The Boys

S1:E20 Accessories + Bookcases

• Jeremy Rice

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Accessorizing and bookcases can be intimidating, but they don't have to be!  In this podcast The Boys discuss how they approach accessorizing and bookcases, some must have pieces they always start with, and how addressing the back of the bookcase first is incredibly important!  After listening to the podcast, you might wonder which character in Steel Magnolias you might be, but you should definitely be less intimated in accessorizing and bookshelves.

Here's a quick look at what Jeremy was discussing with breaking up book cases with groupings and moving the eye around.

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dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I thought of it and it's like, you know, sometimes it just stops. And I thought, boy, don't they think that's what I would do? I wish it'd just stop. I wish it would stop. The voice would stop,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Ugh,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

but it

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

There are pills for that.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

yeah.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

see it? Else.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

would have to remember to take those.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I've woke up and I, this morning I went, Oh, well, at my age, you never know anymore. So, um, it went, you know, about four days ago, maybe I shouldn't have said that. It just took me four days to figure it out though. So it was somebody I went to. It wasn't instant, but in like four days later, I'm like, huh, I don't know if that went well. Uh, so it's somebody in my world and she mentioned this person. And I said, well, truthfully, I don't know. I don't know if she liked me. Cause you always had resting bitch face. She's like, oh. Oh, she's, I can't believe you said that. She's my best friend. I'm like, oh, well, it still didn't change. She had a resting bitch face. I'm going to go back off of it. And I thought, oh, maybe I should have backed off of that. So you can guide me to go, what'd you say? And you just go, you just own it and go, or, oh yeah, I shouldn't have said that. Or, well, how would a more appropriate first, you probably shouldn't have said to somebody, well, you know, she has resting bitch face, but. She really does it by the way, uh, and she really but then the person says, oh, yeah She's my really really really really good friend. I'm like Okay, how do you get all that one

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

you know, listen, I believe 90 percent of the people with RBF know they have RBF. Because they've already been

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

so they're self aware,

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

They're self aware. And the thing is, is they can't do anything about it because it just is what it is. So I don't, you know, I think they give two shits. Um, so I don't think it bothers them. It might bother somebody else, but if they're somebody's friends with them and they know that they look like that, they know it. It's not like you told her something new.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

right?

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Um, we know someone who, she, uh, was talking to our friend and said, Um, well I know I have resting bitch face. Well, our friend didn't want to be, Oh, absolutely. Because they thought that it wouldn't be very friendly at that one. Like, Oh, really? They just got acted like they were surprised. Like everybody knows that she's got the face of disdain from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed. I

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Generally is a nice person.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I don't know this person. It was

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Oh, well, I can say the person i'm talking about the rest of his face I really don't think she's a nice person

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

oh God.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Is she kind of like Weeza? You know, even Weeza from Steel Magnolias had some positive attributes to

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

did. You just had to

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I don't know her well enough to say i'm I yeah, I you know, let me be fair I don't know her well enough. All I know is in the situations every time I was like, oh Some corn cob gonna fall out your ass. So oh you take this You gotta take that out by the way don't don't record that don't don't don't post that one

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Speaking of Steel Magnolias, it was on this weekend and we caught like the last 45 minutes, which is just enough of it to make you really

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Well, that's the most tragic part.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I know. And you know, the second you see the pumpkin show up in it, you're just like, oh shit, we're there. You

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

We're there

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Um, but, Um, but, I just love Weeza.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

who are you in the steel Magnolia? No, no, I think the

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I would love to think that I'm Olympia Olympia,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Do Caucus, Libya. Yeah, Olympia Dukakis.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I would, I would love to think I'm Olympia Caucus. I don't think I am

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

fair

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Uh, yeah, I think

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

SI think I could, I could also be Truvia. I think I could be Truvia too.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Mwahahahahahaha.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

more toward, uh, Dolly, Truvy, than, than than not the other. So, yeah, that's a good compliment. So, who's Stuart? I don't what you have to say yet.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oh,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Okay, we're moving on.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

She has a breakdown. Ugh.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

to say.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Her breakdown. Yeah, it's a hard

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Which, who, so who would Dwayne be? I mean, would he be Weezer? He wouldn't be Weezer

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

He would be Weezy.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

but

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

What's that dissy blonde Christian one?

