I have a number of those from my granny. I love the covers. Why not on top of your corner cabinet, with suitable bookends? That way they'll be out of reach, and no one need feel guilty about not reading them.

Or inside the cabinet? I like them best in a group, and not as a plant stand.

I love those books, you could just eat them with a knife and fork!

You have such a lovely living room, I am always excited to see your threads! Any progress on finding a rug?

Re the books: Please don't stack stuff on top of those lovely old books. Give them a place of prominence instead of making them look like they're just a shim under a vase. What about getting some really nice old (or old looking) book ends and displaying them on top of the piano or the drum table (but not underneath that vase)? I found some very interesting book ends for an old set of books from an ebay antiques seller.

Hi,

I just wanted to say I'm so glad to see your room again:-) It's so pretty- I love the colors. The books are beautiful. It's great that you are also going to read them! What a treat that will be. I'd keep them in such a way that you can grab one and read a poem at a time when the urge hits you. I like them on the FP, piano, even stacked a few on a side table or coffee table. I agree that the vase doesn't look it's best on them, but I do love those glass balls or smaller decorative things on old books- they make a nice vignette.

Your pillows are so pretty- One day I'd love to see a close up of them. Love that color with the blue green of your accent wall. What color paint is that, anyway? I know you must have posted it back when you were doing the room, but I don't remember the name of the thread.

sarschlos_remodeler: I guess I should not have posted that last pic. I liked the added height of the vase, but agree the books are not right to stack there so I'm going to get a vase/plant stand for it. I've seen some wooden ones at the nursery I think might work better. Right now the books are on the mantle, though the piano also sounds like a good location. I'd love to see what type of book ends you have, they sound lovely. No progress on the rug. I'm really very indecisive and besides, my blue tape makes a great conversation piece! LOL

I spent so much time trying to decide why I like option 1. I think it's because I really like the ginger jar lamp on that back drum table near the chair, it looks like a nice place to read, and the floor lamp is very pretty on this facing end of the sofa. I also like the mantel arrangement in option one, also because the books look good to the right and nearer to the 'reading' chair. It's just a subliminal thing, but there it is. I 'might' try to find another table lamp for the drum table at the end of the sofa in option 1 instead of the figurine. I don't care for the figurine on the table--maybe it looks too fragile for a little table, I don't know. Perhaps the figurine on the fireplace mantel instead of the vase with branches and the vase on that table to the left?

I like the books displayed together. Wish I could hit that estate sale. I'm supposed to drive my child and her friend to the airport in San Francisco at the very end of this month. Maybe I can come check out those poems, LOL...

Again, whatever you do will be lovely. It always is.

Red

Val,
Your room looks great!
I love the books & agree they be together & accessible.

Could you make the figurine in to a lamp?

I don't guess this is one of your options......but - framed oil painting over piano - nice scrolly - kinda ornate mirror over the fireplace with your botantical prints in a grid on each side of the FP. How many botanicals do you have?

You are making great progress & I know you will find just the right rug.

Smiles:)

I like the large painting over the mantel, but everything else on that wall looks lost. Mount the sconces on either side of the painting and take all the other stuff down (the oval print and the long rectangle-shaped thing on the other side). I would move the smaller candlesticks closer to the middle, remove the ginger jar from the mantel, and perhaps put the largest candlestick on the floor at the hearth. I would wait until you have something that is perfect for that wall space and leave it beautifully blank for now

MClarke is right! Those books are absolutely delicious! Great finds!

Those books are so beautiful! What a great find. Looks like you've found a lot of nice things in the right colors.

What I notice is a lot of small things spread out. I would edit, group, and simplify your accessories. I also think the palm may look best near the fp, with the curio cabinet in the other corner by the door (swapped). I think having a piece of furniture like that near the fp detracts from it and it doesn't seem to flow well, imo. Although I do seem to like it a lot in Option 2, with another tall piece added, the lamp. I don't think the left side is working yet though -- a little light, esp at lower half, and unbalanced with the right side. The other thing I'd do is limit the objects on the mantel, and not spread them across. Love the table vignette! esp in Option 2's composition (oval picture placement needs tweaking, though, as it's high and a bit solo). I love the figurine -- hard to see what she's doing, but maybe group with the poetry books?

Any rug shopping going on?

I remember seeing your room before, and it nice to see it again! Very pretty.. and what great find ont hose books!

Hi! The room is lovely, and I think you hit on a furniture arrangement that really works. :)

Here are my thoughts:

1) I'd like to see the books on top of the piano, perhaps to the right, with nice bookends (you can find some lovely vintage bookends on ebay, btw). Then, a small oriental lamp on the left.

2) The fireplace painting is so beautiful, you don't really need much on the mantel. What I would do (since I'm such a symmetry freak, I guess), is flank the mantel with two English ivies, one on either side of the painting, in really nice pots to coordinate with the lamp on the piano. It would also bring some greenery into the room and warm it up a bit.

