See, when I'm busy preparing for Lucketts or working on "business" projects, I don't have a lot of creativity or energy to spare and my own home suffers for it. The dust bunnies multiply and the vignettes get pushed out of the way to make room for photo shoots. I can hardly see my office floor and it's a struggle just to keep my counters in a presentable condition and stay on top of the laundry.
When things settle down, I start to clean and arrange and rearrange and play and paint in my own spaces. I dream about what I want to do and add to my long wish list. I'm still doing the same thing I just burned out on...painting, decorating, moving furniture, staging photos, but for some reason, it's restful and rejuvenating. I think because it's just for me. It's my hobby and not my business, even though they are really the same...if that makes sense.
I was out shopping a few days ago and I found some feather-filled Ralph Lauren pillows at TJ Maxx. They were a muted grass green...kinda mossy. I rarely go for green. I'm a blue girl through and through and green usually doesn't catch my eye. I kept squishing these pillows...loving the idea of buying something pre-made. Could the green work anywhere in my house? I just felt like this shade would work with my blue and white. I put them in the cart and took them back out and back in again. "Just get them and you can return them if they don't work." That's me talking to myself. "Well, I can't return them if one of my boys does a face plant in one after eating chocolate pudding. It's risky...do I chance it?" This is really the kind of thing I was thinking, but I finally decided to roll the dice and go for it.
When I got home I threw one on the living room couch. It was like life had been injected into the room. I was really surprised at it. It not only worked, but it looked great. So much for the "blue and green should never be seen" rule. Design rules can be silly, anyway. There should only be one design rule - you do not talk about design rules. (Anyone get that?)
Once I had the pillows arranged, I wanted more green. First, I needed a table. I grabbed the side table from our family room and set it in the middle of the room. It wasn't what I would've picked at all, but it worked. The dark wood of the table was blending in too much with the dark wood floor, so I pulled the stenciled jute rug out of the guest room and spread it out. Perfect.
Before anyone gives me grief over the fake branches in the French enamel pitcher, I would have a huge armful of hydrangeas in there if I had my way, but my hydrangeas are just little buds right now. I rounded out the table arrangement with a mercury glass cloche on a glass cake plate and an ironstone bowl filled with apples and positioned on a vintage European linen towel and ironstone platter.
A while ago, a reader asked me to talk about what I have above my piano. It can be a challenging place to decorate. I've had everything above that piano; mirrors, sconces, groupings of family photos, a sign...lots of stuff. I finally hauled a huge bead board door out of my basement stash and risked life and limb to rest it on top of the piano. This accomplished a few things. It filled the space visually above the heavy-looking piano. The fact it was white, though, keeps things light. The texture of the bead board and old paint adds interest and provides a great backdrop for leaned photos and ironstone pitchers. Basically it keeps a formal room from looking too stuffy. If you don't have a huge bead board door in your stash, try leaning up a variety of empty frames, hang a large DIY chalk board, or a large piece of architectural salvage (like an arch, shutters or a window.)
I've added a few things to the room, but the overall total spent (including refinishing the floors, accessories, paint, curtains, furniture, everything) is still less than $900. Not too shabby.
I also have a confession to make. I painted our home office yesterday. I know!! I'm supposed to be resting, but I really wanted to do it. I just can't help myself!!! And I have thousands of enablers!! Now I'm itching to paint my kitchen, kitchen cabinets, family room, bathroom cabinets and finally get this bathroom makeover checked off the list. I also just got a new load of furniture to work on to take to Lucketts over the next few weeks, so I have to do lots of work in my house to build my creative momentum for these new pieces.
I know I'm sick.
