Well hello! We are almost done with school here and all of us are pretty excited about that. I'm ready for two and a half months of no packed lunches. Yes!
I've been in a mood to decorate the house lately -- I get in grooves with certain things, whether it be DIY, organizing, decluttering or decorating. Rarely am I in the mood for all of them at once. :) Lately I've been more interested in the last two and I think it's because I know the three of us will all be home all day here shortly. I want to get the house decluttered again and looking pretty for summer. (Even though keeping it that way will be a constant battle.)
As I've been addressing certain areas of the house I've noticed that a few of my favorite pieces (and some I get asked about most here) are those that have a little quirk factor. I LOVE things like that -- to me that means something that may be a little old, maybe a little out of place with the rest of your decor. Or it can just be something totally fun and cute that add some whimsy to the house. Maybe whimsical is a better way of describing them?
I think these items go a long way to making your house unique -- and that's the kind of stuff that gets me most excited about decorating.
One of my all time favorite additions to our house are the metal spoon and fork set above the kitchen pantry:
Actually -- there are a few things about this corner that I love. The utensil set is one, the dinner bell (found at HomeGoods) is another. And the glass pantry is one of those little things that adds some character to the house. You can see more about that here and how I covered the glass here.
They are small projects (OK, the door was a bit more involved), but they each add some interest where there wasn't much before:
Another favorite in the kitchen is the cutest planter I found years back at a local shop. It had to come home with me:
I'm not even a big animal decor in the kitchen person -- I think all that stuff is adorable but I don't add a lot of it. But this little piggy is the sweetest and I love him:
Last year while looking through another one of my favorite shops I found these brass men and women signs:
I got them a local shop (here) and get so many compliments on them when we have people over. The bonus is people know exactly where the bathroom is! ;) Ha! They are nice heavy brass which I love too. They are a more modern addition but that's another thing -- don't be afraid to stretch your comfort zone a bit. I think that makes for the most interesting home.
I shared my favorite toilet handle (you don't have one??) years back:
I got this one at Lowe's and they are crazy easy to change out (I share how to do it in that post). It throws visitors for a loop at first but they quickly figure it out. :)
I have a small obsession with brass animals -- they are my favorite item to look for at thrift shops. You can usually find some at Goodwill and I always find them at thrift/antique shops:
I use a little brass polish to get them cleaned up. I love the darker brass look they get with age:
One of my favorite finds of all time are these brass elephant bookends:
They were more than I wanted to spend so I left them the first time I saw them -- but couldn't get them out of my mind. You know they were meant to be when you go back to the thrift store days later and they're still there waiting for you. ;)
The elephants are in excellent condition -- I think they are probably in the top five favorite of purchases I've ever made. And aren't elephants supposed to bring good luck? I love them.
For a person that doesn't like a lot of animals in the kitchen, I sure make up for it in the rest of the house. I came across these ADORABLE stuffed birds recently:
I'm telling you what. I got them home and clipped them in my big money tree and may have giggled a bit and then may have squealed. Come on…those are the cutest! And they aren't in your face cute -- you'd only find them if you really looked around our house. Quirky and fun and exactly what I'm talking about. (I got them at a local sale but I'm guessing you can find them online here.)
If we're talking quirky and whimsical then I can't leave out one of my craziest ideas ever -- changing a rarely used closet to a book nook for me my son:
I shared more about the nook here. A sweet reader sent the pirate metal art that sits above it -- again, one of those unique pieces that is really special to me. There's not a lot in my home that I get too upset about if it gets ruined (with four animals that's not rare) -- but if something like this were to break I would be a little heartbroken.
Do you have any unique items in your home that you love? Or do you have quirky parts to your house that you've made work for you? If I were to build a house from the start again it would have all kinds of unique little spots in it. These are the fun parts of design and decor! And they aren't always from the antique shop -- plenty can be found at regular department stores, you just have to think outside the box. :)
