Monday, November 12, 2012

On the Mantel

We're still waiting to pay off some bills before we buy big pieces of furniture, so I'm trying to appease my urge to decorate by looking for smaller things like pillows for the sofa, picture frames, that sort of thing. Whatever we put on the mantel will have to be a rotating collection because we have lots of things that have stayed packed away for a couple of years, and I'm ready for everything to be on display. But having it all out at once is too much, of course, and makes a space feel cluttered. So I'm thinking I'll change it up every couple of months. Here's what's on the mantel now:


three vintage Danish candle holders, a vintage Swedish Dala horse, the yarn-wrapped bottle vase I made, and a vase from Jonathan Adler.

Actually, Jonathan Adler is having a 20% sale right now! I bought that blue vase (and another one still packed away somewhere), many years ago. There was only one Jonathan Adler store (in NYC) at the time, and they didn't even have a website! If you wanted to order something, you had to call the store and have it shipped. They didn't even have a 1-800 number. Now Jonathan Adler is a ginormous brand all over the world, of course. It's amazing how much they've grown. And the opposite is also true for other shops. As I unpack things, I find treasures purchased from sellers and shops that have long since closed up. I suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere, why one brand succeeds and another one doesn't. I wonder: is it luck? Marketing? Or something much more complicated? What do you think?

I only intended to share a small snippet of my house, and now I'm getting all philosophical. Must be because I'm another year older now, and that's what old people
do. ;)

8 comments:

  1. I love your mantel goodies, especially the Swedish dala horse. My stepmom is Swedish and they're a big deal around here.

    Also, happy happy belated birthday!!!! I've been out of town and removed from blog land so I misses it. I hope it was wonderful!

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  2. Those vintage candle holders are gorgeous! The tone of the wood is beautiful against the white wall!

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  3. Have a great and exciting new age. I love the pieces on the mantel. I wondered for a minute if I preferred the Blue collection or the Wood collection, and I find that I like them equally for different reasons.

    On your philosophical musing, it's a good observation. There's time for everything. Certain things have to go for certain things to happen. Like snow, it falls white, muddies up, dissolves into the ground, and new ones comes in their seasons. Nothing is forever, we all have our seasons. Some seasons are longer than others. Or so I think.

    I enjoyed your post.

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  4. Hello Mary!
    You have a lovely blog, congrats, it is full of sweet things.

    Cat kisses.

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  5. Such a cute little collection! How fun to rotate your decorations too!

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  6. I like how simple your mantlepiece is (as we call it in England hehe). Mine is full of little trinkets. Maybe I will have to do a post on it soon too!

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  7. I love the little Swedish Dala horse :) And your vases match perfectly!

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  8. What a gorgeous setup! I'm not surprised that it's full of color. :-)

    How funny to think about Jonathan Adler when he was just a one-store brand. Gives all of us some hope, doesn't it? I don't really know the rhyme or reason for why some people become well-known and others don't, but I suspect it has a lot to do with who you meet and when. Isn't his partner a bigwig (possibly owner?) at Barney's New York?

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