Decorating The Nickel and Dime Ranch Headquarters Part 3

All these years I didn't realize we were on the cutting edge when it came to decorating, but a quick look through Country Living, Real Simple or any of the frugal living blogs on the internet solidifies the idea that Tom, the Resident Decorator, aka The Inferior Decorator, is a house decorating genius!

We have lived frugally for years, gathering old furniture from family and friends, frequenting second hand stores, and generally allowing our furnishings to drift into our lives with little planning. At first when Tom has a decorating idea I tend to freak out and not like it, but for many of his vignettes, their time has come and I grow to like what he has arranged. I never did like the nooks he made out of crates to accommodate all our books, though. It was too hard to clean and dust and a squirrel Miss Bonnie brought into the house got caught between two crates and it smelled to high heaven.

But I kind of like what Tom has done for our television area. We bought a big screen tv, but the ironic part is we have chosen not to get the satellite dish hooked up and of course there's no cable or signals through the air in our area. Too many traveling nights in trailer parks and motels with cable have proven there is little to watch on tv. It's easier to get dvd's and watch them when you want and the diggers are wending their way here and there with their fast internet fiberoptic stuff and will eventually get to our place. Then we will be able to hook up the computer to the tv and stream! Woo hoo! Stimulus money well spent, I must say.

Below is our setup. On the left are Swiss Army chests Tom ordered from Sportsmans' Guide, the Surplus Catalog, to hold dvd's and a tangle of wires and cords that we might need some day. That's the dvd player on top of the Swiss Army chests along with a pair of binoculars because you never know when you might need to look out the window and spot something. The telly is setting on Aunt Patricia's trunk from when she was in the military. Her name is stenciled on the top.

On the right is another trunk we bought at a second hand store for 30 dollars and gave to my mom for Christmas. She restored it inside and out. There's another set of binoculars there along with several pairs on the spinning bookcase right next to the trunk. You never know when you may need to grab some binoculars and have a little look-see.

The trunk with the books on it is our coffee table. We think this was Aunt Patricia's too, because there is a Duluth Trunk Company metal tag attached to the top. The rug is from overstock.com.

In between are some snow shoes that will decorate the walls someday.

Here's how these Swiss Army chests look inside. We used old milk crates to hold the dvd's and other stuff.

I think this stuff goes well with our cabin. We look like we might be ready for an expedition or something, don't we?

And unrelated to military surplus, but still important is the photo below of the amarylis I got for Christmas from Trudy and Pat. It's setting on the window sill above the kitchen sink, adding some winter color. After I took the photo I noticed the dome outside in the late afternoon gloaming.

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