New Year, New Arrangement

Ahh... January. The time when you take the Christmas decor down and pull everything else back out and put it in the same place you had it before, right? Well NOT THIS YEAR! I decided I was tired of things as they were so I did a little rearranging. I didn't know this would happen so I don't really have before pictures without Christmas decor. And... is it just me or does anyone else "think" their stuff looks good until you see it in photos. Whew... I have got to get better at this decorating thing! HAHA.

Piano area BEFORE

I hated how this looked with the big frame. It was just not right and I didn't know what to do with it. Without Christmas decorations I had the wreath on one side and a few smaller picture frames below it...nothing with height and nothing eye catching.

Piano area AFTER

it almost looks like a piece of furniture instead of a piano. My husband had this mirror in his office at work and it wasn't working well there. I'd planned to Craigslist it but when I mentioned the other night that I needed to try a mirror over the piano my sweet husband gave me the look... you know the one where he's telling you "no need go buy a new one when we have a perfectly good one here". Tell me I'm not the only one who gets that look? :) I figured I'd give it a try... and you know what? I like it. With a few accessories I bought from the good old Hob Lob I am pretty satisfied. The lamp... 66% off!! I was so happy I decided to buy it and find a place for it. For now this is its new home. The frame... yes it's sideways and no it is NOT my family - when I finally get around to putting a picture in it my kids will be in high school (they are 3 & 4 now!).

The built-in shelves BEFORE

It pretty much looked like this with out the Christmas frames and decor... just with regular frames.

The built-in shelves AFTER

I added a more substantial plate rack for the plate & grouped some finials together instead of the red pot which I moved to the mantle. I still need to get rid of the willow tree angels, but they were a collection a while ago and it's hard to part with them.

The mantel BEFORE

The mantel AFTER

I like the red pot on the mantel much better... It still doesn't help the massive white fireplace ... but that's another project for another day. What do I paint it anyway??? If any of you have painted fireplaces I'd love to have you weigh in on that decision.

So... is my husband the only one who asked "Can't things just go right back where they were before Christmas?"