Spring Dust Bunnies

It's been a Spring Cleaning kind of week. 

the cat loved the new box

I finally got around to purchasing the printer/copier for the piano studio. (Thank you, Sam's Club for saving me $30 off of the Walmart/Amazon price.) 

That, of course, led to rearranging book shelves, which led to dusting, which led to sorting out necessary versus unnecessary items. 

This sorting process somehow managed to get me into our bedroom closets which was a much dirtier experience than I care to admit. Nearly two year's worth of dust bunnies, dirt and cat hair make a gross hour. BUT I finally conquered the luggage-storage and shoe problem we'd been having, so yay. Plus, Samantha (my American Girl doll) and Sally (my 22? year old, well-loved doll), their accessories, and a tea set have also found a new and improved home. Rather than being stored in a very un-sturdy cardboard box, they now have a safe place in that un-used extra-large luggage. There they shall wait for my own little girls. (Yes, prayerfully.) 

While going through our extensive 1990s/early-2000s Christian music cd collection, we decided to purchase a 128 Capacity CD Wallet.< src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ado0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004Q88TE6" /> We have all of our music on both of our computers, plus on an external hard drive so we almost got rid of all 120 of our cds. But this case will allow us to save space by getting rid of the cd cases (don't hate us, please) AND use the cds in a (future) vehicle that will (hopefully) have a cd player. (Our poor Civic is awesome, but has not one "luxury.")

In the midst of this media organization it occurred to me to perform a similar operation on my workout dvd collection. I extracted all 6 Jillian Michaels, 4 Bob Harper, 2 Holy Yoga, and 3 - 10 Minute Solution workout dvds and transferred them to a now-unused cd case. This is very exciting to me for 3 reasons:

1. I don't have to be slightly embarrassed to have guests see the large collection of fitness videos I own. 
2. Our tv stand is now much less cluttered.
3. Whenever I go on a trip, instead of choosing one or two workouts to bring along, I can grab the whole collection.

Last night at 9:00pm (super late for me to be starting a project), I decided it was time to make one of my visions a reality. Ever since our visit to Chris & Katie's Chicago home in December I had been wanting to emulate the way Katie had their board games stacked on a bookshelf right by their dining room table. Perhaps my beloved, but unused set of bookshelves could be re-purposed into a board game display. Besides a moment of exuding extremely poor judgment,* my plan worked out wonderfully. I am thrilled to have our games out in the open for guests to see and use, rather than digging through a very high closet shelf. Plus, my favorite bookshelves get to be utilized again! (Thanks again, mom and dad, for the thrifting find five years ago!)

*I realized, yet again, how much I am becoming my mother and my grandmother, as I attempted to carry a terribly heavy set of bookshelves up the basement stairs by myself. (I can't tell you how many times I've "gotten after" them for trying to move or carry a piece of furniture without help.) To top it off, I didn't even bother to clear the clutter from the staircase. Brilliant, Mel. 

The spare bedroom is now becoming the pre-yard-sale sorting ground. We'll see what comes of that. Now that I don't have to downsize for the foreseeable future, I won't be needing to have the Mother of All Yard Sales.

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My Favorite Relaxing, Productive Saturday

Ahhhhhhhh. The Saturday Morning I've been longing for, but hadn't been able to grasp hold of in so many months. 

Sleeping in until my internal clock wakes me up. No alarms. (This meant 7:17am.)

Lazily rolling out of bed, still deciding what the day might hold. 

Opening the curtains to let the dreary daylight shine in. 

Doing 10 minutes of easy yoga stretches just to get the kinks out. 

No working out. (who, me?)

Showering even before my husband wakes. 

Deciding it's a perfect day for canning. Driving to Sheryl's to retrieve my canning supplies at 8:45am. 

Wanting doughnuts for breakfast and giving in (for the first time in at least a year.)

Bringing home peanut crunch and coconut crunch doughnuts.

Cutting each down the middle to share with my husband. 

Enjoying doughnuts, sipping, coffee and playing Settlers together at the breakfast table.

Starting the canning process before 10am. 

Process 16 quarts of tomatoes to yield 6 pints of salsa and 8 pints of marinara. 

Having only one can not seal. 

Pulling a cardigan over my shoulders because suddenly it's Fall. 

