The beauty of new arrivals...

Has this ever happened to you? You think you're done with a space, but then something new comes into play causing you to rethink and rearrange. Only when you've incorporated the new arrival and stepped back do you realize that now the space is actually complete.
This happened to me twice in the last week. In the first instance, I had actually planned for the new arrival ~ a secretary ~ but I still thought the room was fine without it. I realize now I was wrong; the room needed the secretary. In the second instance, my original plan for a desk didn't work, so I had to come up with a new home for it. I found it in a room I was sure was finished before; again, the space feels better with this new arrival.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my parents gave me this beautiful secretary they had inherited from my grandmother. It's one of my favorite pieces of furniture from my parent's house and I'm absolutely thrilled to see it in my home. It fits perfectly in the once-empty corner of my dining room and really completes the room. It also provides the perfect space to display my ancient purple transferware, another family heirloom, thus freeing up room in my crowded china cabinet. A win-win.

My other set of parents also gave me a stunning piece from their home ~ this Asian teak desk. It originally was going into the office, but the desk didn't lend itself too well to modern-day technology. However, since it's such a fabulous piece, I had to find a home for it. I rearranged the central hall, getting rid of a bookcase and moving my fab old chest to allow space for it.

As you can see, this is a rolltop desk. But since we really don't need the workspace thanks to the secretary, there's no need to close up the desk, which allows me to display some of the books from the bookcase I had to get rid of to make space for it. The drawers in the bottom provide quite a bit of needed storage, so it is useful as well as beautiful. I also like how it feels in the hall ~ it makes the room feel even more like a useful space instead of just a pass-through.
All in all, I've been a lucky girl in the family furniture department, don't you think?

I am linking to:

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Thursday Favorite Things at Katherines Corner
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Photos by The Art of Living Beautifully