio and a candle I meant to return to World Market a couple weeks ago but never got around to it.  No need to return it now :)

Stepping back from it all I noticed I needed more height and so I added Pedro.  Yes, the frowning Asian dude is named Pedro.  We named him that years ago and enjoy commenting on the fact that the fella never seems to smile.  Poor Pedro. 


When I'm not snapping a shot my camera rests on the top of the leather box in the center which balances everything out quite nicely.  So that right there is round one.  Still a work in progress but I am pleased with it for now.


Round two was the mantel.  I began here.  The perfect example of my tendency to not layer enough.  (Also, feeling like it was a little dark for Spring.)


I started but sprucing up the candles with a more Spring color.  And oh they smell so good.  Yummy!  I also moved the lantern to the right side of the space.


I bought a new glass candle holder at Target and filled it with these great Spring do-dads.  (Yes, that is the technical term.)


I moved the "Laugh" to the center of the space and felt pretty happy with it. 


Well, actually I switched things around a half dozen times but this configuration is where I ended up. 


As I worked I discovered a few things.  First of all you gotta start somewhere.  I tend to want to lay everything out in my head before I start anything, but in this case I found that it was just better to put something in the space, step back and see what it needed next.  Secondly, it is all about trial and error.  Move things around, see what works and then move it again until you are happy.  And lastly, think about height.  Adding taller items to one spot or another made a huge difference in the balance. 

So...I feel like I am off to a good start.  Both areas could use a couple more things but I am happy with my first self taught lesson in layering.  Good job me!