Nook Look

Our home has lots of charming period details (it was built in 1927), including this cute little hallway nook, that I think was meant for a phone and phonebook back in the day:

This was how the nook looked when we bought the house, and although I would have loved to put a vintage phone in there, like this one from the amazing LA store, OK…

…the phone jack had long been removed or covered up. Since it isn’t really a necessity, we aren’t going to spend the money to have one put in, but because this hallway connects the front of the house with the den, holds the main bathroom that guests use, and is visible from the dining room, I wanted it to be a pretty passageway that tied well into the scheme of the other rooms. I started with a white vase (an IKEA find from years ago) since the shape fit well with the tall, narrow space, and although I tried my best to keep fresh flowers in there, the lack of lighting had them wilting within a couple of days. As much as I don’t love faux flowers, it seemed like the right place for them, so I picked up a couple of green hyndrangea stems (my favorite summer flowers) from Target:

Since we don’t have any use for an actual phone book, I opted to fill the mini shelf with two flea market dictionaries we snatched up years ago, to echo the vintage feel of the space:

To add a bit of color and personality to the wall, I matted and framed two of my preschooler’s art projects in Aaron Brothers frames (gotta love their one cent sale!) that we had previously used in our condo bathroom to hold a pair of botanical prints, but weren’t the right fit for our new house:

I also jumped at this beaded diamond dhurrie runner from West Elm when I spotted it on sale a couple of months back, and in a moment of luck, it’s the exact length of the wall. It adds a bit of depth to the hallway and really helps frame the space instead of making it just feel like a transitional area

Finally, I turned the bottom shelf of the nook into a mini-shrine for my beloved Domino magazine back-issues. I’d love to snag a great sculpture or other flea market find to fill this spot in the near future, but until I track down the right piece I will continue to pay homage to the dearly departed Domino. So this is how the space stands now,although knowing my habit of rearranging, I'm sure it won't last long. Maybe a bright coat of paint inside the nook, maybe more artwork on the walls?