I am absolutely obsessed with monograms.

I love monogrammed towels.

Country Living

I love monogrammed pillows.

Pottery Barn

I love monogrammed napkins.

Martha Stewart Living

These days, decorating with monograms has gone so far beyond the traditional linens. I was searching for a vinyl monogram for a project I am working on, and I came across a few new ideas in my search.

I think this framed monogram is such a sweet idea. It would be such an easy DIY project, too! All you would need is a good printer and a graphic design program. You could even send it to a photo printer (like Snapfish or Walgreens) to have it professionally printed.

Jack and Lulu

I must have some of these monogrammed soaps for my guest bathroom. If I had an unlimited budget, I’d fill a tall apothecary jar with them and put them in my bathroom. Sigh…sometimes I wish money really did grow on trees.

Monogram Closet

Even wedding cakes are getting in on the monogram action. My sister has selected a monogrammed cake topper for her June wedding instead of the traditional bride and groom. I wish this idea would have been around when DH and I got married five years ago. I love it!

Things Festive

Vinyl wall letters seem to be all the rage in home decorating, but did you realize you could use the letters on other smooth surfaces? For example, this cute monogram is simply used on a bucket filled with office supplies:

Decal Monograms

I am going to apply a similar vinyl monogram to a piece of furniture I am repurposing. I found this fancy schmancy initial on Etsy, and the sweet seller is going to custom make it my measurements. I’m so excited!

Say It With Style

What other ways can you think of for using a monogram in your home? Needless to say, I’m hooked!

Check out Hooked On Houses to see what others are hooked on this week!

In just two seconds, you can refresh your home decor and make your home look a little classier. Two seconds. That’s about half the amount of time it took you to read this sentence (unless you are super fast reader).

Ready for the quick, two second decorating fix?

Did you see it? It’s so fast and easy that you may have missed it. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it again – Simply take the dust jackets off of your hardback books.

I am positive that my librarian mother-in-law will shudder at what I just asked you to do, but I think removing dust jackets from your books makes a tremendous difference. Books used in your decor, whether they be on a bookshelf or used in a tablescape, look classier and more worldly without the glossy, graphically demanding jacket that is used to grab your attention at a bookstore. When used in your home, books should not demand attention but should blend into your decor and compliment their surroundings.

Here’s another example:

Before

After

The bottom book wasn’t sold with a dust jacket, but the top book’s jacket just screams “look at me!” Once it’s removed, it looks much nicer on my husband’s night stand, don’t ya think?

Side note: See that above photo? Yep, that’s one of our engagement photos, taken five years ago (our five year wedding anniversary is next month!?!). For some reason, the angle of the photo of the photo (following me?) makes me look deformed. I just wanted to put out there for all of Blogland that I am a perfectly normal looking gal, although I do look kind of freaky there.

Proof: Here’s Zack and I on New Year’s Eve this year. I have much darker hair now and am actually a lot bit thinner than I was when we got married, but anyhow, that’s me. ::waves:: Hi Bloggie friends!

I don’t think I’ve ever shared a picture of myself in Blogland, so I thought this would be a good time.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Removing the dust jackets can also help a series of books to look uniform.

Before

After

I really like the way these Pottery Barn decorating books look on this shelf. I wanted the primary focus of this table to be the Spanish Moss in the urn, and the dust jackets really took away from that focus. The uniformity of the bare books is just what this table needed.

Isn’t that a quick, simple, and free change? Spend a few seconds to remove the dust jackets from your books. You’ll be so glad that you did!

Thank you to Kristen at We Are That Family for being the new host of Works For Me Wednesday! Check out WFMW for more great tips on everything from cooking to organizing, laundry to decorating. You never know what you might find!