Home Décor Vignettes

I would love to be writing a post about our finished basement renovations … but, alas, that post will have to wait for another day. Hopefully a day soon. The downside of DIY is that timelines have to cede precedence to a million other deadlines, emergencies, and just, well, life. We are making progress on the basement, which is good; though, after 12 years, it does still often feel like a herculean task that will never be completed.

So, in the meantime, I continue to focus on other parts of the house that feel more within my control. I’ve become very fond of the idea of vignettes — little corners of the house that present a pleasant view, something to be savoured and enjoyed in quiet moments of contemplation. As I move about the house (and I do that a lot, being a homebody who also happens to work from home) every day, I try to stop and take stop of these vignettes as I come across them; sometimes, looking at things from a slightly different angle can reveal something new. And I’ve been capturing them as I go along. It’s a nice reminder of all the beauty that surrounds me all the time.

Remember my recently reorganized mantlepiece? About that …

My husband decided that the large commission painting that I had just re-hung above the mantlepiece was something he preferred to have in his (future) office in the basement. The dimensions certainly pointed in favour of this plan, but I was a bit annoyed (to be honest) at having to upend my mantlepiece tableau so soon. Nevertheless, the heart of happy cohabitation is compromise, so I got work reimagining the arrangement.

I decided to build the new mantlepiece around another piece of art (naturally). Since it has to be a piece of fairly imposing size, my options were somewhat limited; however, as luck would have it, there was one perfect choice.

The story of how I came about this painting is funny in itself; I had admired it years ago 4 or 5 years ago on someone’s IG account, but had not been able to find it locally at the time (it’s a reproduction piece that was sold at Structube). I had ended up buying another large piece by the same artist (which I also love) but never forgot about the one who got away. Well, long story short, a few months ago we went to Structube to look for a coffee table for the basement and what do I spot in the back? Yes, THE painting. The staff told me they had found it in the back of their storage room where it had been sitting all these years. Honestly, what are the odds?

Here, you can see the before and after. I love the new mantlepiece, even though I had to sacrifice my rainbow candle display which was hard. But if we know anything, we know that a mantlepiece is forever an evolving thing, so who knows … the rainbow may make a comeback some day.

Oh hey, speaking of that other painting by the same artist — here it is! This is one of my favourite little corners of the library/family room, which I recently tweaked just slightly. This plant, meanwhile, continues to thrive on benevolent neglect. Unlike most of my other plants, it doesn’t seem to mind not having a window nearby, and it also doesn’t need too much water.

I discovered how much I liked this angle/view accidentally; I had to temporarily move a couple of chairs to one end of the library while the basement is getting done, and this afforded me the chance to sit in a new spot in this space. Another reason why rearranging furniture from time to time is a good exercise — you can end up seeing your house in a different light/from a different angle, and fall in love with it all over again.

I also rearranged my little “art gallery” shelf. Mixed some old and some new personal art things, and I love the riot of colour.

Sorry, needed to take a moment to memorialize iris season, and specifically this one perfect stem (which, sadly, I had to cut during a bad rainstorm to stop it from breaking off and crushing the flowers).

This view from the library daybed/sofa is nice too. I love being surrounded by books, art, and plants.

Here, I am trying out a new tableau. I like the mix of textures and materials in dark/warm tones, but I am still deciding if it works or if it needs a tweak.

I’ve been wanting a ladder to display my thrifted blankets for a while, but I knew it would be a hard thing to find at the thrift stores — I figured that I would have to take my chances with the antique mall, and hope to get lucky. Well, who needs the mall when one has awesome friends? I was visiting one of our dear friends and ended up admiring her beautiful ladder … and she offered it to me! She had decided to switch up her decor as well, and well — it was kismet. It’s the perfect colour and it looks great in our main bedroom.

The library is still a work in progress due to the basement renos but I did manage to finish reorganizing the shelves so here is a little sneak peek. I can’t wait to have this space completely finished! That blue corduroy chair you can see in front is a piece that my husband made more than a decade ago. It had been sitting in the basement for years, never quite having a place in the house; we had only kept it for sentimental reasons. Well, its time to shine has finally come! I think it’s going to be a great addition to this space; it already looks so good with the thrifted patchwork quilt topper and pillow — I love it.

Here’s hoping that, next time you read one of these posts, it will be the long-awaited basement reveal. Wish us luck!