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Yeah, that's who he is.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Uh,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Who finds

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

real, she got real, real,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

she finds Jesus.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Yeah.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

she talks about batshit crazy, ultimately.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Is it Darrel Hannah.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Daryl Hannah. Yeah, Daryl Hannah.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

mean, none of them, none of them quite fit. None of them quite fit me, but that was, I guess that's what popped in my head because, um, not Sally Fields, you know, I'm not that, well, I am not dramatic too, though.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

On occasion.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oh,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I'm the ingenue, I am, uh, Julia Roberts.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oh,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Uh, ho ho. Heh heh

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Pink and blush and blashful. No, please. I couldn't pull that off, that angel. No.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Especially that haircut, that short hair that she gets.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Well, I've had that and with a mullet Welcome to the 80s brother you weren't there but

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oof.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

talk about some bad hair. You look particularly big today, by the way looking

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I got, I got it cut last night,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

good the product's

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

It's quaffed.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

for

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

um, so, okay, so we're talk what? What are we talking about again today, Stuart? Because today is your choice.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Um, accessorizing. Accessorizing. How do you approach Accessorizing in a client's home. Um, y'all mark this down. I have made dwayne speechless This podcast will be over in three minutes

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

No, I want you, you, So, I'll get this accessorizing because we can talk about a million things. because I do think it's interesting because, As you had mentioned, this is one of the things that we get asked a lot, uh, about like, how, where would, how would you display this? How, where would you put it? How would. you do this? Does this work? Um, so the follow up to that is how do you do it? And we'll start there and they'll give us like an idea of how we should frame our discussion. Mm

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

clients like my current clients and I'll say current clients in the last two years That's what I'm gonna consider current many of them are Disconnected with the fluff that goes in there. And when I mean disconnected, they don't care. They just want it to be cohesive and they want it to look good. SELDOM I will have somebody say, You have to use this thing. Or these two things. Or, um, So, Basically, after I pick the big pieces for them, you know, sofa, sideboards, tables, I will fill in with just the compliment pieces of lamps and a few large focal accessories. I don't like a bunch of shit everywhere, so I'm not going to put 82 trinkets across the console in front of the TV. I'm just not going to do it. But I will put one big impactful thing on the sofa table or the ottoman or the coffee table. With maybe a candle and a personal picture and that to me creates the environment and then after I'm gone if they want to fill in some personal things, then they have spaces to do that, but to me, it's more of an impactful visual now for my personal home, I do the same thing. But I don't ever choose anything for my house that I would choose for somebody else's and that kind of goes along with a, um, you know, we talked earlier that I was adding a primary onto the house and I had picked out these wall sconces for the bathroom on either side of the, sink that I looked forever for and I finally found them. Well, then my, other half sent me a message. Hey, those wall sconces. Can you get more of those? I was like, Oh, are they broken? Cause I thought, you know, open them up and they were broken. Oh no. I was going to show them to this other client in Richmond and I instantly was like, well, she can have mine because I don't, I don't want to select something for someone else's house that I'm going to look at every day as well. Like my house is my space. So you won't see a cross duplication of that. And that is accessory wise as well. Um, so I get picky that way. Does that make sense?

