Happy Monday & President’s Day! Last week some blog friends and I kicked off a new instagram weekly hashtag challenge, #homeyouhave, where you share restyled spaces using only items you have and spending no money. Last week the challenge was an area of your living room, and we featured our favorite restyle from Boxy Colonial. This week’s challenge kicks off tonight, and will be all about dresser top restyling. I decided to rework the dresser in our guest room so while I was at it, I wanted to share some other guest room updates with you, most importantly, my shiny new gazelle! (I hope to be back in a few weeks sharing the other side of the room you don’t see in these photos today, but right now it’s piled with items I need to take to Sweet Clover… not photo worthy!)
As you can see above, the major change came above the bed, but everything else is mostly the same. I had taken the huge DIY dreamcatcher down for Christmas and replaced it with a natural homemade wreath. After the holidays I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try something new, or at least new to me, in its place.
Well in January Story Design House, one of our many talented vendors at Sweet Clover, brought in this amazing vintage brass gazelle.
I did not purchase it as I wanted to make sure all customers had first dibs, but as of close on the last day of our sale, the shiny pretty gazelle was looking really sad as if to say, “Why won’t anyone adopt me?” I couldn’t let that happen. You all know I have a soft spot for rescue dogs. And rescue brass animals.
I brought him home to live in our guest room, right over the bed…. Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the brass gazelle jumped over the bed, and lived happily ever after.
So now let me show you some changes I made to the dresser that doubles as a nightstand. This dresser is also where I hide birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s gifts, etc… Don’t tell the kids! It’s a hidden treasure trove of kiddie joys!
I am an avid reader, as you know from all of my book club and book report posts, and I love decorating with books. Lisa mentioned they were one of her favorite five items to decorate with and I had to agree…. it’s satisfying to be surrounded by books you’ve read and loved and whose stories have felt so real, and also books whose stories are yet undiscovered to you, full of possibility!
On the left side I left the vase that I’ve had there for a while. I won the vase years ago in a blog giveaway from Sherry, and I filled it with curly willow branches I found in a brush pile during a walk one morning… I was not about to let those things go to waste! I added my vintage glove mold, and stacked a few books under that for height and interest. Finally, I added in a little white swan dish that my bestie Ali gave me several years ago. It’s a perfect jewelry dish for guests.
On the right side, I stacked books under the clear glass lamp I purchased from Ikea when we first moved in, and leaned more books with an elephant bookend my awesomely stylish friend handed down to me a couple years ago. My mom and dad gave me the sweet little brass donkey for Christmas.
As you can see I’ve used classics mixed with modern books, some I have read and some I have yet to read, but hoped to mix interests in case anyone is staying with me and wants to pick something up. I’ve included Kristy Harvey’s debut novel, Dear Carolina, as well as one of my all time favorites, The Last Lecture, which I may reread because it is so beautifully powerful and touching.
Tonight at 8 pm we will kick off the dresser restyle and you will have until Friday to tag your dresser photos styled using only things you already own with #homeyouhave. Hope you will join! Follow me on instagram for more details!
Bye now! 🙂
PS- The mirror is not dirty… the actual mirror part is worn and streaky which is why it looks like that. Just wanted you to know I cleaned this room before I shot it. And I will clean it again in a few months. Maybe.