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The House Tour [1 Year Later]

Just 4 days after we moved into our new (rental) home in New York, I decided it would be a brilliant idea to post pictures documenting the settling process. Things didn't look too shabby at that point. Actually, I'm a little impressed with how quickly I settled in (but let's be honest...I had the help of my husband, my mom, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. So I'm not really all that awesome.)  

Here we are a year later and not too much has changed. Some furniture has been added, removed, or rearranged (multiple times! I think I get stir crazy!) and walls are filled with personal touches--mostly pictures of friends and family. I heart pictures. (If you want to make me super happy, you can get me a new picture frame. It's like you gave me a diamond ring.) I haven't done any painting but that's in the back of my mind at the moment. We'll see. (In fact, if you have any color inspiration for me, let me know in a comment.)

And without further adieu, I give you
The House Tour: One Year Later

Living Room
(Note the new green love seat and the newly-placed recliner)

Living Room: View 2
(Note the lovely shelf by the front door with hooks to hang your coat.
Thanks to Dad E for anchoring it. ;))

The Piano Studio/Melanie's Office
(The door to this room is located right by the coat hooks/front door)

My newly arranged office in the Piano Studio

The teaching portion of the Studio

Dining Room
(Love having my grandma's table and chairs and buffet)

Kitchen
(Note the shelving unit --from Aldi--on the right filled with pantry items)

Kevin's Office

He's got a little tv in there and a beautiful fish tank, not shown
(which is great for me when I want to watch a tv and hang out in his space)

The Library portion of his office

Our kitty loves the office chair

From the Top of the Stairs

Top of the Stairs
(bookcase, spare bedroom/Mel's closet room, and bathroom)

Our bedroom

The dresser on the left is our "linen closet"

And that, my friends, is our home--cat hair, dust mites, love and all! 

The One with the Laundry Faux Pas

I have a confession to make--I don't do laundry "right." I know all the rules. My mom taught me well. But somewhere along the road (actually, I know exactly "where" it happened) I threw it out the window. (The window, the second story window. High, low. Low, high. Threw it out the window.)

I was doing laundry alongside my mother from the time I could toddle. Year after year, I separated my whites from my colors. (Although I was forever confusing which side of the hamper was which.) I knew heavy fabrics like jeans and towels should be separate from permanent press items. 

But then I went off to college. And all of my training went *splat.* Now, before you go assuming I was going through some kind of rebellious stage, let me assure you I was not. No, friends, this was all about the money. Yep, the money. You see, doing laundry in a coin operated laundry room is REALLY EXPENSIVE (especially when you're 19), and saving up all of those quarters was a pain (even though my mom did it for me for four years straight. thanks, mom!) 

[side note: if you do need to save quarters for any reason and you happen to have old film canisters laying around the house *ahem,* they hold exactly seven dollars in a very convenient fashion. You're welcome.]

Even though the quarters weren't really mine, I just couldn't bear to put quarter after quarter into those little slots in order to do multiple loads of laundry the "right" way. AND besides the money, I just didn't have enough clothes to make properly-separated loads of laundry without running out of every last item of clothing in order to make a full load. 

And so (hold on to your hats, people), I combined EVERYTHING INTO ONE BIG LOAD. Yep, that's right. OH, THE HORROR!! And load after load, year after year, everything's turned out all right. I've never had white-turned-pink-items-because-of-that-darn-red-sock. I keep those likely-to-bleed-fabrics separate a time or two and have no problems. 

So here I am, 8 years later, and still having the audacity to throw everything into one load. 

Yes, it's awesome that my husband and I only make 1 (or maybe 2) loads of laundry of week. But you know what, I actually enjoy laundry. And if I didn't have to pay the water and electric bills and if we had enough laundry to fill up more than two baskets (future-me will probably want to punch present-day-me in the face right now), then I totally would do all of those extra loads. 

But for now, I'm just enjoying dropped jaws of classically (laundry) trained women everywhere. 

The One with the Loveseat we Love

Welcome to our new living room, complete with our like-new hunter-green loveseat. It fits the former-piano-wall perfectly. Moving the piano into the front room to create a music studio was the best idea we ever had. Now we have a worth-while use for that room (with all of our music and instruments in one place) AND we have an extra couch in our living room for more seating. 

Notice the front door area? There used to be a bookshelf there. It was loaded with our music (and our high school year books, but that's another story.) Now, that bookshelf is in the music room (smart, eh?), and in its place a four-hook wall shelf. It fits the space perfectly (makes me think of my grandma because she gave it to us), and finally gives guests a place to hang their coats. (We have no coat closet.) 

And now, for the official up-close-and-personal reveal of our new(to us) loveseat---

She's a beauty! The design of the loveseat, including the short/stout wooden legs match the style of our couch just right. And now we have seating for 6 very comfortably and up to 7 or 8 with a little squeeze. (Four people can sit on the couch without too much squishing, and 3 people could sit on the loveseat. And don't forget our glider rocker.)

It's in great condition. The couple we bought it from had purchased it new just a year ago and rarely used it--it was in their formal living room. They even delivered it for us! 

We love the new splash of color it adds to our neutral furniture, and it suits our earthy-color choices very well. Kevin even noted that with the green loveseat, the cream couch, and the brown pillows, we have recreated our wedding colors. (What an observant husband I have?!!)

Now that we have room for guests, you should come over for a visit! 


What makes YOU feel comfortable in someone's home? 

The One with the House Tour

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? This post will chronicle our moving process from the boxing and packing and loading stage in Michigan to the unloading and un-boxing and setting up home in New York. Enjoy!

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For weeks before the move, I packed and piled boxes in the bedroom aptly nicknamed "The Rose Room." At least 2/3 of the space was filled 5 feet high with boxes.


Our new church generously purchased a UHaul truck for our move--a wonderful blessing. It was the largest they come--27 feet!


We had a small crew to load the truck, it was hot and humid, but we got the job done! Thanks so much to Chris, Garrett, Isaac and my mom and dad for working your tails off to help us pack the Uhaul.


After a 7.5 hour drive (Kevin and Dad E in the Uhaul, Mom E and Brian in the van, me and our goldfish in the non-air-conditioned Civic), a hail storm, toll booths and various pit stops, we arrived a half hour early to our new home. We were greeted by a beautifully hand painted signs by Lydia--one of our new teens--and a potted plant from Wendy O. and her family.

It took three days to get through all of the boxes, arrange things appropriately, scrub counters and floors and cupboards and stairs and walls. We never could have done it without the tireless help of Kevin's family and my mama. They were a tremendous asset. Gordon and Linda took multiple trips to the store to pick up shelving units, mini blinds, and a dehumidifier and, along with Kevin and Brian, transformed the creepy, dark, musty basement into usable storage space and laundry area. My mom worked with me to organized the kitchen--my top priority of course--and then our bedroom and dining room and more.

I still have lots of work to do--mostly hanging our numerous picture frames and wall hangings throughout the house--but it's set up and lovely to live in. You are welcome any time!

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The view from the front door entrance--Our living room, complete with the beautiful piano that took 7 guys to move.


The new couch we purchased the day before loading the Uhaul. I LOVE it. Our micro-suede drapes matched perfectly too!


Another view of the living room. You can see the staircase on the left and you might notice the picture frame on the end table in the foreground (bottom right). That's the electronic photo frame Brandy and Pam and our teens gave to us before we left--it cycles through hundreds of pictures for our viewing pleasure. :)


Through the living room is this dining room--an extension of the extra long kitchen. I love the double french doors that lead to a small back deck, and having my Grandma Mary's dining room table and buffet (filled with my China) makes it a truly special space.


This is the view of the kitchen from the dining room. On the left is my desk, then our stand up freezer. It wouldn't fit down the basement stairs, but I kind of love having it so accessible.


The cute curtains were found by Mom and Dad E--the red flowers are the perfect accent to tie in with my red stand mixer and kitchen tools. The stove took some serious scrubbing to get it up to par. Those new drip pans turned it into an almost-new-looking appliance.


The large window over the sink is lovely, and I love those light fixtures above the curtains. Also, the sink is almost new and I'm SO thankful to have a double sink and garbage disposal.

This is the door in the kitchen that leads down to the basement. I didn't feel like taking pictures of that area. :) Though I did laundry for the first time today and it wasn't half bad.


Kevin's wood-paneling-offfice is located off of the kitchen/dining room, so he's always nearby. It's a small space, but the perfect size for his extra large LaZBoy recliner (for optimal reading), desk and two bookshelves.




Back to the front of the house and up the staircase...
(To the right of the staircase is a large bedroom and extra large closet, but it's just filled with boxes of decorations for now, so it wasn't really picture worthy. The closet, though, is totally useful--already stocked with our large collection of games and my excessive number of sweatshirts and coats.)


At the top of the stairs and to the right is our bedroom. We couldn't fit the queen sized mattress upstairs so we opted for the double bed. I am in love with the headboard--another gift from my Grandma Mary--and we're using our favorite bedding set again--a gift from my other Grams. The wood laminate floors are in all of the bedrooms and hallways--I really like the look of them!




This is the landing at the top of the stairs--the perfect spot for yet another bookcase.


Another small guest bedroom that also happens to be my "dressing room." Our closets are tiny, so I've occupied this spare one with my clothes, shoes, and purses.


The bathroom is upstairs as well. It's a nice size, and I think I've finally put everything where it looks nice and makes the most sense.



Three cheers for bathroom closets!


And that's that. I'm sure I'll upload more pictures as I settle in more and more. You won't mind will you??

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The One with the "Moving Saga" Prelude

What have I been up to, you ask? Besides organizing pens, warring against bugs, and packing boxes? Moving us and the contents of our home three states east--to New York. (And before you ask, no, we're nowhere near NYC. New York is quite a large state, friends.) Since Thursday of last week I have been working from sun up to sun down cleaning and boxing up one home, loading and unloading moving trucks, opening and unpacking boxes, cleaning and organizing a new home, saying goodbye and saying hello to friends. 

I canNOT wait to give you all the grand tour of our new home. We're really in love with it!  Despite it's not-super-appealing exterior, the inside is quite lovely. It's within a 2 minute walking distance to our new church, the bank, the library (you know our love obsession with libraries), the post office, coffee shop, and more. I can see cars passing down quaint Main Street from my kitchen window. 

But in the meantime, you'll forgive me for enjoying the first evening I've had to sit down and relax. Without boxes staring me in the face and whispering pushy remarks in my ear. Our home is made, aside from the decorative touches, and I'm loving it. 

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The One with the Boxes of Blessings

I have been a busy little bee this past week. Packing boxes is more than just putting stuff into a box and taping it shut. For me it involves so many steps. Once I decide which cupboard or closet I want to tackle, I have to find the right size and heftiness of box. If items are fragile I must be prepared with sheets of paper or towels to wrap them in individually. Once I actually start pulling items out of drawers or off of shelves it almost always results in some sort of secondary cleaning or organizing process. 

For instance, you may remember the canning-jars-for-baking-supplies post. Those things just needed to be taken care so I could start off on the right foot when I fill my new pantry.  

OR how it took hours to pack up my beading supplies. I had left all of my jewelry creating items on a large tray table so I could easily access my crafting self when the mood strikes. Unfortunately, I had to spend a long while wrangling hundreds of microscopic beads into new plastic storage containers. Then, it took more time than you could imagine to perfectly fit all of the beading supplies and jewelry boxes into one of the drawers of my crafting (plastic) dresser.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided it was time to begin chipping away at the most daunting task ahead--packing the kitchen. *cue scary music* Dun. Dun. DUN! It's hard to pack a room full of items you use on a regular basis. I'm proud of my kitchen collection (and give a SHOUT OUT to everyone who's contributed to my wonderful array appliances/dishware/bakeware/gadgets.) I knew it needed to be done. And I figured between the business of packing, the last minute odds and ends jobs, and the high heat, I wouldn't be doing a whole lot of culinary creating in the next 7 days anyhow. 

Six boxes later, and it would appear I've only just begun. 

ALL of that to say, we are overwhelmingly blessed. And, Lord, I know these material items are worth nothing, but I thank you for putting them in our possession for the time being. I will continue to seek ways of serving you by serving (and feeding) your people. 

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The One with the Thing I WON'T Miss

I will definitely miss this house when we move. It's been a wonderful first home for us. Yes, we lived in a Detroit apartment for 5 months, but we didn't have time to make a home of it. This place, though, is where we've become a family--even just the two of us. :) We've learned how to be adults--how to pay bills and buy insurance and avoid yard work. We've learned the basics of true, beautiful marriage--how to fill one another with love and how to fight fairly. We've learned how to host loads of teenagers in our house, how to unclog a garbage disposal and how to save on utilities. We've laughed a lot, cried enough, shared dreams and frustrations, prayed together, made memories together, started traditions. Here. Our First Home. 