3) I agree with the other poster that the wall decor on either side of the painting is lost. I think the oval print (?) on the right is good, but raise it a bit and flank it with two smaller pieces (maybe vintage/antique silhouettes? also found on ebay). I do not like the wall decor to the left of the fireplace: for some reason, it seems cheap compared to the rest of the substantive pieces in this room. What about two small rectangular pieces, one above the other, instead? Something like this (just as an example):

http://cgi.ebay.com/c1880-Antique-Print-of-a-Newfoundland-Dog_W0QQitemZ280224708449QQihZ018QQcategoryZ360QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/1852-Antique-Hand-Colored-Dog-Print-of-a-Deerhound_W0QQitemZ310048314760QQihZ021QQcategoryZ360QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You could then have them framed in a nice deep walnut, to bring out the beautiful wood tones in your tables.

4) I like the furniture arrangement in Option 2, but I think I would try the floor lamp on the other side of the sofa, to balance out the height of the grandfather clock?

The room is just so beautiful!

The curio was a nice addition to the room. And I love the books. I love the books so much I would rather see them stay together with a nice set of book end...maybe in the middle or catty corner on the side of the piano. If you do keep them seperated, the books under the vase on the round table should probably go under a different item on that table. The vase is tall enough, now its too tall compared to the other objects. And I would slight twist the books so they arent perfectly stacked. The oval picture looks a little lost by itself. I liked the suggestion of moving the sconces to either side of the picture, but I also like them grouped with the mirror, so I would hesitate moving them right now. I dont think your candle color is the right choice. I would pick a rusty brown color to match your pillows and stay away from the teal green candle color. I like the two round tables diagonal from each other (not across). I think I would put the new lamp on the table by the chairs (near the fireplace) it fills the space better than the vase, the floor lamp on the other side of the couch. But I love how the room is coming together:)

The reason the sconces and mirror don't "go" together is that they are all too much the same size... the sconces need to flank someting much bigger and the mirror is just too small for any place in your room.

The more I look at it, the more I like Option 2. I still think #1 is my favorite, but #2 is quite nice too.

Red

Oops. Curio cabinet, not grandfather clock! :)

Streamlined a bit. How about the figurine and poetry books on the piano?

Not sure about that left wall. Any plans for the floor corner? Maybe a French-y style splash of art to the left of the fp. Not too attention-grabbing with color or contrast.

Nice, squirrel! You have the touch :)

Squirrel would you humor me and switch the contents of what is on each table then flip the standing lamp to the otherside of the fireplace? The vase would be on the first table and the table lamp by the fireplace:) Thanks

BRILLANT virtuals Squirrel!! LOVE the ideas ....

I don't have much to add other than I just LOVE the books. I would love to run across something like that! wig

Nice to see your room again! What ever happened to the botanicals? They would look great on that left wall! How many were there? I'm not crazy about the oval pic on the right. It looks too small. The pic over the fireplace is so pretty and such a focal point, there is no need for the tall vase on the mantel. I do like the lower ginger jar. The books are to tall for in front of the pic. Place those on a side table with bookends or in the curio. The plate in the curio might be nice on the mantel with the ginger jar and the statue on the other side. I wish I could PS!

Do you have enough spaces for people to put down drinks, etc? Maybe a trio of step tables by the wall near the fireplace, next to the sofa?

I'm sure I'm in a minority, but the painting over the fireplace looks cramped to me, as it's hung so near to the ceiling. Could you support it by some sort of stand on the mantle piece?

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. First off, I had been meaning to post what I ended up doing with my botanicals. I had a set of four and a set of three. The set of three I decided to put in my dining room (also bought a larger mirror and moved the other one to my hallway, hung vertically) and the set of four I decided to put in my bedroom. I felt the set of four had too much lavender/purple for the LR plus I felt they were competing with the mantle picture and there were too many rectangular shapes. Here are the finished botanicals, though:

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It's interesting to me that the scale looks different IRL than in pics. Has anyone else found that to be the case? Some of my smaller items look lost in the photos, but don't IRL. I am actually finding the walls to be looking quite busy. Here are a couple of closer shots of some of the items in question.
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The statuary actually is from an old lamp, but the lamp part was removed. The oval pic is a water color which I bought at an antique store. There is something appealing to me about balancing out the rectangular artwork with oval ones. I have two mini oval frames in my entry plus an oval entry mirror and I actually bought two more smaller oval pictures (abouit 6"x9" just for the frames which are quite similar to the watercolor).

I have toyed back and forth with swapping the curio and palm. What I did not like about the curio in the right corner is that it does not go flush to the wall due to the base molding so there is about a 1" between the curio back and the wall which is visable, where in the opposite corner I don't see it. The plam tree is also basically my place holder for the Christmas tree as I will take it out of the room, move a chair and put the Christmas tree. I also like the tables diagonally apart from one another.

I like the suggestion to group the books together with bookends either on the piano or mantle so I will be on the lookout for some bookends. Mostly, I'm still not sure how to finish off the table vignettes or what to look for.

Also, most pressing is what tyle of lampshade for the ginger jar. I don't want to emphasize the pink/rose color overmuch so was thinking of a dark wine color that would match to some of the dark red in my drapes.

It seems not many like the little mirror/sconce arrangement so will have to rethink that. I felt the walls to either side needed something to balance out the scale of the mantle painting--at the same time not compete with it.