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

But what you're saying isn't uncommon, um, as far as exclusivity, I'm not that way though. I really. Care less and actually kind of go the opposite and say, well, that's a compliment because, well, I love that. I like to have it for everybody, right? So, but every approaches it differently, but I have more clients that way than not and I've actually Stick myself into the corner not because I really love something. I just keep using it using it, but I like use it in different ways So I'll give you for example, we I use this one drapery fabric for one person Then I used it for another person and then they didn't like it. I was like, oh, I didn't know it was a big deal. Right? And then I just literally, I just posted, uh, Martha and I love you. Uh, I, um, used some She's a good listener. Uh, I used, um, this coral colored leopard for Martha Ann, uh, and is some great little pillows. Well, I just read that a bathroom and, and. This powder bathroom had little coral leaves in it, and I thought this little leopard print would be the cutest little window treatment, and I made the window treatment out of the same coral. And Martha Ann Posty said, the fabric looks familiar, a little squink. Now she doesn't care. She's lovely. And it's not like I did the same coral in the pillows in the family room on a tan sofa. I mean, it literally is in two different rooms, two different ways, but also was aware of, okay, I can't use that again. Right. Cause even though it's leopard and coral, right. It's not that, you know, and it's a fabric that is in stock, but you do what Stuart is kind of saying. It's like there's exclusivity in a way. It's like, Oh, don't use that for 12 people. But it's hard to do when the fabrics in stock, you know, it's not, it's not exclusive to me, but

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

do we all remember the DNA fabric that he used 75

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oh, my God. Yes.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yeah.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

you might learn to live. Yeah, it's good. That's the thing is what's good. It's

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

thing is, I guess for my justification, it's like this fabric, it was neutral linen, but every time I used it, it was in a completely different way, right? One room was a family room and it was gray and beige and monochromatic. The other room was orange and aqua and teal. World traveled and the, you know, it's just, so I look at it and go, it's like, it's a black suit and it, you would depend on what tie you put with it. So why can't I have the same black suit for everybody, but some people don't like that, you know, so I get what he's saying. Like his sconce to me would be the black suit, right? And it can go in any, in any bathroom that you use in, it's going to be slightly different, but I get what he's saying. And I'm not, not dismissing that at all. Cause I, I've ran into that problem. That kind of go. I don't know what the big deal is, but I've learned it is a big deal with some people. Um, most people it's not, most people see it as a compliment, but there are some that's like, no, no, no, no. That's mine. I don't want anybody else to have it. And I get it. I do get that.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Um,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I'm gonna listen, but

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

you know, when it comes to accessorize it, like for me, I look at it like if it's good, it's good. So I might use again, but we're talking about like picture frames. We're not talking about like, uh, or a tray, like

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

yeah. I went down the road of fabrics. It's kind of a little different Tangent. Mm-Hmm.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Okay. So I literally, in our primary I've put the same, nightstands there, and I use them in a client's home. Now. I was fully up front and it was in their guest room, but they were an incredible look for an incredible price. Like I, you know, nightstands have gone through the roof, you know, and so instead of spending$2,000 on a nightstand, we were able to spend, you know, 400,$500 on a nightstand. And it was. You know, it's amazing. So, um, it does not bother me to share stuff because if I love it, I love it. It doesn't bother me I don't have a ton of stuff that's in other people's um, but i've used it but it it doesn't bother me now when you're talking about the accessories with people being um That they didn't care about the user. I do have there's some like I've got I've had, you know, here's our pets Here's the ones have left us. We're gonna keep them or keep them up on the thing and I get

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

right

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

and Some worldly travels we just always just try to approach it for me the shelves and things like that Like I always want it to feel like it matches the room or it feels like the room But I do want to use their things if it makes sense, but everybody's always been very honest To the concept of like, well, we can use it. Maybe we just won't use it here in the main living, like where everybody sees it, because they always want that to be pretty, right? Like they always want

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Mm-Hmm.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

cohesive and feel right. So, um, having another place to put them in the house is always helpful. So, but most of the time, honestly, when it comes to the bookshelves, not that I go in, go in with the intention of replacing 99 percent of it. I will say most of it aside from maybe books and pictures, although we changed up the frames, most of it's. Switched out. It just helps freshen it up so much. So

