Thrifty Decorating: Living Room Shelf

I have a small 1200 sq ft house that I REALLY enjoy decorating.  I am constantly moving things around and adding in something different.  Most of my possessions are secondhand.  This is because I think old things are more interesting than new, love the thrill of the thrift hunt, dislike mass produced items from questionable labor conditions, and like paying a reasonable price for stuff. My style can be best described as...eclectic.  Ha!  ;) I'll be showing you around the house in future posts and today we're going to take a gander at one of my living room walls.

My living room colors are heavy on green, brown, and yellow.  This is a short wall that my couch sits up against and the floating shelf was actually left there by the previous owners.  It is off-centered on the wall but I left it as it was because it is centered over the furniture below.  Let's take a closer look at the shelf.

I treat this shelf like I would a fireplace mantel and frequently mix things up or redecorate it.  The woven walnut tray is really beautiful in person and was $2 at the Salvation Army thrift.  Here is the manufacturer website.  It's one of those items I bought to sell...and kept instead.  Tee hee!  The It's a Wonderful Life wooden block is the only new item in this arrangement and my mom purchased it for me a few years back for less than $3.  The wooden tree was $4 at a local thrift which I thought was outrageous but I bought it anyway.  I later realized that it is actually a jewelry box and the top of the tree lifts off. The remaining two pieces are handmade pottery that were under $2 each at Salvation Army.

This is an oil painting that was $3 at a yard sale.

A tiny painting that was $2 at an estate sale.

Yikes, should've edited this pic!  This is a print that was $3 at a flea market.

Also not a great picture, but this is a really cool old print that was .37 (yes, thirty-seven cents!) at a local thrift. 

To do the math, I spent than $22 to outfit an entire wall.  Not everything in my house was this inexpensive, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.