Book Sale: Bring Your Rolling Cart!

So many beautiful table settings were posted for yesterday's Tablescape Thursday. If you haven't had a chance to visit them all, just scroll on down and enjoy! You'll find so much inspiration for fall and fun Halloween tablescapes!

This morning I got up bright and early and did something I've never done before. No, not exercise...that would be way too practical. ;) Well, I did get a little exercise, now that I think about it.

Ever since I added much needed bookcases to my home office, I've been on a quest for books. I've been focusing primarily on Home, Garden, Craft, Art, Decorating/Design books since that's what I've decided to keep on the bookcases, HERE in the office

So early this morning I headed out to a HUGE book sale. Have you ever been to one of these?  This one was held in a large building out at the County Fairgrounds.

As I walked around, I periodically got a slight whiff of cows and chickens...definitely a barnyard smell.   I think I know what that building is used for during fair time each year. lol

I wish I could have taken pictures to show you the crowds and the "gear" folks brought with them. You could tell the seasoned book-sale-goers because they came with crates strapped to rolling luggage carts.  They came with wagons.  They even brought suitcases...the kinds that have wheels.  Yep, these guys were ready to do some serious book buying.  I wonder if they are the folks we buy our used books from on eBay and Amazon?  Ummm.  I came with just a book buying spirit and two strong arms.  Rookie!

The prices were amazing, as you can see from the price list below.

The Home/Garden and Art sections were extremely popular.  You won't believe how passionate folks can be at book sales!  One guy stationed himself in front of the art books section with a huge box and would NOT let anyone else get near them. :(   So needless to say, I didn't come home with any art books.

I bought all hardback books, except for one paperback.  So all the books you see below costs $1.50 each, except for the last book in this post, which was a $1 since it was a paperback.

I was pretty sure I already had the Blue and White Rooms book (and I did) but for a $1.50 I bought it again to put in the guest room which is decorated mostly in Blue and White.  The Small Period Gardens book might come in handy if one day I move into a charming, yellow cottage that needs an English cottage garden.  Gotta plan ahead.  ;)

Can't wait to dig into these books.  The Art of Accessorizing had some gorgeous pics.  I bought Atlanta at Home so I could get a glimpse into those Atlanta homes I drive by periodically.  Yep, I'm nosey...at least house nosey.

I love to collect "reference" books on china...big surprise, right?     The other two books were filled with gorgeous, drool worthy interiors.   You can't buy a good magazine for $1.50!

I was thrilled to find a Barbara Milo Ohrbach book.  I have several of her books and they are always wonderful.  I even found a Charlotte Moss book I didn't have!  I flipped through the Martha Stewart, Good Things and it had a lot of neat looking craft projects.  I almost left it behind, but in the end I couldn't put it back.

This was the only paperback book I bought.  It covers the beautiful work of the architect, John Soane.  The drawings inside were amazing!

I spent a total of $20 for all of these books, including one I bought for a friend.  I think it's safe to say, I'm now officially hooked on book sales.

If you enjoy decorating books, you'll love THIS post where I shared my addiction, obsession love of decorating books.

Been to any good book sales lately?  What is your strategy when you go?  Do you take rolling carts and such?  I think I may next time around.

Psst:  Don't forget about the awesome $250 Shopping Spree Giveaway from HomeGoods.  Leave a comment on the Giveaway post  to be entered.

Related links in this post:
My small (but growing) office library
Favorite Decorating and Design Books
Blue and White Guest Room
$250 HomeGoods Shopping Spree

Beautiful Tablesetting by Bunny Williams at The Mount, Home of Edith Wharton: Welcome to the 162nd Tablescape Thursday!

Recently, I received a wonderful e-mail from Mandy. Mandy lives in Hawaii and on a recent trip to the United States, she toured The Mount, the beautiful home of American novelist, Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton wrote many novels in her lifetime including Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth and well-known, The Age of Innocence, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize. Mrs. Wharton was also a garden designer, as well as an interior designer.

She wrote several garden and design books, including The Decoration of Houses which was co-authored by architect, Ogden Codman.

Mandy was kind enough to share some of the photos she took while visiting The Mount, which is located in the Berkshires (Lenox) in Massachusetts.  The home was neglected for many years after the death of Mrs. Wharton.  Work began in 1997 to restore the severely deteriorated mansion, stable, gatehouse and greenhouse.

In 2002, in honor of The Mount's centennial (100 years) birthday, eight highly regarded designers were each given a room in The Mount to design/decorate in a way they thought would have appealed to Mrs. Wharton.   Wouldn't you love to tour The Mount in person?  I know I would!

