happy entry

The entry space of your home should not only be functional, but also serve to give a small glimpse of your personality - a small preview of what your guests might be able to expect from the rest of your home. I decided to pack ours full of personality and color because hey - that's just who we are. We're fun, happy and chic people! So definitely don't expect to see an entry like this anywhere else. 

Of course I decided to work with our orange Malm occasional table! I'm still in love with it, and it sets the expection for color as soon as you walk in the door. I paired it with a Times Square canvas print that I got from Ross years ago. I like that some of the brush strokes are raised so that it looks a little less mass-produced. I scored the adjustable lamps from Target for $24 a piece, and the Jens Risom-esque stools were about $10 each. Right now, one is holding our old school Apple speaker that is hooked up to the record player, and the other holds our very tiny record collection. Eventually I know that this will have to change, but for right now it works. The small stool holding the crazy stack of books is from an oldie but goodie from IKEA. 

The Crosley record player was an Amazon Christmas gift from Brandon last year. I was so charmed by the choice of color that he made, and when I inquired how chose, he simply replied with, "That's the color that was on your wish list." Oh, Baby. You know me so well...

The "Vinyl" print is from Urban Outfitters several years ago. Hipsters are so funny! I saved the vases off of a clearance end cap at Target, of course! 

I actually had the pleasure of spending three amazing weeks in Las Vegas for a build-up this past spring, so I figured why not put the pictures out? To tell the truth, I'm really not a "photos around the house" kind of person, maybe because I don't find myself particually photogenic, but these were too fun not to have out. I may get some frames for them, but right now they're just really casual, and I like that. Something also tells me that because they are a weird size, the frames might be too large to use here. We'll see. Look at how cute we are though! 

Here's my mommy and sis, along with the double-sided Taboo card that my husband made to propose to me on Christmas Eve almost 8 years ago. The corks are just a few of hundreds that we've collected since we've been married. The cork holder was a Christmas gift one year from my sister. I recently had a friend's son ask me why I was collecting corks, and why I didn't just throw them away. I was shocked by the inquisition, but responded in the most grown-up way I could think of which was, "I just really like the way they look". Which was my sly way of saying I just like to hoard things.

The record bowl was a Goodwill find. But more importantly, notice how you don't see the cord from the lamp on the right extending underneath the line of the console table? Both lamps are actually plugged in.

I just used sticky back cord holders to adhere the cord to the back of the table. I often feel like this is a detail that many designers skip, so I'm cluing you in on this important little step. You don't have to unplug your lamps to take pictures, just take time to do some cord management. I swear it makes all the difference! You can probably tell from the previous photo that the cords all drop down behind our speaker. When I install plug adapter to handle all four pieces, I plan to intall a cord cover for the speaker and record player, and maybe do some cool cord management with cord tacks against the wall for the lamps since the fabric covered cords are so pretty. :)  

Here are the lamps adjusted up just a bit. On the other side, you'll still find a stack of artwork. For this side I would like to incorporate new shoe storage, a few hooks for coats and bags, as well as our cool art, and perhaps a mirror. Clearly I still have a lot of work to do! 

If you remember this post, you know that I was looking into relocating my decanter collection. I did find another place for the decanters, but because there are well over 20 of them (what can I say, when I collect, I go all in) I still haven't quite styled the space out yet, but know that they're doing just fine. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that the saturated decanters live next to our catwalk. 

The others made their way into the living room next to our second staircase. I'm going to try and style it out sometime in the next week or so. I'm thinking it needs some lighting, some books, maybe a plant or two and above some art, a mirror, or some combination of those things. I've seen endless inspiration of bar carts on Pinterest, but you know what? Very few people have decanter collections. I've seen many bar carts (or bar cart equivalent) with simply two to three decanters, a set or two of drink glasses, bar tools, and lots of extra "pretty stuff". I plan to take my time and make sure this display it doesn't look too busy. I mean, the decanters are the stars, and I don't want anything else to steal the show. Ya' know?

Ok folks, I think that's all for now. Thanks so much for visiting. You could surfing billions of other websites right now, but you chose to spend a few minutes of your day with me. You're so sweet. Thanks! :)