Music Decor at the Mansion

Governor Bill Haslam and first lady Crissy Haslam from the great state of Tennessee for the second consecutive year are offering Tennesseans the opportunity to tour the holiday decor at the executive residence. Tennessee Music is this year's holiday decor theme at the Governor's mansion.

Items incorporated into this year's holiday decor include:

• Pieces on loan from the Museum of Appalachia, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Stax Museum
• Ornaments representing holiday songs, gospel music, patriotic music, and Elvis Presley, created and contributed by Tennessee students
• Ornaments by local artists representing Tennessee's 95 counties

Tennessee has a unique history of music and songwriting.  It became a state on June 1, 1796, the 16th state in the USA.  Enjoy the music decor along with the traditions, antiques, and artwork representing the history that makes this residence one of Tennessee's greatest treasures.

Please visit Tennessee's Home for the Holidays 2012 for a list of tour times during the first two weeks of December when you can attend the Open House.

 

Music Decor and Music Belt Buckles

What does Music Decor mean to you?  In general terms, it is a theme normally thought of in terms of  interior decorating where music related items are used to compliment each other in any room of your home, apartment, other dwelling, or even carried into your office theme.  How you choose to use music themed items is only limited by your imagination. 

Think outside the box.  If you find a music themed item you like, think about how or where you can use it to compliment other music decor.  Garden spots, a cozy porch, a favorite deck where you entertain friends, or a place where you do hobbies or find solitude can all include music-themed home decor.  How many people do you know who like to putter?  Where do they go to putter?  Is it their man room where they play with their HO model trains, a shed where they work on gardening or painting, or a workshop in the garage, or enjoy camping in their RV?

What about your mailbox, a place you visit six days a week.  One mail box I drive by nearly every day has a music staff and music notes in black painted over a white mail box.

By now, you are probably wondering what all of this has to do with music belt buckles and where I am going with this post. Belt buckles are just one type of music accessory, but typically people who like music and music decor like to wear music accessories.  Think about music themed jewelry.

Take belt buckles, for example - let's start a list of belt buckles that are music-related buckles.  You can probably add more items to this list.

Microphone belt buckle
Drums belt buckle
Headphones belt buckle
Turntable belt buckle
Guitar belt buckle
Country Music belt buckle
Music Notes belt buckle
Piano Keyboard belt buckle

Both guys and gals can enjoy music belt buckles.  There is no limit to the selection of music accessories one can wear.  Musical belt buckles might include a guitar belt buckle or one with music notes, a country music belt buckle or one related to other types of music, an accordion belt buckle or other popular instruments, such as a trumpet, banjo, mandolin, piano keyboard, etc.

Earrings, pins, cufflinks, scarves, neckties, etc. as well as music belt buckles are great examples of music accessories.  But where do you put your musical accessories?  Many items fit very well in a music jewelry box, while such things as neckties fit well on a tie rack, earrings on a earring rack, etc. 

Belt buckles, if you have a lot of them, can be wrapped and kept in a shoebox, or you can use them to create music bedroom decor.  Simply done, select a piece of fabric, create a geometric shape, attach your music belt buckles and display on your bedroom wall.  Voila, you have created music bedroom decor.  You can do this with any music accessories that you can attach to a strip of fabric to create a type of music wall hanging.

Be happy!  Enjoy all of your music-themed home decor, whether it be items you discover while shopping, or one-of-a-kind masterpieces you create!

Music Boxes as Music Decor

A New or Old Music Box ? 

That is a very good question!  Since a music box is an easy way to spruce up music decor, either one, a brand-spanking new one, or an old one that has a story to tell, can be a wise choice.

If you are looking for a music box gift, it is probably wise to buy a new musicbox, but if the recipient likes vintage, then by all means, see what kind of old music box you can find that you think they will like. 

When buying a music box gift, answer the questions -- Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

1. Who is it for?
2. What will they do with it?
3. When will they play it?
4. Where can they set it?
5. Why would they like what you have picked out?
6. How often will they use it?

Vintage Music Boxes --

Who likes them?
 
It depends!  Vintage music boxes make great collectibles and add a lot of charm to your music decor.  People sometimes look for unique types, such as patriotic, animals, musical instruments, Christmas or holiday, souvenir, etc. to fit in a particular setting. 

Other times, the tune is more important.  Some tunes, nostalgic, in particular, are harder to find than others. A person with a collection might buy a music box to go with their music decor because they have none with the tune it plays.  They will be delighted with vintage music boxes if the tune satisfies them.

A Wind-Up Music Box --

All music boxes wind up, but there are two basic types.

One has a base that screws on to the bottom.  To wind it up, the base is turned clockwise.  The music box rotates counter-clockwise when playing and needs to run all the way down and stop.  There is no way to turn it off.  Some, instead of a base, may have a wheel or similar means of winding located on the side or on top, but the concept is the same.  There is no way to turn them off.

