School House Entry

So yesterday I featured my Thrifty Flag Stand. 

I know, by itself, this project is just not so exciting.  But I had an ulterior motive for doing it.

Here's how it went down.  Back in November I took an old white board from Goodwill and transformed it into a school house blackboard.  You can visit that post here. 

We've since moved and because the black board is three feet high and four feet wide, I needed a large place on which to hang it and it needed to be accessible so I could write on it on a whim. 

It turned out that the best spot in the house is in the entryway.  I hung the black board and it looked really awesome!

In the process of moving, our rolled up American flag was propped up in the corner of the entry way right next to the black board.  It just kind of struck a chord with me and got me thinking, "I could do a school house theme out here."

Another lucky accident happened when my favorite, old bookcase that houses our vintage and well-loved kid's books wasn't going to work in my craft room.  There was, like, no way I was going to let that bookcase go, so it needed a new home. 

Even with it's dings and old 'early American' maple finish, there are still several reasons why this old bookcase means so much to me.  Anyway, what's more school classroomy than an old bookcase filled with vintage kid's books I ask you?

So in there it went along with the flag on it's new stand.

I already had the bench and basket out there because it's always nice to have a place to sit and put on shoes and the basket holds gloves and scarves.

Because no school house is complete without one, I also added the obligatory world map;

Thumbtacked up there for now, but hopefully framed in the future.  The map is a 1981 National Geographic.  My how the world has changed in 30 years.

These books are such a treasure to me and the kids.  See that book over toward the right with the grey binding and blue lettering, "Days of Adventure"?  That's my 22 year old son's favorite book from his childhood.  He's read it so many times.  He's still pursuing adventures and will probably get to live a real one in the next couple of years if he deploys to Afghanistan.

These books were collected one and two at a time.  If you look real close, I'm still missing #1 and #7 from the older, smaller Junior Classics books.  I still hold out hope to find them someday.

The basket was a Goodwill find for $3.99.  It's in great shape and very sturdy.  I hope to paint the bench someday too. 

To the transom over the door, I added some turquoise Ball canning jars I picked up at Round Top last spring.  You can also see the new house being built across the street through the windows.

So there you have my school house entry.  What do you think?

Cindy

I'm linking up to the following:

 My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia's Tuesday's Treasures

Fingerprints on the Fridge's Feature Yourself Friday

The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday

A Little Knick Knack's  Everything But the Kitchen Sink

The Tattered Tag's Keep It Simple Sunday