MY INSTAGRAM ADVENTURE

Recently I shared that after almost 40 years of selling and having fun doing it,  I closed my little home decor shop.  The reasons are too complicated to enumerate.  Suffice it to say that it was unexpected and unplanned.  Now I find myself retired with lots of stuff.  

My solution:  Start selling on Instagram.   I created my account, @shopmycollectedhome, and started posting images.  Some items are from the store and some are from my home.  (The result of a life time of collecting.)  

I do have a  dilemma with online selling.  I'm totally intimidated by shipping.  How do you online sellers do it?  The thought of finding a box for odd-sized items, packing them,  and then estimating shipping is overwhelming to me.  I'm only doing local pick up.  You can see that this decision severely limits my selling potential.

Enough of my misadventure.  You know how I always find quirky ways to do things.  I thought you might enjoy some behind-the-scenes ways I'm photographing my stuff. 

Initially I was placing items on a table in front of a blank wall.  The items could be seen clearly, but I soon realized that if I wanted people to drive to me to get their purchases, I would have to make the images worthy of a trip.  LOL.  I thought about using vignettes in my home as a back drop, but then realized that people would want to buy the items in the background that I wasn't ready to sell.  (I'm a hoarder if you haven't noticed.)

The weather was still pleasant when I created the account.  I started out using the great outdoors as a back drop.  I'd been trying to figure out how to sell my lighting.  I didn't want to just put it on a table.  My solution was to just hang the lighting in one of the trees in my back yard.

PENDANT LIGHTING IN MY TULIP MAGNOLIA

My other photo staging spot was the garden bench.  I draped a large fabric map of New York on to the bench, attached part of it to tree a branch and added a grouping of vintage mirrors.   (I cropped out the clamp.)

VINTAGE MIRRORS ON MY GARDEN BENCH

I used the bench with the map as a backdrop for these planters too.

FRENCH INSPIRED PLANTERS

The weather became too cold for me to shoot the stuff outside.  Of course I came up with more solutions.  I wanted to sell artwork but I didn't want to put holes in my walls to do that.  I have enough holes already from my refusal to measure when hanging art.  My solution:  Put the art on the rug on the floor.  Who would know that I didn't hang it?  I used my sisal rug as a neutral background.

FAUX HANGING ART

I had the same dilemma with mirrors.  I solved two problems with this solution.  I used my zebra rug as the background.  The second result was that the mirror reflected the solid white ceiling.  If you take any photos you know that mirror reflections are hard to work around.

MIRROR ON MY ZEBRA RUG

I used this same idea with some tole trays.  My buffalo checked tablecloth is the background.  I had to stand on a step ladder to get a straight shot.  Success.  I'm planning on selling some transferware dishes soon.  I'll use this same idea to create a no nails needed "plate wall". 

VINTAGE TOLE TRAYS

Now this next solution will give you a chuckle I think.  I recalled that I always used decorator paper as backdrops in the store.  Again, how to hang it without making holes in the wall.  My solution was to clamp it on to one of the french doors.  It worked perfectly.  No walls were damaged in the process and the natural light from the room is perfect.  Here's the decorator paper.  Of course I cropped the clamps out of the picture.  I have several different papers so it's easy to change the back ground.

DECORATOR PAPER CLAMPED TO MY FRENCH DOOR

This paper was the perfect back drop for these pink swirl vintage dishes.  They sold!!!!

VINTAGE PINK FIRE KING DISHES

I haven't sold these vintage Bombay Company pair of urns.  Fingers crossed.

PAIR OF VINTAGE URNS

You've seen that large woven tray on my ottoman.  It was the my solution for selling some dishes.  The sloped sides offered some support and the natural reed made the back ground pretty.

TRANSFERWARE PLATES AND TOPIARY NAPKIN RINGS

I put the goat fur runner on my dining room table to work for these Victorian fish knives and forks.

VICTORIAN FISH KNIVES AND FORKS

So far sales have been lukewarm at best.   Should I continue?    I must admit that I'm having fun staging for the photos.  I would love to hear from any of you who have experience selling on line.  You can comment here or privately by e-mail.

Or, should I just enjoy being retired and let my kids call 1-800-GOTJUNK?