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yeah. Yeah.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I'm interested. Do y'all have a way of, do y'all have a, like a way that you approach how to style, but. Cause that's where my mind is at this moment is like bookcases and bookshelves. Um, cause I,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I guess that's why I asked or pose the question. Do you make it thematic? You know, like, is it all equestrian? Is it all blue and white porcelain? Is it all? Whatever. do you mix and match those things in to carry that style through like if

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

uh, whatever I put into the shelves, there's not a theme to it, like for that, but it, but it matches the room. So whatever makes sense with the room and the homeowner and the style of the house, like that's ultimately what I put in the bookcases,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I guess I'll, I'll say it in a different way that for me, before I even can style the bookcase, I always start with what's the background of the bookcase. Right. Because if I get the background, right, then I'm not, I'm not even worried about the theme first, right. Or the colors or the blue and white or what we're recycling. I start with a different approach. Maybe you do the same thing. We just haven't said it, but I deal with the background. Right. And my go to is to put grass cloth in the back of the bookcase. Color monochromatic, whatever it is, grass cloth. But if you don't want grass cloth, we're going to paint it. Right. I feel like if I have a big old white bookcase in the back of it, it's also white. That. And that's not true in all cases, but at most, because I do much more traditional stuff, you know, modern is maybe a little different approach, but in a more traditional, uh, home, I feel like the background is something I address first. And I'm telling you 99 percent of the time. Uh, and I don't know, do you all do that? Do you all do that as much?

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

yes. Um, You know, it's basically, it's a wall, right? So it's a wall. So how do you address it? And so, you know, so you, do we, you know, do we do something to it? Do we do paneling behind it? Do we do grass cloth behind it? Do we do, uh, depending on the style of house, do we do like an antique mirror? Like, like there's a thousand things you can do there to make it just a little bit more interesting. Cause I also think when you do that, it also helps you not, um, we don't need just to fill 99. 99 percent of this

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

and

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

reason behind It It visually fills the back of the bookcase. And therefore, you don't need as much stuff. And like, it goes back to Stuart's aesthetic, it's a little more edited, because you've got this background that somehow acts like this visual feel. And because of that, then you don't need as much stuff. And that's, it adds color and texture, but it also visually fills it.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

right. And that's with some people, you know, with this bookcase, like, well, we have 14 shelves. I'm like, well, you know what? Seven of those can come out and we can put a big piece of art in the back of it and a lamp and, and then it, and then it,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

It's mind blowing. You're like, you can take

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

You can take those out,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

yeah, yeah, yeah.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

You don't need all of those because then that's going to be 8, 000 trinkets you need to put on there.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Mm-Hmm.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Now, if you

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

And everything's real

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

right. If you like 8, 000 trinkets, well, okay, then we'll use all 14 shelves. We don't

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yeah. Yeah.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I'll get you a curio cabinet and hide it in the back, but So, when I am trying to approach a bookcase, I do have a rhyme or reason as to how I'm putting things on the bookcase. Whether it's tall, big, short, it doesn't matter. As long as it's a workhorse that's holding shit. Right? I'm interested to hear if you all have a way that you do it, or if it's instinctually, or if there's like a reason or a way. So let's say the top shelf, if I, if I, I will start with like grouping items, basically centered in, centered in the middle. So I consider like that one big thing in the top, right. Centered in the top. Next one down, I'll do two groupings, one to the left, one to the right. And then I'll keep that changed up as I come down so that it kind of leads your eye around where you don't feel like you're just looking vertically up and down. And that may not make sense. Does that make sense? What I'm saying?

