Books & Other Stuff We Decorate With

I always record the Nate Berkus show. I've always been a fan of his since the Oprah days. And of course there was that summer he just randomly walked through the front door of Country Roads. And after writing up his purchases I somehow, don't ask me how, managed to ask if it would be okay if I could have my picture taken with him. I swear, I felt like I was five years old, but it was worth it! Anyway, on some of his shows he is always talking about how he likes to decorate with books. I so agree with him, and I have had so many, many books. These days they are a bit more organized than the old days. I went through them last year and thinned out quite a few and sold them at Country Roads. However, I do have six boxes of cookbooks up in the rafters in my garage from when I bought this house eleven years ago! Someday I will go through them.

In my home office, I try hard to organize all my books, and magazines so they aren't all over the place! Above was a gift from my friend Mike. He put together the past year of the Plaza Review together for me in a binder, which was not only kind but helped organize them as well.

The thing with books and working it into decorating is it tells a story about people that live in the home. I LOVE the beach, I always have. And I like to surround myself with books relating to that as well. 

This old industrial bookshelf is in my office. There are all kinds of books that fill its shelf and I also like to add other special treasures along with my books.

I've got a really small area in my kitchen where I have a very small amount of my cookbooks. Believe me, as I mentioned above, there are boxes and boxes of cookbooks in the garage. I just don't have the room for them.

I'm always a sucker for old books! They just have such a great look to them and always sit well on a table that may need just a touch of something extra.

We've all got coffee table books and I rotate mine out all the time! 

Many of the books above belonged to my kids when they were little. And now I've added to the collection by  starting a collection for my little grandkids as well.

Recently I really thinned down the amount of books and magazines I have in my bedroom. Actually it was just last week that I gave Brande a huge stack of my old magazines. Although I will always have books and magazines on the table by my bed.

These books above are also in my bedroom. They are on the bottom shelf of an industrial cart that holds my TV. I really LOVE the old binded editions of the New York Times! And the tote on top of the book is kind of special to me because the 204 on the end of it is the address of Country Roads.

My magazines have a tendency to get out of control. So I try to recycle most of them by giving them to others. I love a lot of the Stampington publications, especially "Where Women Create". So I do hang on to those.

An old history book on the Hawaiian Islands sits on a shelf  next to an old vintage typewriter. I have and will always be in love with the ocean and the beach!

The other thing you will find in my house, without fail, are fresh flowers! I always, whenever I can, have flowers in my house. The ones above were from Fresh and Easy and were really reasonably priced.

And these baby white roses in the old glass coffee jar came from Trader Joe's. Their flowers are always priced so reasonable. I never leave there without a bouquet. And these particular roses smell so good. I guess what all my ramblings are leading up to this. . . . a "house" becomes a "home" when we live with those we love and what we love! You know?