Ricki Jill

Showing posts with label Home Library. Show all posts

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! Last October, we began our library renovation, and I wanted to share it with you. It took several months to complete all the projects, and I wanted to wait and post when it was done.

This room was our classroom for when I homeschooled our youngest daughter. Since she graduated from college in 2022, we no longer needed it as a classroom. We thought it would be fun to convert the classroom into a library because I have enjoyed reading my entire life, and in a former life, I was an English teacher.

We also worked with The Cottage Supply Company in Chelsea, Alabama, for the design and implementation of our vision (the same company we hired for our kitchen renovation). I wanted the room to have a slight dark academia vibe, with a sprinkling of Victorian curiosity room. I have several treasures from our travels displayed along with art and other collections.

We have base cabinet storage on two walls in the room.

I am happy that I have it because it helps keep seasonal things and book-related items organized.

We also have drawer storage under the window seats. I have mostly throw blankets stored in them.

The painting on the upper left is a cartouche from the Hapsburg Apartments at the Gottweig Abbey in Austria. I painted it from a photo on my iPhone.

The bronze sculpture of a forest nymph belonged to my mother-in-law.

This wall displays a few of my special editions.

My sister-in-law made the window seat cushions from sail material. They shouldn't fade, and they can even be bleached, which is an important quality because I love to drink coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon.

This wall is perpendicular to the windows. The door on the right leads to the landing, and the door on the left leads to a bathroom.

I painted these gargoyles from photos I took at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Cologne, Germany.

One of my favorite things about the library are the floating shelves by the windows. I like to play with them, and display books, art, and other treasures. The cabinet designer thought of the idea, and I think she did such a nice job with the library's design.

The library at night. The book lights are very bright! It's hard to get a good photo at night.

It's actually hard to get good photos during the day because the library faces south.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! If you have any questions about any of the elements of the room, please leave a comment or email me. I was going to write a list, but it was getting too long!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Library Renovation

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Happy Friday, My Lovelies! It has been a gorgeous spring week here in Central Alabama. I hope it has been nice in your neighborhood, too.

Home renovations are not for sissies. No. They. Are. NOT!

We started the process a little over a year ago, and then we put the brakes on when my mother had to be hospitalized. We eventually finished our daughter's room and the library (for the most part) before Christmas. Then after Christmas, my mom was better, so we decided to continue with the kitchen reno. About two weeks in my mother declines rapidly and goes on hospice care.... while we were in the middle of the kitchen reno.

Because the upstairs went so well, I was expecting the same for the kitchen although it required a different crew.

The kitchen reno was not very delightful (the drawers had to be redone three times), and we're still waiting on a couple of things to be fixed. But in the interim, I wanted to share a little bit of the kitchen with you.

We have a new backsplash. They are Moroccan Zellige tiles, and the color is oat.

from Tiles of Ezra

Another improvement is we raised the upper cabinets all the way to the ceiling to give us more storage and display area for our MacKenzie-Childs collection.

One thing that I'm having to get used to is the electrical under the cabinets. You can barely see the strip in the first kitchen photo. Most new kitchens either have them like this or pop-ups on the counter. I chose to go up rather than down!

I hate seeing cords, so I purchased cord covers.

I wish I could capture the color of our walls with my phone, but I can't seem to be able to do it. They are Benjamin Moore's "vintage taupe," which has a lot of pink in it.

New bar-height stools

The kitchen island was also repainted in Benjamin Moore's "Gobi Desert."

Probably the best thing we did in this kitchen is organize it. Our kitchen lacks cabinetry, and we do not have a pantry. So what we did was add Rev-A-Shelf organizers in EVERY single base cabinet. It has changed my life! The organizers do take up more room, which means there's less space to ~~shove~~ organize your stuff. I had to make some tough choices and only keep the things I use. So far I have not missed one thing that is no longer in here. I will post more about kitchen organization in a later post.

Because I was so busy during the end of March, I didn't really decorate for Easter this year. I did put out a few spring pretties, though.

I also bought a couple of maidenhair ferns. I love them, but I always kill them. If you have any pointers on how to keep them alive, please share!

Hopefully soon I will be able to get my act together enough to share our library here on the blog.

On Monday I will be sharing some special book mail, so please come back then!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Home Renovations Are Not for Sissies

Friday, April 10, 2026

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! I hope you are staying warm wherever you are. We were fortunate here in Central Alabama to escape the ice and snow, however it is bitterly cold: we aren't accustomed to low temperatures in the teens!

