Recently, my husband and I went on a summer trip to California. Our first stop was Malibu. I always wanted to go. It was early one Saturday morning when we found ourselves wandering through the nestled neighborhood by the Pacific. Of all places, we started to see garage-sale signs. I was curious. We decided to stop at one of the sales. I am glad that we did. To my excitement, I found a small cache of beautiful leather belts. The homeowner told me that one of them was once sported by the actress, Alfre Woodard. Kind of a fun story that you would only hear in Malibu. Even though I didn’t need five belts, I bought them all. As I was making the purchase, I struck up a conversation with the owner. She told me that there was a really big garage sale at Our Lady of the Lake, a church in Malibu. Evidently, Martin Sheen had just dropped off some things there for the sale. I got caught up in the celebrity of it all and went straight to the church. The hunt was fun.
When I finally returned to Houston with my Malibu belts, I wondered how I was going to wear them all. During a moment of inspiration, I adorned some of my favorite silk and velvet pillows with the leather belts. The rest is history. It turned out to be a smashing combination. I am really pleased. If you want to breathe new life into your old pillows, take a peek into your closet. Do you have some woven, embossed, or hand-tooled leather belts that you aren’t wearing? I love to find new uses for treasured accessories. Belts are beautiful cinched around pillows. Perfect for adding panache.
Instead of buying man-made accessories, I love to bring nature indoors. Think about using branches in all shapes and sizes. Place them on cocktail tables, in vases, and on shelves. Branches are great for dinner parties too mixed with other design elements on the table.