Coffee Table Decor

Something about the New Year makes me want to redecorate my apartment (it's not specific to this apartment, it happens every year). You have to take the Christmas stuff down and get back to work, even though it's still snowy and spring is literally months away. It's the time of year when I start putting on coconut-scented lotion and visualizing my happy place (Lake Huron...not that it smells like coconuts there, but you get the point).

Between the New Year fever and all the posts on Young House Love, I got the itch to find something aesthetically pleasing to put on our coffee table. Over Christmas it had a red table cloth and some votives. When those were gone, it was just bare and depressing.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, I had two jars from Bulk Barn that I bought for housing cashews and almonds. Their latches were really bent, making them a pain to actually open. So instead of scrapping them altogether, I decided to remove their lids and latches (though they still have some metal on them that I didn't bother to take off) and put candles in them. Their bottoms are slightly round, so a candle doesn't just sit in them without some support. Enter a $5 bag of river rocks from Pier 1 (apparently cheaper in the U.S. - $3.50 - surprise, surprise). John asked afterward if I considered just getting rocks from the river in a local park, and I think I'll probably look into doing that in the summer. For now it's out of the question...way too snowy.

Anyways, after constructing my little jar-of-rocks-candle holder, I had this:

I moved the plant in from our office/spare bedroom, and added a couple of larger coffee table books/magazines, and I was pretty pleased with the result. The only thing that bugged me was the pot our plant sits in. I inherited this plant (and it's twin, now deceased) when my old voice teacher at IU moved to Boston. This plant could survive if I kept it in my closet, and I think it will do even better in all the indirect light the coffee table gets.

I digress.

I wanted to find a more modern looking pot for it, but I figured I might have to wait until stores like Home Depot start getting their garden stuff in. But no!

I found this little number for $5 at the grocery store. It was probably marked down because it had a few chips. To "repair" them, I used the Young House Love trick of coloring them in with a brown sharpie. If you get really close to the pot, and I pointed them out, you'd probably notice. But they blend in well! A cheap solution to what was cheap to begin with. I didn't feel bad about coloring on my $5 pot.


In transit.


I'm pretty pleased with how the pot has worked out. The light bounces off it really nicely when the candles are lit. And although I wondered if the plant would survive the move, it seems to be doing well.

The little mason jar is from some salsa that I bought at the church Christmas Food and Craft Emporium.

It's nice to light the candles and study in this room.

John and I have plans to paint the coffee table over the summer. He got it during college and it became a sort of fun thing for people to sign when they were at his apartment. Some of the messages are hilarious, but in general, we both feel like it's time for a change. Any color suggestions? We will also probably inherit some green curtains to put in that room in May (I hope!).