I want to first of all thank y'all for your kind cards, emails, text messages, and phone calls. My mother truly suffered this past year, and I am thankful that her struggles are over, and that she's home with God. The flowers above were from my cousin Lori. I was able to separate them into about four arrangements, and this one is the largest of them.

Before my mother became ill last March, we had begun the process of renovating our home. We have had several starts and stops, primarily because of my mother's declining health. Currently, the only room in our home that isn't one hot mess is our library. At one time it was a guest bedroom, and then it was Shelley's high school classroom. Please join me in our library for a simple afternoon tea party. But before we begin, I'd like to thank my friend Rita for hosting these blog hop parties.

Thank-you, Rita, for hosting! You do such a lovely job keeping us organized and on task!

Welcome to our library! I will share more about this project in a later post (there are three more projects that need to be completed first). But for now, I'm enjoying this refuge in the midst of our chaos. I want to disclose that I can't access much right now because almost everything from our kitchen is stored in giant bins. I was actually lucky that I had the tea set sitting on our dining room table.

This is the only teapot I can currently find. It's part of the High Tea Set from MacKenzie-Childs.

I put up the little lighted before Christmas. I decided to keep it up through Valentine's Day because the ornaments are heart-shaped.

On the menu are strawberry petit fours and cheese straws from Edgar's Bakery and hot tea (Paris blend by Harney & Sons).

I can do very limited things in the kitchen now with a kettle, microwave, and toaster. That's about it!

Resources:

Buttoned Heart-shaped placemats: Kohl's

Napkins and heart-shaped ornaments: Anthropologie

All pottery: MacKenzie-Childs

Lighted Christmas tree: Terrain

Beeswax taper candles: S. Flynn Home

Please visit all the blogs participating in today's hop. If you're linking in order, Patti's blog, Pandora's Box, is next.

Panoply - Valentine's Day 2026: Forget Me Not Tablescape

Life and Linda - Hearts, Kisses, and Valentine Wishes

Home Is Where the Boat Is - Heartfelt Table with Snowmen & Cardinals

Hyacinths for the Soul - Whispering Love - Valentine Tablescape Hop

Everyday Living - Forever Is Long Enough

The Cat's Whiskerz - A Valentine's Day Table for the Guys

Red Cottage Chronicles - Setting a Valentine's Table That Feels Like Home

Celebrating Everyday Life - An Italian-Inspired Valentine for Two

My Thrift Store Addiction - Ivy and Roses Valentine Table for Two

Me and My Captain - Love Is Everything, Valentine's Day 2026

Little Yellow Corner Store - A Winter's Valentine's Day Tablescape - The Heart of the Matter

Thrifting Wonderland - Valentine's Day: From the Heart

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Cottage Rose Valentine's Table

Dinner at Eight - Celebrate with Friends and Flowers on Valentine's Day

Olla-Podrida - Cozy Valentine's Day Tablescape

The Bookish Dilettante - Valentine's Tea in the Library

Pandora's Box - Lunch With My Valentine

Mantel and Table - How to Design a Valentine Table That Feels Luxurious

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Valentine's Tea in the Library

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Happy Maundy Thursday, My Lovelies! It has been a very busy week for me. I feel like I'm finally getting stuff done! I've been doing a little bit of spring cleaning and fluffing. Let's take a look!

First of all, I ordered lots of fake MacKenzie-Childs flowers from their website. All the flowers I purchased were on sale, and I was pleasantly surprised! They are actually much prettier in person. I used the flowers to make Easter displays in the dining room and art studio.

I used twinkle lights and ribbon, too.

Looking from our foyer into the studio and dining room

On the dining room table I used cosmos, peonies, and roses in brighter hues.

I've been editing and cleaning a little, and I decorated for Easter in every room of the house!

Easter baskets are ready to be filled.

I've been arranging real flowers (not just fake ones), too.

These are from our local farmer's market.

Because our home has little wall space, our largest bookshelves are in Shanley Belle's room.

Since COVID, our local library hasn't been accepting books for their biannual book sales because they haven't been having them. However, last weekend they returned! I had so many books I needed to donate: I receive books weekly as a book blogger, and not all of them are advanced reader's copies (they have to be recycled). Our bookshelves and book cart (see photo below) were packed with books. It took me several days to sort and load up books for the sale. I also put aside a few for our church's Little Free Library.

Let's take a look at our library:

This cart was full of books to donate to our local library. Now it holds my TBR books. These are the ones I've either received (recently) from publishers, bought, or were gifted to me. I thought there would be more, but I've read a LOT since Christmas!