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Hundred

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

um, we'll take some, we'll put some pictures, uh, Or some things down in the show. And that's, I guess, if that will help some people kind of visually see what we're talking about. But I always try to think about like, I don't want to go all the way across on everything. And I don't want to have two columns all the way up and down everything. Like, it's always just trying to figure out how can you break it up and make it interesting. And doing it that way and grouping items, I think makes it so much more interesting versus just filling it all the way across with books or, you know, tchotchkes or whatever. That helps us all.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Mine is symmetry because I've got the bookcase filled up, the visual on the background, what Stuart just said, invariably, every single time there's a shelf or two or three that comes out every single time, at least one, right? If not two, cause you don't need all those shelves. Almost every single time I'll take out a shelf and have just what you said, Jeremy. I have a top shelf that runs around the top and I'll have a big thing where collection of books up there, but it's symmetry. So it's like, there is. Um, seven books at the top. It's on the left and it's on the right, the symmetry. And then we, we take out a shelf and there's a piece of art on the left and there's on the right, right? Complete symmetry for me on bookcases. Now, if I'm looking at the fireplace and I've got a bookcase to the left and bookcase to the right, I'm going to do something tall in the far far left side, and I'm going to do something tall on the far right side. Now it can be, you know, we've got a piece of art in the middle of each one of those. Right? So we're doing this little moment on the far left. It might be a tall pair of candlesticks, right? And on the other side, it might be a tall piece of blue and white porcelain, right? It's symmetry. Because they're both tall things, but I'm giving balance. So whenever I do anything, I do pretty severe symmetry. And I come back to that because, uh, I feel like it's balanced because you put a whole lot of stuff on the bookcases, right? Because I probably do more on bookcases than like what would Stewart would do. Right? Because I'm, I like a little more stuff and because I do a little more stuff, it has to be very symmetrical or it becomes very, very busy if I don't do it that way. And that's my, that's my go go juice once it's all said and done. There's symmetry. Now you can get symmetry in that. That doesn't have to have a piece of art in the middle and piece of art in the middle and candlesticks to the far left and candlesticks to the far right, right? It can be, as long as they're balanced in height, basically. And there's, it's, it has a little bit of the same scale. You can, you can do it that way for me.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

approach it the same way? So that's, that's like, for example, if there's a fireplace and there's a bookcase on the one side and one on the other, but let's say you have a fireplace with two bookcases on one side. Do you approach it in the same way and just do those two steps symmetrically?

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yep.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

See, having a symmetrical doesn't. matter to me one way or another. It's just kind of

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

It's the only one that I can see it. That's the only way I can see it. Yeah.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

It, um, because mine can be flip flopped up, down, you know, whatever. I feel like as long as there's enough visual

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Right. Well, right. I I like it balanced, but it doesn't have to be symmetrical. And I think you can do that without it being symmetrical.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Oh, I'm sure. I mean, no, man, there's no argument there that I believe there's lots of different approaches. It's just, when I say this, that's the only way I can see it. And that's the only way I can do it. Um, and it, but it also goes back to when you're hiring designer, it's like, not, not all designers are equal, right? In that each person brings in their approach and that's why you always want to be careful and look at it. Like, Oh, I, that I found appealing or I don't. You know, for whatever reason you don't. And it goes back to, we all do the same job, but we all do it in a much different way, generally. Right. There's, there's common threads, but when it's, when it comes down to it, the nuances are what makes each of us different, like in our own personalities. That's true with a designer. We're all going to find you a perfect color. We're all going to find you the right scale and theory. We're all going to edit bookcases, but then the nuances, and that's where You got to understand, uh, the personality of designers. And you also got to understand the personality of the clients. And so it's like clients will see our pictures right on posted on our website and they'll get a general idea of our aesthetic and what we do, where their, their friends house that we've done. And if they find that appealing, right? And generally, if you're, If you're traditional, you're going to hang out with traditional people and you had traditional homes, traditional take generally. Right. So therefore you're going to find what you do appealing as, as, as, a general rule. It's after where you keep getting the same audience. Like I don't, I don't go out and interview people to find out if they're going to, you know, if we have the same taste, they're going to find me because they see what I do and how I do it. And it's appealing to them.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

