How about some House Love??

Hello Everyone,

Its Monday and a bright sunshiny day. I am not bright and sunny today. Which is why I am mad at the sun for strutting its brightness all over the place. The sun with its golden rays is practically forcing cheerfulness down my throat, and I am just not up to that speed yet. Later today I will be after I have had my cup(s) of coffee.  Besides I love cloudy rainy days.  Especially when I have work to do in the house. A cloudy day represents to me  an easy going day. I clean, I straighten things up and then I sit down and watch a nice movie while working on the latest knitting project. However with a  bright sunny day its harder to sit and watch a movie. I want there to be light in the house, the windows should be open letting fresh air in and I should be outside. So you see my mood does not match what the sun is doing. Oh well we can not all get our way.  So instead of crying about the sunshine, I will talk about how it's Monday. The beginning of a new week. We usually base how the rest of our week is going to go on how Monday turns out.  I know I do. I feel like if my Monday was good and steady and I got a lot accomplished, then the rest of my week is going to go well and be productive. If Monday is hectic and chaotic, then I start chugging the espresso's because  I am not getting much peace or down time the rest of the week.  Well I want this Monday to mean a fresh start for a whole lot more than my week. I want it to be the fresh start on my housed debacle.

I mentioned awhile back that I was having some house fits(here). Or more like I was having fits with my house.  I may have even declared war on my house. I think my house had nothing against me. It was just trying to do its job, by keeping me dry and warm. My problem with the house? The interior was not coming together like I wanted it to fast enough(that right there is probably my problem. I want it now but these things take time). I did my usual thing and started doing some research to see what help I needed. Frankly I just wanted the little house fairies to come and make everything pretty for me while I slept and I could just enjoy it. Hey I have a loose hold on reality, OK? When I came across the book The House Always Wins, I thought I found the ticket in. Don't get me wrong Marni was spot on, she was very insightful, she made me laugh and I knew I wasn't the only one suffering from this problem. But I felt like I was already doing most everything she had suggested. I felt like most of the rooms in the house were actually coming together. The one I was stressing about was the Craft room. Come to find out that wasn't the only room I was having problems with.

When my friend Jojo came for a visit I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to show her the house and get her opinion on things(because in my opinion she is the closest thing to a professional I am gonna get). I showed her this picture that is my inspiration for the house.

It has every color in it that I love and want to use thru out my home. It reminds me of some English town somewhere and back in older times gone by.  It makes me smile every time I see it. I thought it only proper to use it as my inspiration for my home. After all that is what the experts tell you to do. Find an object, picture or fabric that you just love and draw inspiration from that.  I had the inspiration but come to find out I sure wasn't using it to the full. I was trying to captivate the inspiration into one room. That would have been the craft room.  I wanted to hang this picture in the craft room where no one would see it but me really. 

Apparently I was not sharing the love. More than that I had become obsessed with the craft room. I had placed all my emphasis in that room and if it wasn't perfect I couldn't be happy. Thus why I was having a melt down by the time my friend came to visit. I was hoarding all the good things just for that room! But what about the rest of the house? Do I not care for the rest of my home and how it looks? Of course I do! That's when it hit me.  I needed to spread the colors of my inspiration thru out the house. I needed to share all the "good" things with the rest of my house.  Put a little of each room into each room. I needed to make this picture a focal point in my house, where everyone could see it and enjoy it!  Well Duh! I knew that. I had probably read that at least a thousand times. But clearly I had failed to apply it!  The second revelation of the evening was when Jojo went into the living room and said "This is the room that confuses me!" Huh? What?

 I have been attempting to go Safari themed in the living room. But frankly my heart has not been in it. I am not drawn to animal prints. I don't even own a piece of clothing with animal print in it. OK! I take that back, I do but I feel uncomfortable every time I wear it. That should have been my first hint that it really is not my style. I took one look at the living room and knew she was right. It was the room that was mismatched from everything else I had in my other rooms. So in that moment I knew it had to go. Fortunately I have not sunk a bunch of money into making a safari room. So some pieces in there are going to have to find a new home, the other pieces are going to be placed in different parts of the house.  Now I have a craft room, a living room and an office to redo.  The bedroom is on track, I need to add some more green to help disperse the purple in there. And I just need to add some pop of orange to the bathroom.  The whole house is in for redo! The bedroom and bathroom might have less done to it.

I have to say one of the biggest things Jojo did for me was redirecting me to John and Sheri's blog, Young House Love. I had kinda forgotten about them. It's a great blog and I can't believe I had shoved them into a dark closet and decided to give up checking up on them(when this happened I was not in my own home yet so I felt depressed every time I looked at what fabulous things they were doing). They do great, wonderful creative things and as cheaply as possible. I should be a devoted follower! Not ignoring them! They are accomplishing everyday, the same goals I wish to do, to be a DIY homemaker.  I should be learning from them.

I also came across some other great blogs that I think will help me in my house love quest. I love the sounds of and potential of this blog, called thrifty decor chick. Then to keep in step with DIY there is this blog DIY showoff. And the list would not be complete if there was not something about organizing. I am very obsessed with organizing and better ways to do it, which is why I was so excited to stumble across I heart Organizing. I am adding these guys to my inspiration list of blogs I follow!

So today, instead of being at war with my house I am gonna show it some love! First by starting with a clean slate. Making sure I am sticking to my inspiration and pulling strictly from it, not allowing myself to get distracted.  This means going back to the drawing board and rethinking what I am doing.  I am going to start taking the advice of John and Sheri more seriously when attacking DIY projects in my home. So stay tuned in.  There is going to be lots of home improvement going on here! To kick that off I am will start here.

With this window. I think it's about time to take of the winter decor, spring has quiet settled in and isn't going anywhere.  The other thing this window needs is a window treatment. Its a start.

Have a great Monday! Till next time,

Amanda