Decorating Dilemmas Party...Round 3!

Welcome to the October Decorating Dilemmas Party!

Please read the rules for this party before linking your blog post up (rules at bottom of post). Thanks!

New here? Let me explain how this works....

Your post can be anything from asking readers to vote on chocolate brown or green napkins for your Fall tablescape to something like "My grandmother gave me these awful floral ceramic candle holders and I don't know how to make them work in my home. What can I do?!"

Decorating, crafty stuff, organization, outdoor living, your garden, I don't care. Just have some fun with it. If you have a solution to a dilemma you've faced, go right ahead and link that up!

This is all about bloggers encouraging and helping each other out. Basically, if you have something in or around your home that you'd like some feedback on, link it up here. Take a quick tour of your home. I bet you have something laying around that you haven't worked on because you just weren't quite sure what you wanted to do with it. I've found that taking a few pictures of the problem area is a great start to give my brainstorming a jumpstart.

Here's my problem:

So, I have dilemma with my secretary.

Haha...not that kind of secretary...though I wish I had someone to get me coffee, file my bills, and entertain clients my kids when they drive me nuts.

My dilemma is with this piece, an antique my mom wanted to get rid of and I begged her for.

She's not stunning, but she is serviceable.

In the cabinets, we display a few casual family photos with some antique tools and whittling pocket knives that belonged to T's grandfather. I feel like it all blends in to the dark wood.

I like the pretty details on the drawer knobs.

The secretary has lots of storage.

The desk area holds T's manly DVD collection of titles such as Gladiator, A Few Good Men, and Rounders. Not that he ever watches any of them. Fox News and Monday Night football take up his spare evenings.

I keep my stationary in the drawer.

The lower (locking) cabinets hold photo CD boxes and all the DVDs belonging to myself and the girls. Notice the unopened The Shred DVD? I feel like Jillian Michaels is screaming at me every time I open the cabinet.

I like the details on the glass.

So I don't want to fire my secretary. She really is doing a good job.

I just need to find some ways to make her look nicer when she comes in for work.

Her "workspace" is a big blank wall between the Kitchen door and the coat closet-turned computer desk-turned coat/printer closet. Not much going on there.

I wouldn't be opposed to refinishing or painting the piece, but that would be down the road. For now, I need a few quick fixes.

I'm hoping you can offer some ways I can better accessorize the interior glass cabinets and especially the area above the secretary and to the side. As you can see from the first photo, there's a lot of wall space.

I have a bag full of this Fall faux stuff...maybe a look for Fall or some ideas for a more permanent display with non-seasonal items?

Either way, I'm glad you're here. Please let me know what you think!!

Now, it's your turn to share:

Remember, there is a Giveaway contest for participants! I'll leave the party open until 12 am (ET) on Thursday morning. I'll announce the winner on Friday.

You could win this:

Here are a few rules (I hate to be a stickler, but I've had some bloggers link up that didn't follow through the past few times):

1. When you enter your link, please enter the permalink to your specific party post, not your blog's homepage.

(You can do this by opening your blog, clicking on the title of the post that you want to link to, and then highlighting it to copy and paste here in McLinky. If readers can't find the correct post on your blog, then you won't receive any feedback.)

2. Please give us a brief description of your post after your blog name.

For example, mine would read: Amanda @ Serenity Now (Homely Secretary)

3. *Please leave me a comment with a link to your post.*

This way, if McLinky hates me, dumps me, and ignores me, we can still all visit each other through the comments! I'm out at a MOPS event right now, but if there are problems, I'll be sure to fix it when I get home tonight. Also, I like comments.

4. It would be great if you'd include a little link to this post when you join the party.

Just add it in somewhere within your blog's party post before you link up. That way your readers can join in the fun if they want to. Please double check to be sure that your links work after you sign up. If I don't see a link to THIS post (again, not my blog's home page, please link to this specific post), I'll have to delete your link.

5. It won't be a party if we don't mingle!

Try to visit some of the other blogs, and remember to play nice. I had a nasty comment once, and I know firsthand that it's no fun. Please be considerate of everyone's feelings, even if you do think that Jane Doe's camouflage dining room wallpaper is really weird. (If you notice you haven't received any comments, take a few minutes to comment on the other partygoers' posts, and be sure to tell them you are visiting from my party so they know to return the favor. That makes a successful blog party. Otherwise, I'm just hosting a big list of people's links, and that's no fun for anyone.)

The beauty of Decorating Dilemmas is that it requires no real preparation on your part (except for the whole posting thing). Come as you are and don't worry about completing your project. Let's be real! We love to share our successes, so why should we balk at admitting we might have an area (or twelve!) that we need some help with!

Have fun, everyone!