Another type of wind-up music box will have a key that is wound by turning it clockwise.  A slide bar or similar feature can be moved left or right to turn it on or off.  Instead of a slide bar, it could also be a small up or down switch or similar mechanism that turns the music/motion on and off.

Music Boxes that Sold on eBay --

Initially, I had over 100 music boxes, all different, and each played a different tune, but many including the ones above were sold on eBay. When we began to downsize, we did not have room to keep them all.

Finding Area Rugs For Sale to go with Music Decor

Finding Cool Rugs on Sale

If you find exactly what you want on your first attempt, consider yourself lucky.  When you search for rugs to go with your home decor, be flexible.  You will know when you see an item if it will go with your color scheme and the theme you want.

Think about the best places to look.  Your local stores may have rugs on sale.  You may also want to search online.  Some stores may offer area rugs with free shipping.

Where can You Use Area Rugs

Think about your home.  Do you need bathroom rugs, children's rugs, or perhaps kitchen rugs in front of your sink, stove, or in front of your washer-dryer where you stand?  What about inside your entry door?  Do you have hallways or high traffic areas where runners would be a nice fit?

Don't forget your living room, music room or family room.  These rooms might be large enough to accommodate 8 x 10 area music rugs or even 9 x 12 area rugs.  They could be placed in the center of your conversation area, perhaps surrounded by a sofa on one side, a loveseat on another, and a couple of easy chairs on the third side.  Other ideas might be to put a smaller rug, such as a piano pedal pad, where you put your feet when playing the piano, or place a short runner in front of the TV or home entertainment center.  Place them under your coffee table or in front of your favorite chair.

What about bedroom rugs?  Your feet would love the soft touch of a rug when they touch the floor as you get out of bed in the morning. 

If you find some really cool rugs in your favorite theme, think about using them as wall art.  Display them over the head of your bed or if you have a music theme, convert them to music wall art to go with your music decor.

Determine approximate dimensions for the areas where you want to place area rugs.

Do You have a Music Themed Room or other Special Theme 

As an example, let's say you love music decor, so it seems logical that you might have a music theme where you could use music rugs; These might include piano rugs, guitar rugs, music learning rugs, or similar that would make your music themed room sing.  Along with a musical theme, color and design can play a very important part.  Identify which colors will blend with existing colors or add a needed accent. 

Striped rugs might be just the design you are looking for.  Black and white rugs could have one stripe of a musical keyboard flowing through them giving the effect of a river with varying widths and flowing in a random design.  Speaking of striped rugs, what about a black silhouette of a guitar on a bed of multi-colored blue random flowing stripes.  Striped rugs can have a creative design or they might be just plain stripes.

A black and white rug might also be a runner with piano keys - a great fit for a hallway.  But if you can find a black and white rug in a short length, it could also be framed and used as music wall art. 
Actually, any smaller rug could be hung and used as wall art.

Color is important too.    Musical area rugs can usually be found in a variety of colors and sizes. Perhaps you are gathering ideas for a music themed room and prefer music area rugs with earth tones or more mellow tones with a little green mixed in while displaying piano keys, musical instruments, music stand and music symbols in a music instruments novelty rug. 

You may have a totally different theme, but whatever it is, remember to think outside the box and be creative.  Red rugs, yellow rugs, blue rugs, black and white rugs, oval rugs, round rugs, as well as a variety of rectangular shapes are only a few of what is available when you look at music area rugs for sale.

Jute Rug, Polypropylene Rugs, Olefin, and Other

When you are looking for area rugs for sale, look at what it is made of, what the backing is, and how to care for it.

If you find descriptions that say "power-loomed from durable, color-fast polypropylene", these would be considered Polypropylene rugs.  If a description says "woven 100% olefin with jute backing", this could be considered a Jute rug.  Olefin is a strong, colorfast, and stain-resistant synthetic that has a wool-like feel.

Some may have anti-static protection, soil and stain protection, and even come with a warranty.

These are only a few of the terms you may find.  The important thing to remember here is to read and be informed of what you are buying.  Make sure it will work for you.

Summary

You can find cool rugs for sale in a music theme as well as many other themes.  Know how you intend to use them and where you will place them.  Determine the dimensions you need and identify colors you want.  You will know when you find things you like. 

Have fun and leave a comment!

Music Decor and More: This One's About "More"

Would you like to save money, make your life a little easier and have "more" time to do the things you want to do?  Tell your friends about this too.  They will thank you!

To get right to the point, this idea comes from a fellow music lover who also loves music decor.  She has found a way to save steps, save money, and save time. 

1. How does she save money?  She pays less, and she saves gas and wear and tear on her vehicle because of not having to drive all over town.
2. How does she save steps?  She saves many, many steps, and keeps from performing tiring tasks week in and week out.  I will explain this later in the post.
3. How does she save time?  She saves valuable time because she can perform tasks in the comfort of her own home at her own convenience.

She utilizes the store links on this site, particularly the Walmart link to do as much of her shopping as practical.  She saves many, many steps because she does not have to drive to the store, walk the aisles, stand in long lines, take the items to her car, load them in her car, drive home, and make many trips in and out of the house and up and down steps to carry them into the house. 

