Console Evolution

I must admit, I’m not the best at creating vignettes around the home. (Remember my stage fright when it came to the big, bad wall?) And to be honest, Scott worries about all the extra things we accumulate by creating these cutesie vignettes (okay, me too), and he’d rather keep things light and practical (and yeah, me too).

I’m always a tidge envious when I read up on others’ mantles, flowing effortlessly from season to season, adorned with pumpkins in the fall, lights for the holidays and layers of effortless frames through the summers – and because we don’t have a mantle, our little rotating decor ledge is relegated to the totally teal console. It’s the first thing we see when we walk in the door, and clutter-free storage, easy key-drops and something (anything!) pretty and practical is a necessity.

After the console’s initial mini makeover, we added a lemon-y pitcher for flowers and a decorative plate for keys, remember?

Earlier this month, we kept our plate key-drop, but to liven things up, we swapped the pitcher with a clear vase for tulips and a glass chalice-mabob for chalk (first Instagrammed right here):

Of course, the tulips withered away, and it seemed a little silly to have a holster for chalk when we worked in a ledge for the blackboard in the first place. But during our trip back to the store for more tulips (our favorite cheap and happy flower), they were out! We considered it a loss – we didn’t like the current floral selection – and headed to the booze store for a pick me up. (Kidding, we were simply out of gin, and that is a necessity in our home.)

While Scott took to the mission at hand (aka: gin shopping), I took the opportunity to load up on cigar boxes – you know we love those – and convinced Scott we should stop at Sprout, you know, so our console-flower-outing wasn’t a total bust. Luckily, we came home with a Croton Banana plant, which’ll (fingers crossed!) stick around much longer than few-day-living tulips. And so far, so good; the thing is actually flourishing.

Now, our faux-mantle-slash-it’s-really-just-a-console is looking like this:

To pot the Croton, I used the same glass vase from the former tulips, and I set it up as I would a terrarium to prevent soggy, rotting roots. We used aquarium gravel for the rocks, followed with a thin layer of charcoal and then potting soil:

We’ve already clarified my lack of vignette-y styling (and is it strange I find that word – vignette – a bit much?), but stack our new-to-us cigar boxes, put down a cheery plant and yes! Success! Our new set up makes us happy, and we can hide away the chunky keys, Scott’s Costanza wallet and our phones. For such a small space, it’s simple, clean and – here’s that word again – practical.

Not to mention, it makes my view from the couch prettier and clutter-free; until now, our keys – poking in every which way, ugh! – drove me nuts (goodness, it seems I am the one who can be a bit much). The second, larger box stashes basement keys and other items we don’t need often, but the two-box stack is much prettier than one, yeah?

Third times a charm – that is, until we “change it up” for the seasons, you know, like mantle-having homes do. (Isn’t that what you do?)