Home is in The Details

Call it Grand Millennial; call it Grandma Core; call it Maximalism.  My style is somewhere in the mix of those three and probably a few more.  There are a lot of ways to describe and express personal tastes and style, but I've always felt that the true you really shines in the details.  When it comes to outfits, let's face it, the accessories and shoes can make or break it but it's more than that; it's the antique locket, the interesting brooch, the shoe clips you made from pages of your favorite book that make the outfit truly you.  

So it is with our homes.  It's not just the table/couch/color of paint, it's your sassy chain-smokin' granny's vulgar ashtray.  It's the end table you salvaged and decoupaged; it's the little details that came from your heart and creative mind to make your home a unique representation of you.  To that end, and because I am oh so obsessive about the details, I have been filling my home with all the interesting things our family has collected or made over the years, but as we renovate I need a new piece now and then to complete a room.  For example: I put a canvas map over my T.V. as a cover.  Trouble is, every time I want to hang up or pull down that cover, I have to get it from a hook on the ceiling and I need a boost.  

I've been using this shot out old Cosco--yes, not Costco, it's something else--step stool we've had for over a decade.  It has been most useful, but it's not exactly easy on the eyes any more and it no longer latches, so if I don't center my weight on it, it folds up and causes me to fall.  I've gotten the hang of it, but it always makes me nervous.

As I've been searching for something unique and lovely, I've realized two things: 1.  how absurdly expensive old footstools are, and 2.  what I really want is one of those vintage wooden stools with hearts worked into the design such as these fine examples below.

The solution?  Well, Mr. Bleu has been doing a lot of wood working in order to make all the things we possibly can from trees around our property to both save money and get a higher quality wood than we can generally find at the lumber yard.  In the process, he's really becoming very proficient at woodworking.  I showed him some examples of what I was looking for if/when he got some time and a short while later, he surprised me with a completed stool exactly like the vintage pieces I'd been admiring.

It took a little wood filler and some extra sanding, but I now have this beautiful handmade custom piece that precisely fits my decor and I absolutely love it!

This room is still a work in progress, but it's coming along quite nicely and shaping up to be such a cozy, whimsical room that I love spending time up here in this room filled with so many odd/quirky/ lovely/ unique to my home things that make this room a feast for the eyes.