The Bookshelf

Bookcase

In our home there is a hodge podge wall made up of mix-n-match stones. These stones are stacked together with dirt, and have stayed in place for over three hundred years.

The other walls in the house have been covered up with sheet rock, only this one remains untouched. This stone wall often stared at me. It was big, heavy and made the room feel like a cave.

Whatever I put in front of that stone wall seemed to be gobbled up. Its massiveness was unsettling to any stick of furniture. Yet I didn’t have the heart to cover it up.

When I found this not so old piece of furniture it was canary yellow with gold trim. Putting it mildly it was very ugly. When French husband saw the movers bringing it in he looked at me like I had flipped out. He said nervously, "I know it is going to look better, once you do… what you do… whatever you do… right?" I scratched my head and said, "I hope so."

"Corey, please tell me you measured it before buying it?"

"You know I never measure anything." I smiled as he shooked his head.

photo: 12 feet x 12 feet, painted grey blue, 1970s book case. Filled with finds from the French flea market. Click photo to enlarge.



Comments

66 responses to “The Bookshelf”

  1. I love to see all of your photographs and hear your tales of your life.
    Enchanted am I.
    I love you

  2. You have taken an ugly duckling and made it into a swan. It looks amazing in front of the stone wall.

  3. laughing – after all this time, French Husband should show a little more faith. The color of the piece compliments the wall – no wonder things are happy now.

  4. Your etagere looks beautiful against the stone wall. They’ve become friends it seems. I like your style.

  5. Your wall makes the dresser look positively dainty! Grey blue helps too and you have a knack for styling that rivals Elle Deco…looks great!

  6. I can’t believe this is a 1970s piece. Well done!

  7. I love seeing pictures of your house, you live in a house worthy of magazine spreads. You did a great job with that dresser, everything so perfectly displayed. It’s such a lovely colour too, I’m impressed!

  8. Shannon

    You can write, take great photos, and decorate to boot!!
    That piece and its accessories looks great.

  9. Well done.
    The colour is wonderful, and it and the stone wall compliment each other..!

  10. wOW a STONE WALL! hOW INTERESTING! my AUNT’S FARMHOUSE HAD A HUGE STONeWALL WITH an enormous FIREPLACE. (oops..caps lock on) THe rocks were from the surrounding land.( your posts so often bring memories back to me!) Your bookcase is a gorgeous color and looks fabulous on the wall of stone!

  11. Oh wow! I can see why you are proud of your find! It dresses your stone wall beautifully! The color grey blue suits the color of the stone. By the way, which I would never cover up with sheet rock.
    gorgeous!

  12. Oh its beautiful – a perfect match! I love the stone wall — so glad you didn’t cover it up. Anyone can have drywall, very few can have their very own stone wall inside the house!

  13. It’s perfect!
    You have a glorious eye for decorating and finding and arranging!
    Thank you for sharing the beauty around you :o)

  14. hello corey
    ce meuble est magnifique : les proportions, la couleur !
    En plus, adossé contre ce beau mur de pierre, ça rajoute du charme incontestablement…

  15. hello corey
    ce meuble est magnifique : les proportions, la couleur !
    En plus, adossé contre ce beau mur de pierre, ça rajoute du charme incontestablement…

  16. This is SO fabulous! I just adore it. Bravo to you – I don’t measure either but it often lands me in hot water!

  17. It’s wonderful when things finally work out and fall into place…with a lot of help from creative Corey!
    How pleasing to the eye it is now!

  18. Oh how I covet that piece!!! Here’s my pouty face… Blessings Rebecca

  19. It certainly looks like a vintage piece now and not a reclaimed from the 70’s in yellow. The fnish on it is perfect and although I know little about French decorating I do try to read about it some as my ranch house here in the states is called a French design and after moving here I’ve attempted to add some French touches. So your blog is part of my education. The large cupboard looks perfect positioned in front of the stone wall and the collections displayed are so interesting.

  20. Would never know it was a piece from the 70’s. My favorite color. And the wall. Oh the wall takes me back home to the village where my grandparents lived..all the houses were made that way. How much I love it!

  21. Gorgeous, Corey! The stone looks beautiful behind it too ~ seems as though they needed each other! xxoo, Dawn

  22. beautiful corey, just beautiful.

  23. very very nice. Does your French husband approve? It makes a nice accent to the wall.

  24. What a decorating challenge! I can’t seem to do anything with blank painted walls, I can only imagine how stymied I’d be with this rock wall.
    It looks like you’ve found a lovely solution though.

  25. I love this piece, it’s fabulous! I’m glad you didn’t cover the stone. It’s lovely…I mean that, sincerely!
    Pat
    Back Porch Musings

  26. darlene

    absolutely beautiful.

  27. Love.it! Thanks for the little glimpse into your lovely home, too. I am atempting to do “French causal” and always wonder if what I see in magazines and books in the USA is anything like it is in France. You have quite the knack…to do everything well!

  28. Love it Cory. It looks amazing with the stone wall and your wonderful grey chairs. Good job, girl !!!!
    xoxoxox Clarice

  29. Brother Mathew

    I want to see the rock wall. A close up maybe showing the so called dirt mortar. Thank you.
    ————————————————
    Hi Mat
    I’ll try to add a photo of the stone wall to this post tomorrow.
    It is too late, too dark to take a good photo now.

  30. Paris Parfait

    Corey you’ve done a wonderful job and you also have quite the flair for arrangement/styling. And I think the stone wall is fantastic!

  31. patpaulk

    What little I can see of the old stone wall I think you made a wonderful improvement.