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

 We have a room addition on the back of our home.  One wall is the original exterior brick.  I love that feature.  When the contractor wanted to cover it with dry wall, I immediately nixed that idea.  The brick has a brown undertone so I painted the walls brown to blend with the brick.  (Benjamin Moore  HC 76  Davenport Tan)  We've always called this room the sun room because the remaining three walls are almost all windows.  I realize now that that was a misnomer, at least until the day our neighbors cut down a huge tree that shaded our property. (I'm sad that they cut down a perfectly healthy tree.)  Now each sunny morning I'm greeted by streams of dappled sunshine and I can truly call that room a sun room.  This was the room that Nate Berkus showcased when I was a guest on his NBC show many years ago.   It's  very special to me.  I was able to capture the new sunshine and shadows playing in that room and thought I'd share this new brightness with you on this chilly winter day.

It spans the length of the back of the house.  You can enter through french doors from the living room or the dining room.  This is the view  from the living room entrance.

LOOKING IN FROM LIVING ROOM

SUNLIT BAR CART

The sunlight even found my elephant.

ELEPHANT IN SUNSHINE

To the left of the bar cart is my mirrored top table and Chinese Chippendale chairs.

MIRRORED TABLE AND CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS

The combination of the reflections from the mirror and the sunlight is dramatic.

SHELLS AND SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

I was happy to find this brown and white geometric fabric for the room.  I only sewed draperies for the two side walls.  There is no privacy issue with the windows that face the back yard.  I left them bare.  The fabric is inspired by Imperial Trellis by Kelly Wearstler. ( It's no longer available.)  I used the extra fabric to make pillows and new seat covers for the  Chippendale chairs.

GEOMETRIC DRAPERIES

This is one of two Pottery Barn banana leaf wing chairs in that room.  I'm a sucker for wing chairs.  I thought these woven chairs were a fun twist on traditional wing chairs.  The comfy down-filled coral pillows are from Design Legacy.  I love their unique fabrics.  I use them as back rests on the chairs.

POTTERY BARN WING CHAIR

Next to the wing chair is a walnut side table that holds a stack of books.

STACK OF BOOKS IN SUNLIGHT

The dappled sunshine continues on the mantel and brick.

DAPPLED SUNSHINE ON THE MANTEL

On the other side, the sunlight even spills over into the dining room.

SUNLIGHT SPILLING INTO THE DINING ROOM

If you enter from the dining room, you'll see our sitting area.  It's our tv watching side of the room.  Notice that I layered some mirrored coral prints over the drapery-less windows.

LOOKING IN FROM THE DINING ROOM

The sofa is also a Pottery Barn piece.  I  mixed the geometric patterned pillows in with some fun West Elm ones with garden benches.

POTTERY BARN SECTIONAL SOFA AND WEST ELM PILLOWS

 The wall sconce is from a Pittsburgh department store.  I only have two of them.  They were originally planters mounted on columns on the main floor of Horne's Department store.  I had them converted to wall sconces.  I wrote a post about them many years ago.  Here's the link to that post if you'd like to know more.  Link:  here.  If you look at that post you'll notice how the room has changed over the years.  

I also have a matching love seat in that room.  The large woven basket is from my store.  Yes, I keep stuff for myself always.   It mostly holds books and magazines and sometimes throws. 

MATCHING LOVE SEAT AND GEOMETRIC DRAPERIES

 I layered a hide rug under the ottoman.   We use the large leather ottoman as a coffee table.  When we have guests, it becomes extra seating. 

OTTOMAN AND HIDE RUG

I like to layer rugs.  The hide rug partially covers this Stark seagrass one.

HIDE AND SEAGRASS LAYERED RUGS.

Do you have a room that's bathed in dappled sunshine and shadows?

DO YOU DO TUMBLR?

I definitely troll Pinterest and Instagram for unique design inspiration, but I really like to scroll through Tumblr.  It's just image after unrelated image, but I appreciate the quality of the photos and the range of subject matter. I also like that I see images on Tumblr that I don't always see on other  more well-known sites.   It's described as a microblog.  To read more about it, go here.   You'll also need to create an account to view.  Link to tumblr:  here. 

WARNING, if you're offended by adult content, it does pop up frequently.  I just scroll past.  If you like an image, you can choose to follow that microblogger and their images will appear in your feed.  These are some of my Tumblr design favorites.  You'll notice that some of these accounts also share content on Instagram.

Keltainentaloramalla

Isabeau Grey

The Visual Vamp

The Old Farmhouse

The Red Head From VA

Seize the Decorum

Zsa Zsa By Design

I'm Outside Looking In

Damalastar

Another 2 Bohemians

The Curious Bumblebee

This Ivy House

I'm In The Leaves

You can click on the highlighted words to be directed to their pages.  

