Simplify

Simple.

For what seems like my whole life, I've always needed to "get myself organized" but I've never been to a point where I felt that I had actually accomplished anything close to getting myself organized. I have decided it's because I have too much stuff. Sometimes "organizing" is just moving stuff from one place to the other. My stuff would be so much more easy to manage if I just had less of it. I am on a mission to simplify my home and the phrase I keep reminding myself of is my life is better with less stuff.

When I am debating on keeping patches from a middle school choir festival that have served no purpose except to travel from one dark corner of a dresser drawer to another, I remind myself my life is better with less stuff. I didn't realize that I was so attached to inanimate objects, but sometimes when the thought "it doesn't hurt anything to keep it, I can always get rid of it later..." starts to creep into my mind, but then the word hoarder comes to mind and I find it much easier to let go of something after that.

When you get rid of the stuff, you allow the important objects to shine. I am currently reading Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts where she is deliberately focusing on all of the gifts from God. In the noise of clutter, it's harder for me to see these wonderful blessings God has given me. Voskamp's book is challenging me to reevaluate my belongings because God's gifts come in the most simple form. The sound of birds singing on a spring morning, the smell of dinner in the oven. It's time to simplify the stuff so I can focus on the important, the gifts God gives me every single day.

Another book that is inspiring me is Holley Gerth eBook The "Do What You Can" Plan. I heard Holley on an episode of the Simple Mom podcast discussing the concept of dreaming smaller instead of bigger in order to gain momentum and actually achieve the bigger goals. Now, I haven't even read the book yet, but I am already thinking about how this idea could help me declutter. Getting everything out and making a giant mess for the sake of decluttering is overwhelming to me. But, if I just do what I can each day, maybe go through a shelf and pull out the books I'm ready to part with and put them in the garage sale box, well then I did what I can for that day and I'm one step closer to a simplified home.

These are the thoughts I'm carrying with me as I sort through all the stuff in order to focus on the gifts.

Have A Little Faith

Art. I want to hang some on the walls. The hubby and I agree that we want all of the art in our home to mean something to us. I enjoy photography, and even though I have not been taking many photographs lately there are a few of my old photos I would like to print and hang in our home.

One of my favorite bible versus is Hebrews 11:1 and I want to display it in our home, so I decided to add it to one of my photographs. The catch is, I am having trouble deciding which font density I like best.

What do you think? Do you like the darker one or the lighter one better. I do enjoy how the lighter one connects with the verse since it is all about faith being there even if we cannot see. Hmm... decisions, decisions.

Inspiration Is Out There

Our house is in the pre-decorating stage. I want to sand/paint/stain so bad but I have to limit myself so that I can stay in budget and make wise choices because I want to still love the decor in a few short years.

I've been mentally planning our home decor since we before we closed on the house. I'm constantly looking for inspiration for color scheme, paint & fabric choices, furniture selections etc. But I love when inspiration strikes me in the most random of places.

Last week I was at a conference and the decor at the event center was extremely inspiring. This area was a little sitting area in the lobby.

 I love that the lamp is a traditional shape but made out of modern materials. These big black and while flower prints were all over the walls. This is when I had the I can do that thought. I love to dabble in artsy photography. I could take pictures of flowers, fruit, a body of water, a hiking trail or anything really.

How luxurious are these blue velvet couches? I would have never thought pairing such a deep royal blue with the light blue of the walls but I love the way they work together.
 

(sorry about the newspapers/magazines on the table, I already felt weird taking pictures I thought it would be really weird if I started arranging things.)
These armchairs were smaller in scale, which is refreshing since it feels like every chair I see is over-sized. They light fixture, which you can see reflected in the mirror, was such a great shape it added so much detail to the space without being a heavy presence in the room.

This is the carpet and the wallpaper in the ballroom. I adore the subtle pattern in the walls and the way the pattern in the floor echoed it. This carpet was wall to wall. I've never seen such a bold pattern in carpet before but I think it would only work in a BIG room like this one. I think I said "I love this room" at least twenty times to the lady next to me.

So how am I inspired for my house? Traditional shapes with a modern twit like the lamp. Blue on blue (especially that gorgeous inky blue in those couches.) Scaled down furniture that fits the space and PATTERN! After that floor/walls combo, I want to try some pattern mixing in my home.