Mandy told me, "You really feel that you got to know Edith Wharton through her house and her extraordinary gardens. She obviously had a love affair with this house."

From what I've read, Mandy is right. Mrs. Wharton truly loved her home and carefully planned and executed each detail of the design she created for the home and gardens.

Bunny Williams was the designer chosen to create the table decorations in the dining room.

Let's go inside and take a closer look.

 Beautiful dining room!

Gorgeous centerpiece!

Love the china.  Wish we knew the pattern names.  Update: Cherry Kay identified the dinner plate as William Yeoward, Hampton Court Burgundy.  Thanks, Cherry Kay!

 Mandy said, "She (Bunny Williams) had name cards at each place setting written in gold."

Another area of the dining room:

Mandy, thanks so much for sharing this beautiful tablescape created by Bunny Williams for the dining room of Edith Wharton's beautiful home, The Mount.  Such a treat!  I hope I get to see it in person one day!

Winner of Giveaway from A Beach Cottage:
The winner of the Giveaway from A Beach Cottage was chosen by Random Number Generator today and is now posted HERE on the original Giveaway post.  Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!


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Looking forward to your beautiful tablescapes!

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*If you are reading this via email or RSS feed, to view all the tablescapes linked for Tablescape Thursday, click;HERE.





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Welcome! Thanks for coming to the party!

A Fall Mantel for the Family Room

While we're enjoying all the wonderful "before and afters" from yesterday's Met Monday, I thought I'd share another little metamorphosis I've been working on this week in my family room.

BEFORE:

The coffee table looks so bare now since I "stole" all the books for the office library. lol

This is how the mantel looks year round.  It's decorated simply with a mantel clock, Staffordshire doggies and a few books.

Time to add a touch of fall.


(This post is linked to The Lettered Cottage's Fall Mantel Party HERE.)

The first change I made to the fireplace was a change in the firescreen. I love bringing out this screen with a fall scene of Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal against the bark of a birch tree. I've had both firescreens for many years.  Fortunately, I didn't have to purchase anything new to decorate my mantel for fall...just used things I already had here in the family room.

Before:

After:  The spring basket is no longer hanging on the door to the porch.  This pic was taken back during the summer when I was contemplating a post about firescreens.  Still may do one on firescreens one of these days. lol

Since fall is such a great time to curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace, I decided to expand on the book idea for this fall mantel.  At first I placed the pheasants I used in THIS table setting, on the mantel...but their fall color just sort of blended into the wreath, making them hard to see.  Can you see them there under the wreath?

I swapped the pheasants for Mr. Duck.  This pic was taken with the lamps off.

This one was taken with the lamps on.  Come a bit closer for a better look.

I hung a fall wreath I've had for many years above the mantel.  I love layering a wreath atop a mirror.  I've done this in my Dining Room, HERE and again in the family room for Christmas, HERE.

A few close-ups...

The book that's open is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

This picture in the book worked well with the colors in this fall mantel.  :)

I know polished brass isn't all the rage anymore, but then I'm not one to follow the rage. lol  Still love and use the Baldwin brass candlesticks I collected 25+ years ago.

Mr. Duck...he's made an appearance before in THIS Thanksgiving table setting.

The other end of the mantel...  The pumpkins I used for my fall mantel were previously used in this fall tablescape.

Have you started  decorating for fall, yet?  I love the warm, rich colors of the season.  Happy Fall, y'all!

(For a tour of the family room, click HERE.)

For a little inspiration for decorating a mantel for Christmas, click HERE and HERE.

Favorite Decorating and Design Books

I started collecting decorating and design books many years ago when I discovered I could buy books online for around the same price (sometimes less) than a magazine.  I still love decorating magazines, but who can resist a great design book for just pennies on Amazon and half.ebay.com.

Recently I added a mini-library along one wall of the office.

I gathered books together from all around the house, including the family room.

The bedroom...

And the upstairs Family Room ...

As Max :) and I sat looking at all the stacks,

I knew I needed a plan for organizing them onto the new Billy Bookcases I shared HERE and HERE.

I found this process exciting and frustrating at the same time.  It was great finally having a place for all my decorating/crafting/sewing/birding/gardening books, but it wasn't easy deciding just how to organize them.  Do you have a favorite system for organizing your books on your bookshelves?  If you do, I'd love to hear it!

