Layering Living Room Decor
There’s something about cold weather in the wintertime that has me layering living room decor. Maybe it’s similar to putting on layers to keep warm.
I have not found alternate ways to rearrange furniture in my apartment living room. So I resist the urge to do that and instead rearrange things on surfaces.
My Bottle Collection:
I brought out my bottle collection the other day because I missed seeing my vintage bottles. Now they stand together like soldiers at attention.
I’ve collected those bottles over many years. I can pinpoint in my head where I found some of them. That gives them history.
I can’t seem to decide on styles, so I just mix them all together. A large painting of a cow (farmhouse style) is next to a milk glass collection (vintage and cottage style).
But what does it matter as long as I like it?
If I miss the cow painting, then why hide it in the closet? If I like my little collections of milk glass and vintage bottles placed underneath, the cow doesn’t mind.
Stack It:
If you can’t find a piece of furniture tall enough for what you need, then pile things up until you reach the level you want.
See the little green bench above setting on top of a red picnic basket?
I like to stack. You get more use out of things if you cannot only use them, but also stack them.
If you want to put a cutting board or a wash board on display but can’t find a good place, then lean it somewhere.
It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it speaks to you. And it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks as long as your piled structure doesn’t fall on someone and hurt them.
I didn’t want to remove the green and white dishes in my open kitchen cabinets. So I brought the red and white dishes into the dining room.
Does it matter which room they’re in as long as you can feast your eyes on them?
There’s no point having things you love if they’re hidden away. You can put them in the bathroom if you so choose.
Love It & Layer It:
Maybe two paintings leaning close together seem to need just a little something. Slip something unexpected between them like a wood cutting board as you’re layering living room decor.
I hate having my quilts hidden away in the closet. If I had another surface to stack them on, I’d be stacking them there.
But I don’t have a large home with many surfaces, so I have to rotate them. The dining room table has a nice horizontal surface, but I eat there. So that’s out.
However Ivy gets to enjoy them fully, above and below her napping spot.
Maybe you don’t want cat hair all over an old quilt that’s become bare in places. Then fold up a nice comfy blanket and layer it on top and the cat will enjoy it even more.
Ivy is sleeping blissfully on top of that very soft blanket. She doesn’t care if she gets to sleep on the quilt itself. The blanket is softer anyway.
If you want to put an expensive antique with a thrift store item that cost you a dollar, then do it.
Put them side by side if you like. No one is going to give you demerits for it.
Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder:
When someone said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, never a truer phrase was ever spoken.
It was Margaret Wolfe Hungerford who is credited with coining the exact phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. It is written in her novel Molly Bawn that was published in 1878.
She was one smart lady.
It’s wintertime and we’re spending most of our time indoors. So rearrange the furniture if you want. Stack the furniture if it pleases you.
Layer living room decor. Rearrange things on surfaces.
Bring things that belong in the kitchen into the living room or the bedroom. Shop the house and enjoy it.
Take what you love out of the closets and display them where you can see and enjoy them.
I love all the layering and the coziness of your home. I’ve been following you for years and have gotten a lot of decorating ideas from you. I love your style! We’ve been iced in several days in Alabama so I’m taying indoors catching, relaxing and catching up on what I’ve missed on your blog
You have a lovely home and I admire your eye for what goes together to create your vignettes.
Having said that the clutter would drive me nuts! I tend to go towards minimalism and I enjoy cleaning and dusting, weird I know.
Have a good weekend, stay warm💗
I love how you decorate and change things, too. You sweet little home has personality! You have a great knack for creating lovely vignettes.
For some reason, it struck my funny bone to think of your milk glass being displayed with your cow. Milk cow… milk glass… cows make milk… get it? lol, I don’t know why I find that so funny. It seems a perfect pairing in my silly brain. It makes me smile. So does Eileen’s description of her living room lights and cozy candles. I can totally picture that, and I love her choice of words… the warmth of all the lights is an absolute gift to herself. I love that!
Everything looks sooooo nice ! I love the milk glass , I think I’d like to collecting some . I live in an older condo about 50 years old . All my rooms are small, so I don’t rearrange the furniture much. Either a window or heat registers seem to be in the way . So I like to switch up what’s on the flat surfaces . I love the stacking idea , I think I’ll try that .
You have such a style of decorating. I always enjoy your new posts about what you have done to this room or that room. This is such a cozy room for you and Ivy.
I love that red geranium painting with all your red items. I would love that look on my mantle for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for the inspiration. I have a read and white early 20th century quilt topper that I am going to use for a tablecloth. Here in Michigan, the snow has arrived. So I am going to decorate with red and white and ignore it.
I loved all your ideas. I got a kick out of your comment “the cow doesn’t mind” about the milk glass collection! The little chickadee print is adorable, too.
I have a hen on the nest just like yours. I have had it for at least 40 years.
What a wonderful post and I plan on having fun trying some of your advice. Wintertime is a perfect time to redecorate! Thank you so much for your continued posts. I can’t seem to start the day until I have read the current one!
We should decorate our homes to please ourselves, not cater to “trends” or what other people think is “in” or “not in” or whatever. I don’t listen to “influencers” who dictate “do this, do that.” It’s my home, I’ll do whatever I want in it, including loading my bookcases and shelves with books, framed photos and souvenirs. We’re in a snow storm at present, it started about 4 a.m. on top of 2-3 days previous slush and snow, and may not move out of here until mid-afternoon tomorrow. It’s a mess outside, 12 to 15″ predicted, and then an “Arctic blast” will hit us on Sunday for several days. Sigh.
Because you decorate with what you love is probably why most of us are drawn to your blog. Winter really has its own kind of beauty and gives us an opportunity to make our homes extra cozy.
Brenda, how cute. I love your milk glass collection. Those pieces are so easy to incorporate into decor, I have a few, they hold makeup brushes, tv remotes, so many uses..My Mom had a huge collection, I guess it’s time to go shopping at her home…….
I love all the layering and the coziness of your home. I’ve been following you for years and have gotten a lot of decorating ideas from you. I love your style! We’ve been iced in several days in Alabama so I’m staying indoors, relaxing and reading your wonderful blogs
I agree completely. I am always arranging, re-arranging. My eyes enjoying resting on a new view. I have left up up strings of clear little light that go all around the livingroom, over the curtains and across my fireplace mantle and across the bookcases….as well as my battery operated candles, my one big indulgence. The warmth of all the lights is an absolute gift to myself.