Our LIBRARY

The second room in our home, as you can see, is devoted to our books and media. My friend Jenny came over and helped me make the shelves double as display cases. I'd already organized them by category (some categories by author's last name), and so far Ryan & I are pleased with the result-- eye-appealing AND functional.

More of Ryan's "contraband" :) He has a whole shelf devoted to these things. I still can't believe there's a whole shelf of them in MY house!

Pics newly arranged on Ryan's desk (re-located from our living room by Lyle and Ryan's side of our family)

THE shelves-- Mrs. Hook's graduation gift of a real-life tea set ties the shelves together nicely.

I think this room is so pretty and homey now! I just need to paint the wall behind the shelves red, and I'll be set! I even have the paint. (Eventually, this room will be our dining room. For now, the kitchen & living room serve us well... thanks to the Schwends' gift of folding TV tables.) It's so satisfying to find homes for all our furniture, and function for all our little "things."

The old family encyclopedia set (inherited from Aunt LouAnn & Uncle Jerry Holmes) looks right at home here, next to wine bottles from the Biltmore and our wedding flowers. The hung painting was a gift from one of my pre-k student's families!! I usually get more along the lines of Starbucks gift cards and apples, but... whew! Talk about a nice "thank-you-for-teaching" present!

My latest project; throw pillows for our futon, made from one of Ashlea's old shirts! She was casting it off during her last move, and I realized it would match our dining room red perfectly. I cut it and sewed them really quickly during some Avatar watching. I finally have my sewing machine out, and all my fabrics organized, with my sewing supplies easily accessible! Maybe now I can finish the 3 quilts I started last summer and then couldn't finish because, well... we were living in our dining room...

Loving making our house our homey home (it was always our home),

--Mrs. Szrama

p.s.- Jeanette, this is actually the inside-out of the shirt, so maybe you did see it?
p.p.s. - Ryan, the reason for the QUICK sewing was precisely because you would have worn that shirt. Ashlea & I both know you well...