Edith B. Holden to the Rescue!

Oh that I would remember to take 'before' pictures!  After stripping my living room walls nearly bare in order to sweeten the impact of the stairway gallery, I have found a solution! 
The inspiration started last summer when I gussied up the summer kitchen to be a little garden-esque room.  (Although I took everything apart and down for winterization purposes, I'll take pictures of the space soon to give a visual.) 
Backup again-- when Andrew and I were newly married, my mother-in-law would give me her home decor castoffs- Christmas decorations she didn't  use, books, table linens, etc.  One of the books she gave me was The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.  It was of little consequence at the time, but last year when I was scavenging through my things looking for anything  to put in my outdoor-ish living room I found the book.  Edith B. Holden (B. Holden...isn't that a little funny??) put so much love and talent into the paintings.  And the journaling is practically sweet music- a collection of nature facts, poems, and thoughts.  I started disasembling that darn thing straight away!  I pinned pictures and poems across the wall right above the pink sofa that lives out there.  The wall and ceiling of the summer kitch are bead board painted a glossy white, so it all looked pretty cunning, I must say.
Forward to yesterday (confusing), I wanted to do something kind of unconventional for the living room.  As in not more framed pictures.  And then it came to me!  So, without further adeu, the living room reveal:

This adorable slipper chair was an anniversary gift from Andrew's parents.  The brown rocker was a hand-me-down from my grandma.  I'm hoping to have it recovered someday.  The fabric hunt is on!

Awfully beholden to you, Edith.

My in-laws got me this Norman Rockwell book for Christmas- the most amazing, detail-rich compilation of his art and biography.  It was a maroon color this morning.  By this afternoon it was cream...after I covered it with a piece of canvas drop cloth I had lying around.:)  I guess Ma and Pa T. are playing a pretty central role in this living room sprucer, too...the book, the chair, THE book.  Yes, they're amazing.

This shelf is on the wall to the right when looking into the living room from the dining room.  My cousin Megan sketched the sheep picture for me, the turkeys are salt and pepper shakers from a garage sale I think.  The donkey is actually my brother Isaac's, but I'm keeping it real safe for him.  I do love quirky animal displays.  The Webster's Universal Dictionery was a freebe at a garage sale, with the cover haphazardly taped on.  I ripped that puppy right off and there you have it, the heaviest book known to man (it's seriously like 10-12 inches thick!...not exactly light reading).  Looking at this picture now, I feel like the shelf needs work.  Humph.

Here't the view from the living room looking toward the main entry door.  Oh look!  There's a baby!

My favorite little lamp, happy as usual.