just be.
So I have been playing around in my head with my home resolutions and figuring out what that means for me. What kind of a home I want to live in that feels like me and is easily maintained.
And then I had to be real with myself.
If I am going to be real with myself, I have to acknowledge some things.
1. I HATE (abhor, detest, and all the strong words) surface clutter.
2. I LOVE (embrace, indulge and all the strong words) visual clutter.
What is the difference you ask?
Well for me the difference is where the clutter is. I LOVE cluttered walls. I love gallery walls, art, pictures, frames, etc. Anything you can pretty much hang up and display, I love. As you can see in my home:
gallery wall in the rec room
gallery wall in the office
gallery wall in son's room
But I hate clutter on surfaces. So in the face of my new year plans for our home, I am eliminating all surface clutter.
But funny how when I look around, some knick knack or collectable areas are o.k. for me.
For instance, this corner shelf area in my kitchen? Still love it.
kitchen corner shelves
But the mantle has been cleaned off to simple pieces.
our living room mantle
Next, the tops of our dresser, countertops and tables are being cleared of anything that isn’t necessary. I am creating a space that is easily wiped down and put away.
The great thing that also happens when you start to be real with yourself, is that you start to save money and time. For me that means not finding myself buying tchotchkes that I don’t actually want and have to return. I am self admittedly a SUCKER for a well designed space in Ikea or other stores and can easily pick up something that I think I will love but once set on a counter top or table top, will drive me bonkers. Same thing with candles. I am constantly lured into thinking candles are a good purchase for me, however I NEVER light them and really don’t love them.
So from this day forward, I will indulge my love of artwork and wall display. I will embrace the few shelf displays I am enamoured of. I will leave all other bits and pieces and decorative accessories where they belong. At the store.
What items do you find yourself sucked into buying and regretting?
Good idea! Now that I have the fake candles with timer built-in, I will no longer be buying real candles! They aren’t good for you to breathe in anyway.
I always regret buying lamps. There have been very few lamps that I have brought home and actually loved.