This little bookcase was packed also. Now there's lots of room for pretty vignettes. I do think bookshelves should be used for practical book storage, but it's also nice to include a little bit of pretty.

Y'all, I do like to share books, so if there is ever a book that you're interested in, just ask! The only ones I won't share with you are the ones written by my favorite writers (there are about five or six of them) because I will re-read those ones.

Yesterday I planted twelve container gardens for our back patio, deck, and garden. I still have two to update, and our two tomato plants need to be planted. Today is National Gardening Day! So I got most of the work accomplished just in time.

I might have overdone it a little yesterday because I'm paying the price today, LOL!

I wish you could see these petunias in person because the blooms are very large!

I planted more geraniums this year than usual. I really wanted light pink ones, and one of our local nurseries said they are expecting some tomorrow. I might need to add to my collection, LOL! I will post more of our containers once they fill in a little.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Spring Cleaning and Fluffing

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Happy Wednesday, My Lovelies! Today I've been reading The DIY Home Planner by KariAnne Wood. I'm sure y'all know KariAnne: She blogs @ Thistlewood Farms.

You might remember a few weeks ago when I started playing with this planner. It's so helpful, and I love how it's organized to help the reader plan a complete room from empty box to fluffing with accessories.

The DIY Home Planner was released yesterday, so you can purchase a copy wherever fine books are sold. Kirklands is even carrying this handy book!

I've been using the planner to help me redecorate Shanley Belle's bedroom. As y'all know she's in Baton Rouge at LSU working on her doctorate, and her room is rarely used these days. I want to convert her room to a pseudo-library, yet keep the bedroom option for when we have guests and when Shanley Belle comes home for holidays and visits. The room needs to do double duty!

Unfortunately it's my least favorite room in the house because it's dark and awkward. It's a dormer bedroom, and the ceiling is 8' at its highest and slopes downward toward the front wall that has the dormer. Let's look at the floor plan I constructed in the space planning section of the DIY Planner:

Shanley said she thought it would be fun to have a couple of floor pillows in front of the shelves. Anthropologie has some pretty ones that would work with either scheme we choose. The bathroom door is on bottom, and the closet door is on top.

You can see the dormer which contains the only window in the room. To make matters worse, the room is on the north side of the house.

The bed looks like this:

bed by Charles P. Rogers

The nightstand beside the bed and the small chest of drawers beside the bathroom door are pine, not too different from the photo. But we also have some stark white furniture in the attic that will fit, too.

I have two different plans for this room, and I need your feedback to help me make my decision between the two.

Let's call the first design "Millennial Pink."

I would paint the walls Pleasant Pink and the trim including bookshelves Dreamy Cloud. All paint is Benjamin Moore.

I would order this pretty quilt from Shabby Chic:

I love this quilt because it's reversible.

Shanley has a pale pink sheet set and shams to match.

The chair would be recovered in this mauve linen. Can you believe that mauve is a thing again?

I'd use the same linen for a roman shade window treatment.

I'd purchase this throw pillow for the chair. Both the mauve linen and this pillow are also from Shabby Chic.

This is the library lamp I'd choose for this scheme. It's from Houzz. Mr. Sketchy Reader is building a box on the very top shelf for mounting the lights.

Let's call the second design "Modern Highlighter."

This design is much more minimalistic. Everything in the room will be white (well almost everything) which I like because did I mention how flippin' DARK this room is?

I'd paint everything Super White. (Note: Most of our home is either painted Mayonnaise or Super White.) Everything, that it, but the bookshelves: they would be painted a highlighter yellow called Bright Yellow. It would look like someone drew a line or highlighted the books. The thick shelves would be mounted on brackets that would be painted white like the walls, so literally the shelves would look like lines.

Someone needs to give KariAnne a drink of water because she's in a state of shock over the yellow!

This is the linen bedding I'd order from Shabby Chic:

Prairie stitch linen bedding

We already have white sheet sets and euro shams.

I would cover the chair in white linen, and the roman shade would be made out of the same linen.

Faux fur pillow for chair

Library shelving light, also from Houzz.

There you have it! Both designs for Shanley's room/library.

Y'all can vote on which design you like best by leaving a comment below! Vote for either "Millennial Pink" or "Modern Highlighter."

Here's another page from the book with the possible paint selections:

There are fun surprises in the book, even how to make an origami bookmark! I love the front and back inside covers with the pockets for holding swatches and other papers: