'I'll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today,' sings Graham Nash, on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's quintessential '70s hit, 'Our House.' The vase is symbolic of a wonderful, harmonious family life, but it's also a physical object that lived inside his and Joni Mitchell's home in Laurel Canyon.
Photos from 1968 show Joni in her Los Angeles abode, posed in front of her window, where wooden shelves hold dozens of antique glass vases and bottles. These shelf styling pieces come in blue, yellow, and green, creating a stained-glass effect as the natural light streams through them, transforming a relatively mundane corner into a celebration of color and light.
The vase that inspired the iconic lyric is likely among those on the shelf.
In an interview on All Things Considered for NPR, Nash recounted the way their home together inspired the song.
He stated: 'I had taken my girlfriend, Joni Mitchell, to breakfast at a delicatessen on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was at the end of winter, a completely awful day - you know, rainy and foggy and very, very cold. After breakfast, Joni and I were walking to where her car was parked, and we passed an antique store. Joni saw a vase that she wanted to buy. It was in the back, about 10 inches high, some hand-painted flowers around the edge, and Joni bought it.'
He continues: 'We collected the vase and drove to our house in Laurel Canyon. And as I went through the front door, I said to Joan, I said, hey, Joan, why don't I light a fire and you put some flowers in that vase that you bought today? Well, that's all I needed. While Joni was in the backyard trying to find some flowers that hadn't died yet in winter, and I was at her piano, I got the first lines and wrote the song.'
Clearly, even back in the '70s, thrifting vintage glassware was ultra-chic.
Recreate Joni's Look at Home
If you want to infuse some Laurel Canyon-inspired harmony into your own home, there's no reason to fear; Joni's look is easy to recreate. Here are our editors' picks for decorating shelves as beautifully as the musician.
Natural wood is the perfect material to bring warmth and character into your home, and this open-backed bookshelf is the ideal way to do it. It would be gorgeous backed up against a wall of windows.
These highly collectible Murano apothecary jars are hard to resist. Not to mention, they're an easy way to feature colored glassware in a practical way. Place the trio in a glass cabinet or along a windowsill to allow the light to trickle through.
If you want to decorate your shelves all in one go, this set of 30 vases from Amazon makes easy. For under $2 a bottle, it's a major steal.
This pretty yellow vase has an intricate design which will create textured shadows as the light passes through it. It's perfect for storing flowers or displaying alone.
This beautifully ridged vase is available in green and clear for an effect like no other. I love its subtle texture.
Elevate fresh, dried, or faux stems with this vibrant glass vase. Designed for indoor decorative use, it’s easy to clean by rinsing and wiping with a soft cloth.
To recreate the beautiful look, focus on collecting vintage colored glassware over time. Though it can be tempting to buy all of your decor at once, Joni's method requires patience and a focus on slow curation. Wooden shelves help to create a natural textural contrast, but you can also place the colorful glass directly in the window for a similar effect. Combining pieces in varied heights and colors will help to build out the same eclectic look.
Nash sings: 'Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated by the evening sunshine through them, fiery gems.' With the right glassware on your windowsill, you can make these fiery gems your own this Spring.
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