Cameras and a penguin

The shelves above the tv are starting to come together. I wanted to use the space to display things that are meaningful to us, as well as pretty to look at of course. :)

I wanted to showcase my collection of vintage cameras, and I love how they look like little sculptures on display. They had been stowed away in a box for the past few years, so I'm really happy to give them a home. They're too cool to just keep in storage.



The camera in the middle cube is from the 1930s and is my favorite of them all. It's so intricate; I can't imagine using it without being a math genius. Seriously, everything is manual, and there's a chart on the top with distances and an equation that you have to use to get the right exposure. Who has that kind of time? The one on the right is from the 70s or 80s. I used it in photography class in college.

The weird man statue up there is from the 1930s and is actually a bottle opener. Branden found it when he was building his jewelry store. The wooden bowl and spoon were my grandmother's and came from Russia. I used to play with them all the time when I was little.



This camera is from the 1950s and I think was used by someone in the military. The back is engraved with someone's name.

Branden is very attached to the ceramic penguin, and insisted that it gets a proper place on the shelves. It's one of the only decorations that he is adamant must be on display in the house.





I also switched up the telephone table, since it was feeling pretty crowded with the extra stuff on the shelves above.





I picked up the apothecary jar for $7! Awesome.

The living room feels almost complete now. The shelves still need some more tweaking, but I'm happier with them now. I'm thinking about DIYing some botanical prints for over the couch, so we'll see how that goes!