A Green Thumb's Bookshelf

I think we often get stuck in a decorating rut.

We haven’t had time to rearrange or redecorate certain parts of our home and we become a little disheartened. Rearranging is one of my favourite things to do. Bruce always jokes that when he goes away for work, I spend my evening moving about my trinkets! And it’s true, I can’t sit still if my coffee tables are not styled with books and candles, and my flowers are not sitting in just the pots I like them in! I know, I am a control freak!

Having some lovely big shelving is a must in my home. I love to fill it with books, collections from our travels and anything (and everything) else that takes my fancy. But we shouldn’t get stuck in threat of only ever filling book shelf with books! They can store and display so much more, and if you get a little creative, they are an item of furniture that can get you out of a decorating rut. Move those shelves about, create a new look and feel by doing a room swap - get creative and mix it up.

Having a shelf full of garden inspiration is a lovely decorating feature that sits perfectly in your sunroom, conservatory or mudroom and brings the outdoors inside. It is a fantastic solution for storing a collection of things you would typically find in your tool shed like old tin buckets, tools, gardening twines and plant stakes, like these cute Metal Blackboard Signs (RRP $5.95) by Provincial Home Living. Gardening items like these are a great addition to create a garden story. It’s also a perfect place to keep all your gardening books together. Have a gardening question? Refer to your books which are just at hand. No walking through the house in muddy boots!

It’s important to stick to a theme - birdcages, birds, beehives, snails, butterflies - I’ve stuck with everything garden related, including some sweet 'Antique' Wooden Lanterns (RRP $59.95) and Jardin Gris Buckets (RRP $6.95) that work well as decorative items, whilst being totally functional in the garden. Keep it tonal by picking up the colour green and running with it. It is cute to also have some artificial herbs and posies (yes, you can decorate with artificial flowers and herbs). There are some great varieties to be found that will fool the most suspicious so buying fresh herbs and flowers each week isn’t always required to maintain the look.

Have you thought about this?

Go to a gardening supply store and buy up multiple hand spades and forks to reinforce the fact it is a garden shelf!
Add watering cans and seed packets under some glass domes for a sweet detail.
Fill old baskets with your gardening gloves and secateurs ready to be used.

When decorating with a theme don’t be scared to go in hard and you will be surprised at the great things you will find laying about the home that you can style with.

For more inspiring homewares visit Provincial Home Living.