mysterious lettters - the cutest idea in the world

A lot of you may have heard of this sweet and inspiring project before. It's been circling around the blogosphere for a while now, and I think it deserves all the attention it can get! Imagine checking your mail one day, and instead of getting the usual junk mail, Netflix and coupon papers, you got a charming little hand-written letter from a total stranger.

I'll let the creators of the project themselves do the explaining. Here's the description from their blog:

We intend to write to everyone in the world..

In April 2009, we sent a personal, handwritten letter to each of the 467 households in the small Irish village of Cushendall. We hoped these unsolicited letters would prompt neighbourly discussion, spreading across the town, promoting community curiosity.

In November 2009, we sent another bundle of letters, this time 620, to each home in Polish Hill, Pittsburgh, USA.

The art work consists solely of the discussion between the recipients about what on Earth these letters are, who sent them and why, etc.

Lenka Clayton & Michael Crowe

Most of them are very funny. But they're also...

helpful (who isn't missing a button on something?)..

sentimental..

silly ...

and friendly.

I want a letter from Lenka and Michael!

somewhere over the book rainbow

I don't know why this is, but it seems that every time I put up a blog post saying "This is what I'm going to do!", almost immediately something changes my mind. This is exactly what happened on Sunday, when less than an hour after posting this post about looking for a giant, dark wood, antique bookshelf, I happened upon this photo:

Which of course changed my mind completely. I started scheming about how I could get a mid-century bookshelf without paying hundreds of dollars (which is how much they run around these parts). That's when I remembered this little guy, which had recently been kicked out of the guest bedroom and was sitting abandoned in an empty corner downstairs, piled with dirty laundry.

The outside may look adorable, but the inside has fallen victim to many an unfortunate "remodel" by it's previous owners.

Over the course of it's life, the poor little thing has been sawed, chopped, nailed, added on to, taken apart, and put back together. The sides were filled with what I guess were once anchors for shelves, but they were all made out of scrap wood and mostly dry rotted. It only took about 10 minutes to rip all of it out.

My husband removed the doors, but for you preservationists out there, don't worry ... we saved them, hinges and all, and will keep them around so they can be put back on at any time.

We recycled some of the scrap wood we'd pulled out of the inside, made a new shelf out of it, and viola!

A mid-century bookshelf of my very own. And for free, no less:)

Check back soon for another fun little guest bedroom-related project, which isn't quite done yet!

It's been a while since I made an inspiration board, so I thought I'd put one together in honor of a very important day, coming up on Wednesday, the 22nd. The first day of Fall! Here's what Fall means to me:

1. The Arrival of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte: It is delicious, and I look forward to it every year!

2. Trench Coats: is there anything more stylish and timeless than a classic trench coat?

3. Pumpkin Carving: It's messy, kind of gross, and it takes a while, yet it's one of the things I love most about the Fall.

4. You've Got Mail: Something about fall always makes me want to watch this movie. Maybe it's the opening scene, where we hear the narration of the character's emails, and they're talking about NYC in the fall and how it makes them want to buy school supplies. I watch this movie every Fall!

5. School Supplies: See #4 ;)

6. Sparkly TOMS: A big part of Fall is Halloween, and Halloween is all about costumes, and costumes (the way I like them) are all about glitter. Seriously, how cute are these shoes?

7. Scented Candles: I have a stash of Fall-like scents such as vanilla, pumpkin spice and cinnamon, and I love pulling them out this time of year. It gets me in the spirit!

Happy Autumn, everyone!

where's harry potter when you need him?

We have a very un-glamorous staircase. I had planned to frown in this picture, but then I thought it needed a coy smile and I Dream of Jeannie pose to compensate for the sad stairs.

 All we have under there now is this 50's nightstand (which happens to be the first vintage piece of furniture I ever bought, way back in 2004), and that isn't even it's permanent home.

And, as one reader tragically pointed out to me, they look nearly identical to the Brady family staircase. Yikes.

If I could magically transform them, I would make them look like this. Isn't it brilliant how they painted on either side of the stairs, making a sort of reverse-runner-made-of-wood, if you will?

I do have a few ideas to brighten it up as-is, however. There's an antique store nearby that sells vintage prints like these. I could buy up 8 or so and hang them on the wall under the stairs, using clips like these instead of frames.

I can't figure out where that lamp is hanging from, but I guess sticking furniture and accessories under there isn't such a bad idea.

I'm not interested in putting shelves under the stairs, but I could randomly hang vintage plates on the wall .

Or maybe just throw people off entirely with some really quirky art?