hmm. Mm

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

sense.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

hmm. Well, oh, that's, while you were talking about all that, uh, I was thinking two things. One, um, people often put too much stuff in their bookcase. And two, following that up, it takes more to fill a bookcase than people ever realize. So it's kind of like two competing thoughts, because it takes more than they think, but then over time they just keep adding and adding and adding and adding, and then it's like, you know, completely full. I have, I don't know if I have a quantity, but I have some like my go to items like must haves to style a bookcase. Um, so I'd be interested to hear what, what, what you all have. The first thing is I always feel like I have to have something green. I always have to have some kind of fern, something, some kind of plant, something just to soften it and make it feel like there's something else on that shelf aside from an hard, a hard object, right? Uh, also always when I have. And I'm gonna use the word sculptural ceramics. So whether it's a ginger jar, whether it's some kind of like those, I'd like to have a good mix of those, of different finishes and different heights, just so I can mix them in here or there, right? The other thing that I have to have is I have to have some bowls. It sounds so weird, but I love the look of a little bowl. And whether it's marble, which is probably my favorite, um, or whatever it is, but you have a stack of books flanked by some picture frames and you just set the little, uh, the little bowl there on top of the books. And it instantly makes that bowl something incredibly artistic and it makes it feel like it has a purpose. Even if it's something you bought. Like one time I literally bought a 12 marble bowl from target. And it went on to bookcase and it looks like a piece of art, right? Um, and then different size art that I can then cluster or layer in Uh the things and obviously trays try, you know trays and books. Do y'all have anything else that you have to have? Yeah

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I like to put in something sculptural whether that be a, a figure of a person or something that's dimensional, that's not necessarily. A jar. Something that gives some life, life to it, you know, rather than a lot of flat things. Cause, you know, like you said, tray. That's not on my list because to me that's flat. It's just another plane and you either prop it up or you add stuff to it, which makes it more bulky where I would just rather have one sculptural piece. Of

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Swing. Mine is go to coffee table books and picture frames. And, uh, yeah, but the coffee table book is, coffee table books is an absolute must. And they, it's just what you said is that riser that you set this thing on. Then that thing becomes much more important. It can be a 2. It can be something your child makes. It can be a million dollars. so much. But when it stacks on that books, you said it beautifully becomes sculptural. It becomes much more important. It's curated and coffee table books in a bookcase are your friend. They're your, your friend in design. Uh, coffee table books are for coffee tables for a reason, right? And then it goes back to the dance now. What I'm again, with Stuart on this one, when you said the tray, I rarely will put a tray on a bookcase. Um, but the, the, the tray is absolutely one of the Zion secrets to any designer. Uh, it is your friend because you put that on a coffee table and you stack some books on it and you put that little bowl in there. It's you put a lot of stuff, but it's inside this tray and then it's curated. Right? And then you're easy. It's easily moved and pushed around and slid around and picked up, but it gives you this beautiful moment. And it's the same story for me, like it's habitual issue with, uh, a kitchen island or, um, a kitchen table that you use often, you know, instead of just one big flower arrangement that what we do so much of, you know, I keep coming back to, can we not have the tray and those great little, you know, 1095 bottles in the 1495 bottles the clear glass ones and have a few leaves in it And you set two or three of those on the tray like i've done on the store display Well, I can't move all three of those individual bottles every single time to clean clean the kitchen island, right? Or to move them every time i'm going to have three Um, dinner at the kitchen table, it becomes a pain to hunt in. But if I set all three of those on the tray, it's curated. I can pick the tray up or slide the tray easily. Now I've got this curated collection of whatevers and, but it's easy to maneuver. So I'll just go back to the trays referring cause it corrals everything, even in the bathroom. Where you put a tray in your bathroom, where you put a tray on your nightstand. You can throw, uh, your keys and wallet and whatever stuff. Well, it's a lot cleaner to have it sitting on that one thing than it just scattered everywhere. So trays just generally are a design secret that are your friend and fix everything in my little world.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

