Over the last month I have been settling into my new home. I love decorating a house to make it a comfortable home and reflective of your lifestyle. Decorating is such a fun, creative process.
Having worked with designers and accessory manufacturers for years, I picked up pointers about color, spacing, and how furniture and accessories compliment each other in certain areas.
So right away I knew my rectangular mahogany high top table and matching leather bar stools were too clunky for the space in my soft pale yellow and grayish blue kitchen, with splashes of blues and gray marble flooring. Instead, I went looking for a smaller, circular, pale colored wooden table for the kitchen eating area.
My adjacent dining room area fit my dark ash wooden table and 6 chairs, but I had an additional leaf and 2 extra chairs for family members at holiday gatherings. Not needing that extra leaf right now, those chairs fit perfectly with the new table.
Colors in your home also provide energy to your space and reflect your personality at the point in your life. Putting your old life into a new space may not fit.
When I first moved down to Florida I gave away a lot of my furniture to my friends, to start fresh. I believe memories are also embedded in your furniture and there were some painful memories I wanted to leave behind.
Being bold and forging a new path in Florida, I bought a matching red sofa and love seat for my family room, and added deep red cushions to my adjacent patio area for the 6 chairs and 4 lounge chaises.
Now as I move into the next chapter of my life, feeling like I have dropped some of my past baggage, and am entering a lighter, softer phase; it seemed to match the color palette in my new home ~ eggshell blue, grayish blue, soft yellows and pale pink.
Time to get red of the dark red furniture and replace it with softer colors. I donated the red couches, and bought a big soft gray couch for the family room. I wanted to see how it would fit in the room and live with the new space for a little bit until I decide what furniture pieces I want to accompany the couch.
Continuing with that soft grayish/blue theme, I bought new patio cushions to compliment the serene and peaceful venue, overlooking the pool and pond.
I think Cody, enjoys the new cushions, our move to this house and especially the view.
My home office got set up pretty quickly as I adapted my current desk, bookcase, and filing cabinet to the new space. However, I was craving a more creative environment outside of the office area. About a week in, my bedroom provided the space and softness I was looking for. By adding a bookcase for creative projects, notebooks, markers, relevant magazines and books, I could bring my ideas to life.
For weeks that empty space in my bedroom kept calling for a bookcase, but I couldn't find the right one in any of the furniture stores that I perused. Buying furniture at a furniture store provides the element of delivery and set up without any hassle. When I started to search online, the dreaded words assembly required, was not what I wanted to see.
There are skills and abilities that I have and know what they are. But I will also admit my weaknesses, and one of those is following written instructions to put something together. I would rather pay someone to put it together then try to tackle it myself unsuccessfully.
However, I just put together an easy wardrobe rack for my walk in closet, to provide more space for my dresses, so I decided to "step outside my comfort zone" and order a bookcase online. I was drawn to one made by Bush Furniture, which is known for solid quality wood, and decided to put it together.
When the box arrived it was heavy, filled with numerous wooden pieces and bags of screws, nails, bolts and those dreaded instructions for assembly!
One morning I decided to dive in and put it together. Several hours later it was on display in my bedroom and ready to hold all my creative items.
Let the Creative Projects Begin!
Cheers to stepping outside my comfort zone and tackling a weakness!