When she places her order, the only one who sees her payment information is the payment processor, and her order is automatically sent to the department that fills the order.

When you click on the Walmart link, it takes you to a page where you can search any department in the store, and add any item in the store to your cart.  She has found that placing an order for staples, such as toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, cleaning products, canned goods and food items that come in packages, jars, or boxes allows her to buy only the items that she needs at great prices, and she is not tempted to add other items as she walks by them or because she is hungry at the time.  It is also possible to qualify for free shipping to your door when the order meets certain criteria.

As soon as the order arrives at her door, it is time to put things away.  When an item is nearly all used, it is time to come back to our Walmart link at a time that is convenient, and start placing items in the cart, and when there is enough for free shipping, another order can be placed. 

When you are thinking about purchasing a large item that you may want to look at first, check those items out in the store when you make a trip to purchase your refrigerated, freezer, and fresh items.  It's a whole lot easier to check out in the store when you have only refrigerated, freezer, and fresh items.  You can come back home and place your order online for large items. 

You can browse Walmart online to find a greater variety of things than you can possibly find at your local store.  After all, they are a department store and a grocery store.  If you live near a Walmart that is not a Superstore, you can still buy grocery items online and have them delivered.

Think about all of the possibilities -- besides food, what about other things you need, such as shampoo, hand lotion, vitamins, and other personal needs; what about items for your pet, healthy snacks, hardware, water hose, hose reel, sporting goods, toys, clothes, shoes, vacuum sweeper, freezer, household needs, and (don't forget) music decor, movies, and CD's.  The possibilities are endless, left only to your imagination. 

You can save yourself an enormous amount of time, manage your budget and save money, and save your energy for things that you want to do all the while doing it at your convenience, and taking advantage of having items delivered to your door. 

Quality of life is important to all of us.  One way to improve our quality of life is by finding "more" ways to make tasks we need to do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis easier and less stressful while saving money, time, and energy.  

Sincerely, I hope that you find value in this post and will consider the thoughts and suggestions offered here.  We hope you enjoy reading our posts and will return often to browse links we provide.  We make a little bit for every dollar you buy, so whenever you need something or just want to browse to see how far your budget dollar will go, we would appreciate your keeping us in mind. 

We appreciate you, and your comments are welcome.

Music Wall Decals and Music Wall Art

Music Decor can have different meanings to many people.  It might describe the furniture in your room, the paintings on your walls, your music boxes displayed in various places, or warm blends of music themes selected for your bedroom or bath.  The nice thing about music decor is that its size and shapes vary accordingly.  In this post, we will touch on music decor in the form of music wall decals and music wall art.  

Think about using music wall decals to create a feeling of balanced harmony in your music wall art.

Personally, I like the vinyl wall decals because they come in many different shapes, styles, and sizes. Because these wall decals usually come in multiple pieces, they can be spread out to fit areas of different sizes. This makes it possible to use music wall decals in any room where you want music decor in your home from an area as small as the bathroom to a kitchen, bedroom, or even a large music room wall.

Choose the styles of music wall decals that you like best. Measure the area you want to decorate. Select the shape and the size that you can easily arrange on your wall. I like to first use a table or an area on the floor equivalent to the size of the wall I want to decorate and try different layouts to see how much space needs to be between each piece when putting the vinyl wall decals in place on the wall.

The music decor in your home does not all have to match. Simply put, by having a music theme, one item can compliment another. Try to place your music wall art where it will either add to an already musical atmosphere or be in an area where adding more music decor will be like adding another melody to your musical theme.

I like to think of my music decor as a way to give my home personality as well as express who I am.

Feel free to leave your comments.

Music Decor Back in the Day...

...when I was a child growing up, there was always music around us. Radio Station WOWO out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, woke us early in the morning. DJ's Jay Gould and Bob Dunbar played the music, did the announcements, and made us laugh.

Laughter and music went hand in hand. Dad or Mom or my Sister or Me could often be heard making home-grown music. Dad and Mom would whistle a tune, but to this day, I still have not gotten the hang of whistling. Mother, after a little coaxing, would play her electric guitar - Hawaiian guitar, that is. Sometimes we would sing along.

My mother, sister and I would often sing songs as we gathered around the piano. The electronic music keyboard had not been invented yet. We loved to sing gospel songs, old-time favorites that had become classics, waltzes, polkas, school songs, and just plain fun tunes. Some times we would sing until our voices started to get hoarse. Sometimes we would play music-related games.

We worked hard and after the work was done for the day, we had fun. Music was a big part of our lives. Depending on the task at hand, we might do a three-part round, such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"... or we might play a music game.

The walls were not so full of music decor back then, but we were surrounded with the beauty and harmony that music offers. Make the stream of life the best it can be whether you decorate with music decor or simply create an atmosphere where you dare to dream.

Feel free to add your comments.