  32. What? Brother Matthew hasn’t been to visit you?? And you are harassing me? There’s my ace! When your WHOLE family visits you, then will talk.
    haha…
    P.S. The cupboard is GORGEOUS!! And lovin’ the stuff on it, of course.
    —————————————
    Hey hey Lauren…
    Everyone in my family has been here except my brother Mark. (and of course I am not counting my sister in laws, 14 nieces and nephews, Aunts and Uncles, nor my one million cousins.)
    Maybe you and Mark can come at the same time?

  33. It looks beautiful. Whenever I buy something like that my husband always asks, where are you going to put that??
    I love the stone wall.
    Rosemary

  34. Oh my GOSH!!!
    I LOVE IT!!
    And I love that wall, too. love love love it! You must post more pictures of yoru home for us, Corey. Pleeasse??
    🙂

  35. I love this shade of blue. How nice to be able to nip out to the antique markets and pick up some of the treasures you find!!! x

  36. Perfection. Beautiful marriage of color and texture.

  37. It’s gorgeous! well done you! French husband should NEVER doubt your abilities ever again!

  38. Corey, LOVE everything about the wall, dresser, and vignette!

  39. Beautiful color! I would love a little poke around on those shelves and admire your lovely treasures. The rock wall is such a wonderful contrast.

  40. Every time I see the abundant charm with which you lead your life, expressed in such fine details, I just want to see more, more, MORE! But, like fine chocolate, I suppose it is good that you share it one delicious taste at a time than if we were to gobble it all up at once.
    (Then again, if I actually had some fine chocolate in front of me right now, I might not exhibit such self-restraint. Instead, sunflower seeds, charming in their own way.)

  41. Bravo Corey!
    Dites-moi Madame la Fée…tu ne voudrais pas venir transformer quelques uns de mes meubles “trop jeunes” ;-)))
    Ta bibliothèque est superbe!

  42. Great, Corey, you’re a genius.

  43. Successful once again, I see? Does this piece cover enough of that stone wall for you? The contents looks fascinating.
    Am so glad that you and your cousin survived your ‘adventures’ and I hope that chocolate cake has done the necessary mollifying. 🙂

  44. Beautiful Corey, it looks like it fits perfect!! Wow, stone walls, I think I would really like that!
    Teresa

  45. it’s exquisite. I love it all.

  46. oh Corey – its lovely! And I adore the color… I never measure either – its called instinct! Bravo!!!

  47. I would love such hodge-podge!

  48. i love that shade of blue – it’s perfect!

  49. What a fabulous find…I absolutely love the colour!

  50. Tres chic! Magnifique! I want one just like it….let me know when you can deliver it Corey!!!

  51. I enjoyed this peak into your home, Corey. The bookscase is elegant – you did a great job painting it. And it’s so interesting to see what you’ve collected and are now displaying on the shelves.

  52. Beautiful, beautiful! Bravo, Corey… bravo! The only thing 300 years old at my home is the ground beneath it!

  53. I just love the soft, delicate, powder blue tones juxtapositioned with the strong, stone wall. This is a gorgeous study in contrasts.

  54. that is a beautiful piece…you did an amazing job

  55. I want one!
    I also more space so I can have one. 🙂
    Beautiful!
    PS: I just picked up a copy of Somerset Life. Love that you’re in it! Sharing your thoughts and beautiful photos. And the very first article no less! Go Corey!!

  56. Corey I’m head over heels in love with your dresser – it’s a gorgeous color and shape – but just getting peek of your chairs is almost as exciting – they’re lovely – please post a pic of them too!
    Hope the car survived – that was quite a day you gals had.

  57. Corey…this is stunning…and I love the chairs!!!!!!

  58. You poor thing, mistaking the fuel is one of my nightmares (have you noticed, how in the USA there is usually a physical barrier that keeps you from absentmindedly sticking the wrong filler pipe into your tank? Oh, how I love American ingenuity!).
    I love the colour of the stones reflected in your beautifully painted armoire!

  59. I love your stone wall Corey, just beautiful. But oh my goodness, what a decorating challenge huh?!
    I think you have a fantastic eye and everything looks so lovely. The grey blue is perfect!

  60. that wall is beautiful – the colors are dreamy – your description of the wall reminded me of many (1978?) years ago I visited some friends who were living in a bergere (sp?) and old sheep farm house which was basically just the rock walled foundation – somewhere in so. France – they raised snails and we dined on escargot and aiolie and local wine – ahhh we were all youthful hippies back then and I was vacationing from teaching in Ivory Coast – but yes the wall – it was like that – thanks –
    sweet memory
    loved the gas and plane story – my workshop took a lemony turn as well – nothing like lemonade on a warm day
    xox – eb.

  61. The age of the rock wall is very impressive. I love old things.
    What you did with the bookcase is also impressive. I think it’s just beautiful.

  62. Bossy totally approves.

  63. Corey……everything you touch is magical! This piece and the contents is stunning (1970 and all:) Oh, the treasures……

  64. In one word FABULOUS! Corey, you and I, we like to scare our European husbands with stuff like that. luckily (for them, or us?) they know once we “do what we do” it will look amazing.
    THAT…looks amazing. The colors are parfait, everything about it is “art” worthy!!
    Lidy

  65. The stone wall has many tales to tell – as the dresser’s shelves are filled with your history.
    An antithesis, yet perfectly harmonious. That’s the beauty of personal style.

  66. you turned a 1970 book shelve into an antique masterpiece. the soft blue is a great color match with the aging stone wall and classic beige arm chairs, corey! french husband must be content after all 😉

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