I love so many things about this house. It's huge, for one. It has a finished basement, tons of storage space, great sized bedrooms and closets, a 2 car attached garage, and a kitchen that I will forever love and miss. I've made many a delicious cookie in this kitchen. I've become a cook and baker in this kitchen. I embraced my passion for food creating in this kitchen. I will miss this kitchen. 

The one thing I won't miss? Cleaning three bathrooms. BLECH. I just had this lovely task this morning. And is way way way down on my list of things I remotely don't mind doing. But seriously, three bathrooms for 2 people is a bit much, don't you think? :) So even though we'll have to actually wait if someone's already using the bathroom, at least there will just be one toilet, sink, and tub to clean. And I'm ok with that.  

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The One with the 16 Hours of Non-Stop

My mom arrived right in the middle of the chaos that was my life Thursday. (And now, I shall depict the precise reasons for the craziness.) After a cycling bike workout, starting a load and a half of laundry, and compiling a grocery list, we headed to the church to pick up 15 bags of clothes leftover from the girls clothes swap. In the meantime, we talked to Pastor Dale for a half hour and gathered up church yard signs that I was going to borrow for our garage sale posters. We loaded the car full of unwanted clothes and drove to Goodwill. We then stopped at the party store to buy a couple of totally awesome SALE! mylar balloons. 

After securing the balloons in the backseat, we headed to Meijer for the extremely essential popcorn kernels. (My pantry cannot exist without popcorn!) Aldi was our next stop and turned a bit hectic as we were checking out, I got a phone call, Kevin needed to know what card to use, and I was spilling change all over the floor. We survived and headed to our favorite farm market. 

Next we drove out of our way to stop at the only available Bank of America location--thanks a lot for closing the branch a mile and a half from our house. Who cares if we were the only people who ever used it. *wink* We deposited checks and withdrew LOT of cashola in weird denominations to assist in change making at our impending garage sale. 

We arrived home with just enough time to unload and put away all of our groceries, grab a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with CINNAMON BUNCHES (yum!) for lunch, before heading out to the high school that's 30 minutes away. We picked up one of our students for our meeting with them, enjoyed our time together and drove BACK home. I quickly conjured up a dinner plan and started pasta water boiling. Kevin and I had time for a bit of a "tiff" shall we say, but we were quickly back on our feet to relocate all 18 pieces of large furniture to the garage for our sale. 

In the midst of the sweat, Mom pulled in the driveway from a 3 hour drive and hit the ground running. She helped us set things up and with 30 minutes before worship team practice, we scarffed down dinner. (Italian Pasta Salad. again, YUM!)  Practice went smoothly and then came time for the first new women's Bible Study I'm facilitating on the 2:7 Series--Growing Strong in the Family of God. Many of the ladies couldn't make the first meeting--a bummer--but it was still successful. Mom and I spent the next 2 hours doing final pricing and organizing of the items. At 11pm (way past MY bedtime), I remembered I still had the other load and a half of laundry to finish. Joy. As I was asking Kevin if he could set up the road signs in the morning to attract traffic to the garage sale, I remembered, "I HAVEN'T MADE THE SIGNS YET!!!!"  I went to work and found out this morning I had pointed one of the arrows the wrong direction. oops. 

At this point, mom realized our bed wasn't made. I had washed the sheets and neglected to adhere to our family's rule-to-live-by----always ALWAYS put sheets on your bed before anything else (because the day can get away from you and when you're dead tired, you realize you CAN'T get into bed until it's made.) My loving mother did a wonderful thing by making our bed for us. THANK YOU, Mom!  

And around 11:45 I went to sleep.  It was a long day.

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The One with the Dust Attack

Having spent the last hour dusting the long-forsaken tops of dressers and corner window crevices, I can tell you it was shocking how dusty my house was. (And still is...I haven't finished yet.) I really dislike dusting. Vacuuming, I can enjoy. Wiping counters and such is a health issue necessity. Doing laundry is fine by me. But dusting?! BLECH. This is really not a good thing considering I have a bit a dust mite allergy. I think I'm growing out of it, however, considering the fact that I've been living amongst them for months now and have had zero issues. 

