But this is completely off-topic. My reason for taking time out of my work to sit down and write this is for something not seasonal, per say, but it is definitely something that is at least helping ease the upcoming Holiday crunch. I know I've touched upon it already, but it is something that is just exciting me more and more as each day goes on.
I was raised by a mother who loved to decorate, and our house always looked like it popped out of a magazine. This not only included holidays, but just the everyday style of everything. She, in turn, had learned this from my amazing grandmother, who could go from painting and wallpapering to redrawing blueprints to, well, pretty much anything. I have, thankfully, inherited these interests and the best compliment I think I've ever received was when a friend in Boston told me that she loved coming to our place because it always made her feel like she was actually at home and not in some random dorm or college apartment. When I look at decorating, I don't like things that are sterile and uncomfortable even if they are beautiful. I look at decorating as a way to make the house feel more warm, and all our guests feel at ease.
One thing I'm glad to expand on is the ability to find the old and turn it into the new. My cousin and I used to scour this great little shack of random treasures called "Pick-N-Paw" off of 26 in West Paris, ME and try to figure out what we could re-purpose. It was a veritable junk store, where one person's trash became someone else's treasures. We found replacement windows and doors there, a wood stove, an old ringer washing machine, and so much more. Not all of it was salvageable (and I always wondered about the electronics they left out front and didn't cover in the rain), but occasionally you'd find something extraordinary. I remember this one time we found this awesome wooden bench that needed some TLC, and the lady gave it to my cousin for $5. She ended up repainting it, replacing the seats with new leather and tacking, and adding some throw pillows, effectively turning it into something I'd expect to see in a catalog for probably more than $300. Plus, New England is a great place for those who love tag/yard/garage sales, and I have fond memories of driving around with my aunt through the mountains in Oxford and finding things I both re-used for my own place and other things I fixed up and resold for much more than I paid for. Heck, we used to turn old cardboard and fabric into jewelry boxes that my mom, my aunt, my cousin and I would peddle at craft fairs. I am so happy I picked up these skills at a young age, because it is really coming in handy now.
I think I may just start talking about each of the projects we're taking on here, because it is really a cool concept we're trying to do. Right now we can't do everything this way, but eventually our goal is to one day build and furnish a house without having to buy anything brand new. I know we can do it, and each little thing we do now is just adding to our future goal.
This blog post may be all over the place, and probably in need of some serious proofreading and editing, but right now I really don't care! I've got to get back to my remodeling and re-purposing. But I will leave those cash-strapped (or just environmentally-aware) decorators out there with an option for household plants: If you need to use something to collect water beneath them, the bowls from old dish sets work really well. I had bought some discontinued Fiestaware at Linens-N-Things years ago for $.25 a piece, and while I only have two yellow bowls left they are the perfect depth and size to put under our Jade and Money Tree plants - and the color goes perfectly with the rest of the kitchen! (Pictures coming soon!)
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