Decisions, decisions. Any suggestions?

inspiration photos and some updates

I've been a bit slow at posting this week, but I did make a few changes to white waxflower! I've updated the "my style" section, the "meet mary grace" section, added another entry to the "crafts" section, and added a FAQ page. I have a few more FAQ I need to add, and please feel free to email or leave a comment if there are more questions you'd like me to answer! Most of the email questions are people asking where we bought stuff in our house, and I'm sure I left tons of stuff out, so speak up if you want to know where something else came from!

I've mentioned a few times that I make all my own cleaning products, and I've gotten a few questions about that. If I answered them all on the blog, it would take up the entire FAQ page, so I've been thinking of making a video tutorial showing how I make everything. Would you guys be interested in that, if I were to make one? Let me know!

And just in case you don't have it, my email is whitewaxflower@gmail.com

weekend inspiration

This is going to be a sad little excuse for a blog post, but I'll be back tomorrow with a real post:)

This weekend we went to the Ocean Beach Street Fair. It was so much fun, and I got tons of pictures, but somehow managed to not get a single picture with us in it! I'm mad at myself, but I'm glad I got this one. Isn't this a great building? I love how they left the chippy-painted bricks, but gave it an update with new (but with a retro feel) signs.

Now for a bit of decor! Aren't these images great? Lots of natural wood, lots of white, and lots of color! Eclectic and happy without looking messy. I found them via Oh Joy!, And you can click here to see lots more. They're worth the click!

See you tomorrow!

orange you glad you read white waxflower?

Orange is EVERYWHERE these days. It seems to be all the rage in the decor mags, shows and blogs. Everyone raved about Meryl Streep's house in It's Complicated, and it had lots of orange accents. I wonder if that helped move the craze along?

Meryl's bathroom. Wouldn't you love to have that gray and white claw-foot tub?

Her bedroom. The two pictures above the headboard look sort of awkwardly placed to me, but I love everything else.

Colorful accents on a white-and-neutral pallet? Yes, please!

In the movie she's having an architect redesign her house, and she keeps talking about him building the "kitchen she's always wanted". I'll take this "old" one, Meryl.

These next three images came from the new issue of Lonny. I'll do a whole post about it later!

Are those things on the table orange, brown and white dominos? I can't figure it out.

Love the pretty pillows and the tufted couch!

Images curtsey of Hooked on Houses, Traditional Home, and Lonny.

a little bit of france pour vous

French Country style is still all the rage on the decor blogs and mags, so I thought I'd do another post of beautiful inspiration pictures for all you Francophiles out there. Enjoy!

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meg ryan's pretty digs

I just adore Meg Ryan, so I was super excited when I saw that Elle Decor was featuring her lovely Martha's Vinyard home.

 She definitely has a constant theme going on in your house. You might call it beachy, minimalist-chic.

That looks like MY living room rug!

This kitchen takes my breath away. All those windows, the great big wood table island, the cool, industrial-looking chair, the beams on the celing, the hanging lamps. It's just perfection.

You can never have too much white!

The article mentions that the bed is from Pottery Barn. Gotta love a celeb that shops where us "regular people" shop!

inspring images

Most of the fabulous images came from Inspire Bohemia. Unfortunately she doesn't blog much any more, but I love her blog and these pictures are just to die for!

Love the rug and the oversized, mid-century stool! The random wooden toy gun on the wall made me laugh, but it kinda works!

Love the sparse pattern of the wallpaper, the fabulous tufting in the couch, and the coffee table books stacked up under the coffee table! I have a coffee table book addiction.

I could just lie on that sofa and stare at that ceiling all day. I love the random purple pillow! It sort of draws your eye outside.

Don't you just want to sit on those stairs in a long, flowy dress and drink pink lemonade with a friend?

I'm pretty sure I've posted this picture before, but I never get tired of it. This room could serve about a billion different purposes. It's a greenhouse, study, living space, home office and bar all rolled into one! And the color scheme is just flawless.

flea market style

My sweet bestie Jillian gave me this book that I've been wanting for ages ... the Flea Market Style coffee table book. Oh my goodness, that book is absolutely beautiful! I've been dying to take a minute to hunt down some images from the book that I could share with you, and I hope it leaves you feeling as inspired as it made me feel!

You might remember this last image from a post I wrote a few months ago. This is the one that sent me into a fever looking for old vintage portraits! The hunt for them continues and if you ever see one on Etsy or somewhere, please inform me!

Thanks again, Jilly for my sweet birthday gift! I can't get enough of it:)

{PS check out her blog for some adorable cupcake-ness}