sprucing up the library

Our library received a makeover about 2 months ago (has it really been that long?!) that seemed to take forever to finish because I waited until just before the holidays to begin, then of course, had no time to work on the curtains. The previous curtains in the library were actually the reason for the sprucing. They dry rotted right in the window (it's a southwest facing window), and they were sheer, which didn't work very well for our sometimes guest room anyway.

So after perusing etsy for what felt like months, I finally stumbled on a fabric I liked: It's a Hoot by Moda Fabrics in Pistachio. I *thought* the blue in the fabric would match the previous wall color, but alas, when the fabric arrived, the blue was more aqua, and the wall color was not going to be able to remain the same. So...we painted the walls celery, using a no-VOC paint, of course and then rearranged a bit. The lamp and end table were borrowed from other spots in the house where they weren't seeing much use. Fortunately it took me SO long to get around to sewing the new curtains, that my friend, Jenni, came to visit and offered to do the sewing (and even lined them!) for me, then had them completed and mailed back to me in a week. She's the best!


The everything wall received it's semi-annual sprucing at the same time and we decided, ahem, to buy a tv to hang on the library wall. While I was aghast at Paul's first mention of hanging a tv in here, neither of us have really ever liked the centerpiece, mantle-top tv in the family room, which was what we were trying to eliminate. The new tv in the library is not very large and hardly noticeable in a room with wall-to-wall randomness. Not to mention we rarely watch any kind of tv (we have no cable) so having it out of the way is wonderful.


We did keep Wills on the wall to keep us honest in our book buying. How can you look him in the eye and read a cheesy romance novel?!


Unfortunately the result of all the library sprucing and tv switching means that we are now left with a hole in our living room. Or a bare wall, more precisely. Over Christmas it worked well with some greenery, candles, and some tall glass trees. I couldn't leave the glass trees because they were just too Christmasy, and the greenery is not going to last forever so I need a good decorating idea for this space.


I'm sure we'll stumble across a sculpture or other art piece sometime that will be wonderful for this space, but I know that if I just go looking for one, it won't be perfect and probably will be too costly. Perfect art pieces need to be stumbled upon, I think. But if you have an idea for something to occupy the space for the short term, I'm all ears. :)