Junk in the trunk

With the nightmare that was my January behind me, I have embraced February with a renewed sense of relief.  Most people celebrate the new year...I am more of a February person. By now most people have either fallen off the wagon or failed with their resolutions, I however am just beginning.  The last couple of weeks have been extremely productive for me. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am never one to sit still for long.  I actually think I may have a form of OCD, but I prefer to analyse it as anxiety.  A lot of people enjoy projects...I obsess about them. It's a bit of an illness, I admit!  

January has now come to a close, and I have finally begun to feel a sense of control again. I have thrown myself into a serious house make over. As I get older, I have really noticed how my style has evolved, and how I have finally started to know who I really am. I have always had a love of all things retro and vintage, but my decorating was very modern. I loved dark browns and surrounded myself with neutral earth tones and clean lines. Recently I started to look around at my home and have begun to feel anxiety with all the "stuff" that has cluttered my life.  

I am a huge follower of Oprah, and the "life-isms"  that she preaches.  One particular "life-ism" has always followed me. "Your home should rise up to meet you".  I am a self professed "home-body". This is why I have chosen to work from home, as the anxiety that has plagued me from being in the work force has taken it's toll on me. As a result, I am also surrounded by the constant reminder of clutter and the anxiety that it has caused me. 

This journey that I am on, has required a tremendous amount of self-reflection.  I have started to have a lot of "ah ha" moments while I search for inner happiness and peace.  One of those things is the amount of money I have spent to make my home look good. What I have recently realized, is that it no longer makes me feel good. This is where Elisa, from "Home Sweet Nest" enters the picture.  My partner in crime. I have known Elisa for the last 3 years, when she was my boss at a local salon.  She recently closed out the business, and has started following her own passion....all things junk. She has inspired me beyond belief, with her amazing ability to create beauty from junky. Don't miss the opportunity to check up on her blog, as the projects and idea's that she creates are truly inspiring.  

So over the course of the last few months, I have been collecting things for my daughters bedroom, as she will be moving from her toddler bed to a big girl bed....(insert sound of me crying), and at the same time, putting together idea's for a major revamp in my living room. Elisa and I have been scouring the thrift stores for all the pieces I needed to put together the perfect vintage inspired girls room.  I must admit, that prior to this, you couldn't get me in a thrift store to save my life.  What I have discovered about myself, is that I actually love thrift stores.  There is something really refreshing about getting a piece of furniture that isn't made in a factory and sold at Ikea. The furniture that I have had up until now is made of particle board and mdf. The pieces that I have recently bought...for super cheap I might add....are all solid wood, with amazing detail and potential. They have a soul, and I am in love! 

Let the painting begin.  I realized that I can no longer stand the brown! Everything I own is an earth tone! I have forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and embrace all the pretty things that I always see but was too afraid to try...enter more "earth tones". I have finally embraced, soft greens, vibrant reds, vintage blues and white! I painted over the brown with a whipped cream and am stepping out of my box by recovering my wing chair in an aqua blue.  I can't believe how much better I feel, just by lightening up my surroundings.  As this transformation is taking place, I truly feel like I am cleansing from the inside out.  I recently acquired the most beautiful hutch and buffet from a good friend. It was her grandmothers, and the fact that she trusted it in my hands is the best feeling in the world. I have always wanted a hutch and buffet.  But the ones I wanted were SO expensive, and now in retrospect, probably made out of mdf and particle board! This one is solid wood, and absolutely beautiful. I am so excited to give her a coat of white paint and the inner drawers a soothing "Tiffany Blue". Even more exciting, is the thought of filling her with my Gran's china, and crystal that has been sitting in a box in my storage room.  There was a time when I almost donated all that stuff.  Now, I can't wait to fill my home with it. I can't wait to clean out the closets, empty out my storage, purge the junk! Cleanse myself of all the clutter, put to use the things that I love, and pass on the things that I truly no longer need. After all, I have come to realize that one person's junk is truly another person's treasure.  

It's funny how sometimes we get caught up in what's trendy, what's new, what's popular.  I however have decided to go the opposite way.  I am looking for old, tattered, broken, and discarded. I want my home to rise up to meet me, be comfortable for my friends and family, be lived in, be beautiful to me.  I am trying to no longer care about what other people have. I have started to embrace the things that make me happy, make me fulfilled and make me at peace. Who would have thought that happiness can be found in using your imagination, getting a little dirt on your hands and spending less money.....in a thrift store!