You may have to create a Tumblr account to view.

LMK if you've checked out Tumblr and what you think.  You can comment here in the thread or comment privately to me.  Link to my email is in the Contact Me link.

ANIMAL PRINTS ARE NEUTRALS

As we begin a new year  I want to wish each and everyone of you a happy and healthy new year before I begin another year of blogging with my first post of 2021.

I've been blogging for a long time.  It's been a wonderful opportunity to make so many e-friends.  I've even met some of you in person.  You all have been my support and encouragement for all my projects.  I can't thank you all enough for being loyal followers and friends.  I don't think I would have completed even half of the projects in my home without you cheering me on.  Thank you. 

So, let's get started.  After putting all the holiday away, I realized just how many animal prints I use in my home.  I think it rivals all the black decor accents I repeat everywhere.  I'm sure you've heard that "animal prints are neutrals".  I can't agree with that phrase more.  So instead of sharing all that is black, I'm sharing all (well almost all) the animal prints that fill my home--and my closet.  I'm going to subtitle this post A BOMBARDMENT OF ANIMAL PRINTS.  

My absolute favorite pair of chairs have a leopard print.  I liked them so much that I used them as the header on my blog.

LEOPARD PRINT CHAIR IN MY FOYER

Of course I have another single chair that moves around the house because the soft leopard print works anywhere.  It's currently in the hallway, but previously resided next to my desk.

LEOPARD PRINT CHAIR NEXT TO MY DESK

The animal print continued in the kitchen renovation.  I added a goat fur runner to the dining room table.

GOAT FUR TABLE RUNNER

I have a leopard trinket tray beside the sink.  It holds my rings when I'm washing dishes and also is a place for my scrub pad.

LEOPARD TRINKET TRAY

There's a matching tray next to the cooktop.  I don't know about you, but when I'm cooking I assemble all the spices and ingredients before I begin to cook.  The tray makes it easy to have all together.

LEOPARD TRAY NEXT TO COOKTOP

My kitchen runner is what else but an animal print.

ANIMAL PRINT RUNNER

It doesn't stop there.  I filled a vintage jar with animal print flatware.

ANIMAL PRINT FLATWARE

 I even have animal print dishes.

ANIMAL PRINT DISHES

Check out my bar cart.  Yes, leopard barware.

MY BAR CART

I have zebra print runners in my sun room.

LAYERED ZEBRA RUG

I repeated the zebra print on the chair cushions on the chairs.

ZEBRA CHAIR CUSHIONS

I draped an animal print throw over my deconstructed chaise in my living room.

ANIMAL PRINT THROW ON MY DECONSTRUCTED CHAISE

It's not all leopard and zebra.  I have a "dalmatian" cachepot on my desk that holds my pens,

DALMATIAN CACHEPOT WITH PENS ON MY DESK

I even have animal print towels.

ANIMAL PRINT TOWELS IN THE BATHROOM LINEN CLOSET

Recently my low maintenance dog started wearing an animal print hat.

DOG WITH A NEW HAT IN THE MASTER BATH

It goes without saying that I have animal print pillows everywhere. 

 I'll spare you and just share this one.

ONE OF MANY ANIMAL PRINT PILLOWS

You can find animal prints on my bookshelf too.

BOOKS WITH ANIMAL PRINTS ON MY BOOKSHELF

It doesn't stop there.  I don't just dress my home in animal print.  I outfit myself in animal print too.

I have boots.

MY FAVORITE RAIN BOOTS

I wear these leopard print ballet flats with everything.  I'm ready to get my second pair.

MY FAVORITE  COMFY SHOES

I wore these shoes to my daughter's wedding.

MY DRESS-UP ANIMAL PRINT SHOES

You know that I have animal print jewelry that I keep in animal print trinket trays.

ANIMAL PRINT JEWELRY AND TRINKET TRAYS

I have many animal print slacks, skirts, and tops.  One of my favorite outfits though is this dress that I top with my jeans jacket.

ANIMAL PRINT DRESS

Oh my, I think I may have just done an animal print overload.

Happy New Year.

FYI, if an image or word is highlighted, that means there's a post related to the image.  Just click on the image or words and you can see that post.  If you view the posts you'll notice that things move around quite a bit.