After changing the sheets on our bed and washing the flannel set that had been used for a long time (I won't tell you how long because I can't remember. ew), I thought to myself, "Self, you could probably run those drapes through the washer and in very little time eliminate loads of allergens." And so I did just that. The job that I have ignored for far too long--washing the draperies. At least they're not mini blinds. I HATE cleaning mini blinds. (Unless it's 90 degrees outside and it's part of my job at camp to take off my shoes and grab a bucket and hose and go to town on someone else's mini blinds. Then it's kinda fun.)

We bought those drapes a month after we moved into this house in November 2008. They haven't been cleaned since. Does that make me a bad person? 

If so, then I really shouldn't mention the layer of dust that came off of the top of our tall dresser/mirror. wowzers. Now THAT was embarrassing. 

Anyone else spring cleaning and discovering things you wish you could ignore forever??

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The One with a Flash of My Future

 

Top Ten Ways I Got a Glimpse into My Future 

This morning was just dandy--everything going according to plan my desire. Or not! The first two hours of my day gave me a vision of what the rest of my life will be like--you know, once my days are filled with our offspring throwing a wrench in my lovely little schedule. Of course, it'll be worth it and probably a good thing to rid myself of my fairly self-centered lifestyle. 

1. As I'm cozy in bed, still fighting with the reality that the alarm clock was close to buzzing, I heard Kevin down the hall. He was shouting, "No! No!" and then the bright hallway lights turned out, shining into my sleepy eyes. The cat was throwing up. 

2. I rolled over and pretended I was none the wiser. 

3. After my workout, I came upstairs with a plan to head to the shower. Kevin beat me to it. 

4. I came up with an alternate plan--eat breakfast. 

5. As I was toasting my cinnamon raisin bagel and dreaming of spreading it with Nutella, I realized the trash can was overflowing. 

6. I took out the trash, only to realize the bag was leaking some sort of liquid all over the kitchen floor. 

7. Grabbing a rag, I began wiping up the mess. It was at this point that I almost stepped in a pile of cat poop conveniently located on the floor entrance into the cat's bathroom. 

8. The litter box was overflowing, and someone decided it was high time we did something about it. Thanks, Cat.

9. Still donning my sweaty workout clothes and ignoring the fact that my bagel has been done for 15 minutes, I dumped a billion pounds of cat poo and swept up $11 worth of kitty litter from the floor. (Why can't they just shake their feet off in the litter box?!)

10. At this point, I had no other choice than to sweep the entire kitchen floor and then pull out the hated mop bucket for a thorough cleaning. I had been putting this off for weeks, knowing that the wintertime does nothing but make my floor dirty again in moments. 

If you have any doubts of the accounts of my morning, just ask my husband. He can attest to this story in it's entirety. (Oh! Except don't tell him I was awake while he was cleaning up cat vomit!)

Do you ever have mornings like this?! (or a hundred times worse?)

linked up with Oh!Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday.

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The One with the New Living Room

I have to confess--I've always been a "rearranger." Growing up I moved everything around in my bedroom every 3 or 4 months. (Until I rearranged it in such a way, that all of the other possibilities were completely overruled by the placement of the oversized dresser. It was impossible to move things around after that. I was sad.) In college, I was lucky to have a roommate who shared my love of rearranging. It was harder work with all of the dorm room furniture and the stacking and lack of space, but every few months we gave our room a makeover. It was great. 

Our living room got a bit of makeover last week. I rearranged a few pieces of furniture about nine months ago, but something was just calling out for refreshment of sorts. When Kevin mentioned for the tenth time that he wanted his computer desk in the living room so we could chill out together in the same room (I'm a tv girl. He's a computer game guy.), I figured I'd make something work. Heck--my husband really wanted to spend time (or at least space) with me. Sweet!

It took me about an hour of envisioning and moving and thinking to come up with something that was totally fresh and new, while remaining functional. I think I like it! 

I'm pretty proud of the room dividing I did. :)

Kevin's space is quite nice for him. 

Please don't look too long and hard at my only wall arrangement on that ginormous wall. It's something I really want changed--just waiting for the right items. 

I love the "bookish/study" look to the leather chair and end table. And that new little lamp, proudly propped on my Greek Lexicon, is turned on by the switch over the piano and adds the perfect amount of lighting which the room was lacking before. 

So, I know it's totally different (and honestly it looks better in person), but what do you think?