Apparently, there are lots of ways to store and organize books.
1. They can simply be filed onto bookshelves by the authors last name.
2. They can be grouped according to subject matter, and then filed by the author's last name.  That's more or less the way the books were organized in the elementary school library where I worked as a Media Parapro for 5 years when my son was in grade school.
3. Some folks group their books according to color: (photo from Pinterest).  I guess if you're right brained and tend to be very visual, this system just might be the answer.

4. If you aren't thrilled with all that color, I've seen quite a few books throughout Blogland covered with white paper, creating a monotone or tone-on-tone look for the shelves.

This example (from Apartment Therapy) shows books covered in brown craft paper.

5. You can file or stack your books hither and yon on your shelves, in no particular order at all.

6.  Or, hang them from the walls.  Is this not the strangest thing ever?  Umm, I got nothing.  Speechless.  (Photo from Pinterest)

7.  I read some folks even organize their books according to the order they read them during their lifetime, creating a sort of "life diary" on their shelves.  When they glance over their bookshelves, they can remember where they were and what was going on in their life when they were reading a particular book.  I can barely remember what I was doing yesterday...don't think that system would work too well for me.

I wonder if this bookshelf was made by the same folks who made the fairytale furniture I shared in THIS post.  (Photo from Pinterest)  Isn't it a hoot?!

So, how did I end up organizing/shelving my books?  I dedicated one whole Billy bookcase to holding my Birding, Gardening, Crafting, Reference and Art books, grouping them by subject.  The other two Billy bookcases are filled with all my Decorating/Design books, shelved in alphabetical order by the author.

There are a few exceptions.  I've grouped all the books about Blue and White Decor together on one shelf.  I've grouped all the Christmas Decor books together on another shelf.  Same for all my "porch" books, although I may eventually blend those in with all the regular decor books.  I have a feeling this system will change as I purchase additional books  in the coming years.

What's the correct way to organize your books?
Answer:  The system that works best for Y.O.U.  If you can place your hand on the book you need, when you need it, then you've got a great system.  That's all that matters.


On My Book Shelf:
I've received several comments (and e-mails) requesting I share some of my favorite design/decorating books.  So, I spent the better part of today pulling books off the shelves, grouping them and taking pics.  I love you guys...you ask and I deliver. :)

My office looks like a book bomb exploded in here.  I'm not kidding...I'll be reshelving books for days. lol  I could have just taken pics of the spines, but that really doesn't show much about the book, and it's boring.

So, in no particular order, here are a few of my fave design/decorating books. Most are available inexpensively on Amazon or eBay if you see one that grabs your interest.  (Click on any photo to enlarge it for a better view.)

I pretty much love anything Charles Faudree puts his name on.  He has a new book out.  I haven't ordered it yet, but I've hear from a reliable source (thanks, Kathy) it's good.  I usually don't buy books until they have been out a little while and have a few reviews posted on Amazon.  I find the reviews are a tremendous help, not so much for the scoring, but for what is actually written in the review.

If you're looking for inspiration for a craft/sewing room, these books are a lot of fun.

I don't have all of Charlotte Moss' books, so I can't speak for all of them, but these three are really good.  The middle one is small, but has some wonderful images....wish it were larger.  You may remember seeing Winter House in THIS previous post about celebrating the winter blues. :)

I like pretty much everything by Barbara Milo Ohrbach.  Carolyn Westbrook shares her own personal home in Carolyn Westbrook, Home...and it's wonderful.  I have found, you can never go wrong with books where the author is sharing their own home.  Those are usually the best books!

I have quite a few books by Mary Carol Garrity.   Her books always have great decorating ideas that are  simple and can be easily copied.  Her books are reasonably priced, too.

Nell Hill's, O Christmas Tree is also excellent.  I have given this book as a gift several times.

A better view of the titles...

I love English Country style, so those type books are a big part of my collection.  I just received the one in the center, The English Country House, and it's huge...484 pages.  It looks great...can't wait to dig in.  The other two books pictured below are wonderful and can usually be found for a reasonable price on Amazon.

Remember the photo of the bottle tree I shared in THIS post.  It came from the center book, Southern Style.  It was this book that got me dreaming of bottle trees.

I know I keep saying it, but these three are among my very favorite books.   Can't go wrong with any of them.

I loved this book, An Affair with a House, so much, I've never ordered any of the other books Bunny Williams has written.  This is going to sound crazy, but this book was so wonderful, I just didn't see how she could top or equal it.  So, I just didn't want to take the risk I'd be disappointed by ordering her more recent books.  Crazy, I know.

Do you have any of Bunny's other books?  Again, I have found the books where decorators share their OWN homes, like An Affair with a House, are always special...always the best.

  Mario Buatta was inspired by Colefax and Fowler when he was just starting out.  Since I'm a huge Mario Buatta fan, that was all I needed to know to order these books.  If you like English design, you'll enjoy both.

I rarely read a "decorating" book cover to cover.  I did with, Adventures with Old Houses.  If you love old houses, you'll enjoy these three books.

I've been re-reading At Home with Books since I added my mini library to the office.  I've had this book for a long time, but I'm on a book high right now with all this newly acquired book storage.  At Home with Books shows some of the most amazing and interesting "home" libraries from all over the world.  And let me tell ya, there are some book-obsessed folks in this world.  I felt almost normal ;) after reading this book. lol  If you love books and seeing how others care for their books, you'll enjoy, At Home with Books.

The other two books, American Writers at Home and Writers' Houses, take us into the homes of  famous authors so we can see where and how they lived while they were writing their most important work.  I get chills whenever I open these books.  Chills.

More favorites:

Even though most of the rooms in my home are decorated in shades of red and green, I broke the design rules and decorated two rooms (Guest room and Upstairs Family Room) in blue and white, with touches of yellow.  If you love Blue and White as much as I do, you'll love any of these books.

I almost never find Carolyn Roehm books discounted as much as I'd like.  About once a year I cave and order one, anyway. They never disappoint.  Her books are filled with gorgeous, breathtaking pictures.  You'll definitely want to display these on your coffee table...that is if you can put them down long enough.

Signature Style and Great Traditional Style are super inexpensive on Amazon and they are filled with beautiful images.  Paula Deen's Savannah Style is wonderful!  Lots of beautiful traditional decor and lots of darling beach cottages...it has it all.

Love both these!  Choosing China & Glass has some really stunning images.

Three more of my absolutely favorite books: Antiques for the Table, Modern Antiques for the Table and The Epicurean Collector.

More favorites:

I've never once been the slightest disappointed with a book written by Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill.  Not once.  They are consistently beautiful and filled with stunning rooms.  The two books in the center are my most favorite of these four...but all four are wonderful.

I knew I'd love the book, Patina Style, before I even ordered it.  Brook's blog, Velvet and Linen, is always a great read and filled with wonderful inspiration.  Patina Style is just as inspiring.  Amazon said they were sold out when I bought my copy, so I had to purchase a used copy.  It came in great condition...looked brand new.  Not sure if it's still sold out or not.  I guess it's done very well since it's sold out...says a lot for the book!

Anyone who loves French Country decor has heard of Betty Lou Phillips and most likely owns a few of her books.  Again, she is one of those authors who consistently releases great books that never disappoint.

Two more of my fave French Decor books...

Entertaining from an Ethnic Indian Kitchen is written by Komali Nunna.  You may recognize the name because Komali participates in Tablescape Thursday from time to time.  Her book is filled with wonderful recipes, ideas for entertaining and gorgeous photos.

If you love Mottahedeh china and you've always wondered about it's history, this book will take you through the history/creation of this beautiful china.  I received both of these books below as gifts and have really enjoyed them.

I've always been a Mary Engelbreit fan, but I had no idea I would love touring her home so much. Home Sweet Home shows you just how Mary lives and it's as warm, cozy and charming as you would expect.  Leading the Artful Life has (to me) kind of dull looking cover, but the book is nothing like that on the inside.  It's filled with beautiful interiors decorated in a casual, comfortable style...and there's lots of wonderful color, so don't let that cover fool ya.   These books just make you smile when you open them...happy interiors, beautiful interiors.  Mary has a blog, appropriately called, Mary Engelbreit.

I had been creating tablescapes for about two years here at BNOTP before I ever bought any books on the subject.  Over the past year I've ordered several, but to be honest, most have been kind of disappointing.  So many of them have been filled with very formal, really grand table settings for huge galas or events. Southern Lady: Gracious Tables by Phyllis Hoffman is filled with lots of inspiration for everyday dining or for special occasions, formal and informal.

The Art of the Table answers a lot of questions about dining etiquette.  It's not a "picture" book like so many of the others in this post.

This post doesn't include all of my faves...never got to the gardening books, cottage books, Christmas books  or my beloved porch books.  So many books, so little time.

YOUR Favorite Books:
Okay, you can't leave this post without telling me at least one of your favorite decorating/design books.  I'd love to hear what books you love.  My shelves are yearning for more...please share your faves!

I have to end with this photo I found at Pinterest.  Book lovers are the best.  YaknowwhatImean?