And the tray and all those applications is kind of like, it's the new version of a miniature curio cabinet. It is showcasing something, but then it's easy to move and easy to swap out. Uh,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

precious moments. Put it on the coffee table, book on your

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oh, sweet God. Let me, Lord, give me a bat. No, you listen, you know what? I, nobody in my family ever had them. So they don't mean anything to me. They're just, they're just little ugly little dolls. But if you have some and your granny had them or your mama had them and they mean something to you. Protect them. Don't let me see them because I will hurt them, but I want you to have them. They just make me so mad. There's an Instagram, um, a TikTok feed where somebody takes them and then re styles them, re imagines them into new things. And I think they're hysterical. Um, and they're, they're, they're also equally

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

the right setting. I can't say everything, but most things in the right setting can tell a story. Um, I always feel like I get the apology for clients. Um, let's say I've now got some of these Paul Sawyers. Now you don't have to use them if you don't want to, but I, my daddy's Lum Lum's cousin gave it to me, but I sure do like it, but you don't have to use it. And they always feel like they're apologetic. Because they have the Paul Sawyer and usually it's that horrific green gold frame with the lime green picture. And I was like, well, if we can take the picture and remat it, reframe it and do it in a more monochromatic way. And I'm going to give a shout out to my designer buddy, Becky Edwards. Becky Edwards did, um, a collection at a client's house and she took all their Paul Sawyers and had them in a very simple gold frame and put a black mat on all of them and did a collage of them. Chic is truly, you don't think of saying the word Paul Sawyers and chic, right? You just don't. Uh, But I'm telling you, when everything is framed out and matted and done in a cohesive way and it's curated in a big wall, it really was well done. And this was 20 years ago when I saw this, 15 years ago at least. And it just reimagined how I saw his work. Uh, because it always was done in such a drab way that you can change it up. So again, if there's a piece that's in your life that you love, um, sometimes you just got to re imagine how it's framed or matted or done or treated and it becomes new again. And that was true for me, seeing Paul Sawyer's and I was like, okay, I can give this a new life and don't apologize if this is important to you, let's figure out how to make

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Well, and say, say it. up front too. Don't, don't wait till we've stylized the whole house to be like, Oh, by the

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yes. Yes.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I have these three things I love. It's like, well, shit.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotta know. Gotta know the whole story. Gotta know the whole story. Mm-Hmm

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

You know, one thing that I've ran into time and time again with, um, doing, uh, bookcases or styling or accessorizing for clients is, um, Dealing with books because the books, what will happen is I'll ask the client, do you, do you have some books for me that used to style this one? They never have enough. Right? But then the next thing I know, they're bringing out me there, you know, trashy novels and, um, I'm like, no, no, no, not those. Let me look at hardback will be much better, you know? Um, and then they'll start bringing me out ones that have these horrible, yeah. Um, covers those things on them. So I'm like, okay, we'll take those off. Well, then it's always like a little bit of a heart, a heart attack moment, taking those covers off. Cause they're like, Oh, I don't wonder. I'm like, well, if we're going to use it, we got to take us off because it just looks a little cheap. Um, and so it's interesting what you take those little covers off. It can totally change it. Of course, then you never know what color of the hard, the hard bound you're going to get. So sometimes you can use them. Sometimes you can't. Um, cause I usually tend to try to keep it colors, you know, colors. Within the family, right? So if we're doing, you know, blue, green, gray, that's what's and white, like those are the colors of the books. Maybe some black, you know, some problem up there, but, um, and I don't remember if it was one of you all that taught me this, or if this was something I learned on some other channel or who knows what it was, but you know, if the books, if it starts to get really busy because of the color of the books, rotate the books around to where you see the paper side of the book versus the spine of the book, because then it becomes neutral again. And that, as simple as that is, it blows people's minds every time, but that is a very easy fix.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yep. You're spending no money. Spending

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Spend no money. Yeah. So you can use your reader digest books that, you know, turned around and God knows what they have on them. Or in some cases where we found some kind of medical books

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Right.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

like, you know, where were we had those books? Were they at the old, when we were at the other location? Remember all those medical books that we,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Yeah, that was from a storage building, remember?

