So as first posts of the new year go, yesterdays was a little tongue-in-cheek. Not that I have anything against New Year’s resolutions… but as it turns out, science has determined that people who fail to meet their new year goals are no less happy than those who succeed. My resolution? To keep finding beautiful and fun furniture and accessories to share here, along with some lifestyle tips and the occasional oddity. But since I was so snarky yesterday, I thought I’d make it up by offering up something a little sweeter from various shops around the net.

via Barn Owl Primitives

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Curtains don’t always have to cover windows, you know. Let’s say you’re a renter and are facing the prospect of living or sleeping in a room with one or more very ugly walls. Why not take the curtain concept and apply it to your eyesore of a wall? A few brackets here and there, some hardware, and a beautiful curtain will mean no more suffering ugliness in your personal space.

Talk about majesty of design! Rug Maker was officially granted a license by Royal Mail to manufacture the Queen’s Head Stamp Rug, a larger than life version of the Queen Elizabeth II stamp that’s suitable for hanging on a wall or *gasp* laying on the floor.

Hand knotted and woven in Nepal from 100% New Zealand wool, these rugs come in a various sizes and colors. The best part, in my humble opinion? The scalloped edges, so like an old fashioned postage stamp just torn from its sheet.

Roses have long played a role in home decor and decorating. As standalone embellishments – cut roses or rose bushes – the rose has been the front-runner of all the flowers in the world for a centuries. In paintings, carvings, and textiles, roses began appearing (along with other blooms) with regularity in something like the 17th century. And why not? Images of roses are gorgeous whether they’ve been captures true to life or in stylized fashion, in 2D or 3D. Plus, as decor goes, roses tend to be timeless. Not every rose curtain or wallpaper will stand up to the passage of years, of course, but the iconic rose will certainly do so. Love roses? Me, too, which is why I put together a little inspiration for us to share.

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There are lots of things a person can do with paint. There are so many illusions, for example, that can be created on walls and floors and ceilings with a few coats of paint. Paint can give the appearance of depth and texture where there is none. Paint can make a wall feel more complex than it is. And paint can hide features you don’t like, from wood paneling to old floors to ugly brick.

I love paint! Almost all of my room designs have started with an inspirational paint chip because I love to play around with colors. And play around I do! The best part about using paint (as opposed to wallpaper or wainscoting) is that it’s easy to slap on a few coats of paint when you need a change. There are so many different colors and ways to use it. Spray it on, stencil it on, sponge it on… stripe it on? One thing I am not sold on is the whole one horizontal stripe of color in the middle of a wall.

To me, it feels artificial and heavy, like it’s in danger of sliding off the wall. Or I expect there to be an arrow on the end of the stripe if I follow it long enough. I like a lot of things, but I don’ think I’m a fan of the thick single wall stripe. How about you? Love it or hate it?

I am in love with this All Star wallpaper from Barneby Gates, and not just this wallpaper. Have you had a peak at Barneby Gates? They – where ‘they’ is Vanessa Barneby, Vogue Living Editor, and Alice Gates, fashion textile designer – create amazing wallpapers with a quintessentially English feel.

But if it was just Englishy wallpaper, I’d probably say ho hum. What makes Barneby Gates wallpaper so sweet are the little details like metallic finishes, humorous and unexpected patterns, and fantastic color pairings. As you might expect, this wallpaper doesn’t come cheap, but if you’re too in love not to have some, you can always request a sample!

In addition to being an obsessive reader, I’m also an obsessive book hoarder. As in, I have hundreds of books I will probably never read again, but I can’t bring myself to give them away or sell them or recycle them. Maybe it’s because my maternal grandmother has an art book collection that takes up most of her downstairs wall space in the form of tomes squeezed into full-to-bursting bookshelves. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer, and I wouldn’t want to do with someone else’s book what I hope no one is doing with my book. So as you can probably imagine, our bookshelves look a little something like this (except less color coordinated):

While I implied above that book hoarding might be a family trait, it would only be on my mother’s side. My dad lets books slip into and out of his life – reading them and then passing them along – unless they are some of the few he’s happy to read again and again. The bookshelf area of his home is, as a consequence, tiny, but size doesn’t mater. And yet, I think that’s why I’m so hesitant to part with my books – even the ones that haven’t brought me much pleasure other than hastening the passage of time. I think I am afraid of someone coming into my home, seeing no bookshelves, and assuming that I don’t read much.

But even this strikes me as odd. Because the truth is that some people don’t read much for pleasure anyway, and there’s nothing wrong with that. They just enjoy other things. So why does the idea of someone pegging me for a non-reader make me feel so queasy, and furthermore prevent me from de-cluttering our right now extremely cluttered finished basement (which it should be noted is home to walls of bookshelves)? At this point in my life, I’m visiting the library for books more often than buying them, so it’s not like I’m adding to my collection. I’d wager that most of the books on those shelves have been with me since just after college. Some of them are even textbooks!

Do you, lovely readers, hold on to relatively unimportant books with a similar zeal? What’s keeping you from parting with them?

First came chalkboard paint, then came whiteboard (dry erase) paint. And I think both are super cool! We already put up an amazing magnetic chalkboard in my daughter’s room – and I’m almost all set to do the surface of our kitchen table in chalkboard. Next stop, whiteboard in the office!

But it never even occurred to me to use dry erase paint on surfaces! You can get a whiteboard table from Powells, for example. Or you do what someone did in the space pictured above and cover your boring kitchen counter tops with whiteboard paint. While I don’t know how the finish would, ahem, stick around, I can say for sure that it would be fun while it lasted!

There are lots of things you can do with vinyl wall decals, but this shouldn’t be one of them.

However, I do have to say I love the marketing language used by the source of these thong lady wall decals, Offensive Decals.

Yes…Offensive Decals. No trees. No birds. No polka dots. No swirls. Our goal is to create different decals. Not necessarily offensive to everyone, but far enough out there that somebody will be distraught over it.

Because, yeah, there are only so many cutesy monograms and kitties one girl can take!

There are lots of wacky keyholders out there, and here is another. I can’t decide whether I like the giant novelty key keyholder or not, but it’s not exactly unattractive.

Now let’s all think of other giant versions of things that can be used to store the normal sized versions of those things. A giant egg in which to put eggs? Huge fruit bowl shaped like fruit? Any ideas?