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

uh, we,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

then we also had a client that brought us a bunch of books and donated to us. It was lovely. Um, do you, do you remember when we did the room at their second location, cowgirls, attic, and fund room? Well, do you remember, you and I, we all got in trouble. Do you remember that one the librarian came in there?

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Mm,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

And i'm just saying it's just books and i'm just ripping the books apart and I just glued them to the wall We all did it. I don't know that Stuart might have actually done it I don't know who did the the wall itself, but the whole room was covered in book pages pure fun, right? I loved it. I always loved that room still people will mention it. It's a fun room But this lady came out. She was a retired librarian. She's like you tore apart little women and glued it The wall, and I'm like, well, I'm sorry. I don't actually read, so I didn't pay attention. that made her even more mad. That made her even more mad.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I don't remember. I'm sure if it, our luck would, if, if we would have had little women, I'm sure it would have been up on the wall. Um, knowing that it's like, you know, a beloved novel by many, but what I think it was on purpose, we were just tearing up books. Um, but, um, I do remember when we had, uh, So listen, when we have, um, when we have picture frames in the store, we, we, we hate the backings that are in them. And so a lot of times that backing will get taken out of the picture frame and instead we'll use a book of a piece of paper from a book that has the print in it and put it in there and it just looks more interesting, right? Well, we once upon a time used some Reader's Digest and it was just short of schmutt.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

oh, I didn't

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

and didn't know this until the people brought it up to buy it and they were like, did you read that? I'm like, no, we didn't read it. What's it say? And I'm like, Oh Lord. And then the other one was the, it was a medical reference book. Um, and it, I mean, it talked about anatomy parts and not like your pancreas. Um, some other

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

it another word that began with a P?

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

genitalia. Yeah. It's just like, I'm like, who, I mean, who first picked the book, then pulls the, tears the sheet out and then cuts this in and it starts talking about, like, how did you miss this? There were so many steps.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

the book they weren't reading little women

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Oh God. Well, so just, you know, if you want

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

I haven't read little women. There's little women talking about the p

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I don't

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I have, I don't

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I've ever heard it.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

I

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Some of us read little women

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Mm, mm.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Listen, you know, there are books that people talk about. We, okay, so we just had our 25th, right? 25th high school reunion. I had to think, uh, to do the math and we were talking about, you know, you meet and then you're, you, you go back and you talk about things in class and things that happened and whatever. And we're talking about reading these books and I'm like, I don't ever remember having these books in my hand, ever. And I know I did because we were all in the same class. Um. But they're like, Oh yeah, don't you remember this and this and this? And then we reenacted the scene and we did that. I'm like, not a clue. I don't remember any of it. So, you know, we've talked about how things like they go in for me and then they just go away. If I don't need them anymore, they just go away. Just go away. I just, you know, I don't know. I don't remember any of it. So there's been books I've read. I'm sure that I don't remember.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Okay.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

So if you need to use some more books in your bookcase, you can use the schmuck if you need to just turn it around.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Yeah,

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Or not.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

We will put together some of the, we'll put together some images of what we're talking about and some guides, uh, and listen things in down in the notes that people can click on to get some visual help if they need some assistance in styling their bookcases. It really, it's not hard. I know it always intimidates people, they get very anxious about it, but I think these these easy things that we've talked about can really increase how good your bookcases look very

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Preach it, brother. Preach it. Yeah.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

All right, well, we will get off here today, Yeah, Good topic. good job,

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

a good one.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

Yay. I got one.

jeremy-host813_1_07-02-2024_090133:

will. All right, we'll talk to y'all later.

squadcaster-c272_1_07-02-2024_090133:

All right.

dwayne_1_07-02-2024_090134:

Bye. Mm-Hmm.

People on this episode

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Dwayne Anderson

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Jeremy Rice

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Stuart Hurt

Host