I think I should go back to college. Then at least I can have an excuse for living in a college kid's apartment.
I used to be a little enthusiastic about home decorating-HA! The dot-com boom/burn sucked that right out of me. We moved about 9 times in 6 years for my husband's job during the boom(or what we like to refer to as the Golden Age). And 4 times when it was over. It was fun for about 5 minutes. Now, I'm afraid of boxes and just the word relocate can put me into the crazy lane. Now that we're sort of(hopefully-knock on wood) feeling stable I'm beginning to realize how sparse it is around here. I have a hard time "making pretty" for a home I know I'm going to live in for a year at most. Come to think of it, we've been in this home for a little over a year now and that's the longest we've ever lived in the same place since we met. I've tried to keep our 'things' to a minimum and every time we move, we get rid of tons of stuff. So at 30, I'm looking at my home and it's like looking at a college student's apartment. All the 'stuff' that normal people have won't be found in this house. The most grown up thing I have in my home is the damn coffee maker. And I'm trying to have a home that looks like grown ups live in and I sort of don't know where to begin. I don't even have any salt and pepper shakers because the nice ones I had were lost during the last move and I hate to just buy something I don't really like all that much just because I don't have them(there's a run on sentence for ya). I go to the store and I hate everything-I think I might be looking for something that doesn't exist. I just last month bought some kitchen towels and (gasp) an actual comforter and set of blankets that won't exfoliate me to death. Is it hard to believe in the 10 years(almost) I've been married I'm just now getting domestic? It is for me because I used to be so good at all that. Now, I think about hanging up curtains and candle sconces and I want to gag.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
salt and pepper shakers and all that stuff
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13 comments:
I think that picture is more of a Van Gogh than a college kid's apartment...
Im exactly the opposite. I have too much stuff. When we moved to NY, we got rid of soooo much! And we still had a ton. And now we have more. I think that's one of the reasons I hate moving so much.
I have a couch you can have.
Yeah-no wonder he cut off his ear:o)
I made a huge mistake by letting my husband pick out the couch-they look like we got them from the set of Star Trek. I hate sitting on it-I feel like I'm going to blast off....
My little sister (now age 57) accused me (when I was in college) of using a home decor style she term "Early Depression."
You're nesting. Do you think you could be pregnant?
I moved a lot over the years as a single mother. I did it with not only 3 kids and some furnishings, but 3 ponies, a wolf, 2 big dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and things in tanks. Plus many plants, most of them quite large.
I was very friendly with cartons and packing tape.
Flip and I sold a big house in TN to move to a small apt. in SF, but we love being here. And I get practically catatonic at the thought of moving again, although at some point we will have to.
Nick your little sister coined the perfect term-I'll have to remember that.
Heart-After reading your comment I don't think I should be a brat about moving ever again! I AM nesting but I'm not pregnant-I don't think. I'm definitely going through some kind of phase. I want someone to just take over and make my house nice for me because I don't know where to start.
You do not want to know what we have hanging on our wall. Opposite my oil paitings and beautiful subtle french watercolors are...you ready for this...paintings on velvet. Yes, they are HWDDD's. But I haven't had the strength or desire to remove them. I did however take down the cut glass NASCAR sign. A girls got to draw the line somewhere.
Don't you feel better now? ;-)
I've been spending the entire last year making my apt look Not Like a College Apartment--but I don't have the moving excuse, I was just broke.
You know what helps--watching a whole freakin' weekend of HGTV. Then go to TJ Max or Marshalls or something and get some "decorations." You'll get the fever.
Unless you anticipate moving again soon?
oh Blondie don't say that to me! Another move is inevitable because we don't own this place and have no intention to buy it. We're probably going to start looking for a place to buy this time next year so that means another move. At least it will be in the same town though-I hope. I used to love HGTV-I guess I still do.
OMG Laurie! At least you have something on the wall though! I have to say you've got me beat with the Nascar sign. I thought my husband was bad with his Star Trek furniture:o)
I am in touch with your emotion. I've always had apartments and even though I consider myself to have style and I've always thought my apartment was very posh, it was still clinging to styles I learned in college.
College flag on the wall, incense sticks everywhere...Playstation out in plain sight.
I didn't feel like a grown up until I started putting that stuff away.
How well I know what you mean. We are building a house and renting at the moment and our place looks scary. Nearly no furniture and Florian's grandmothers old curtains.
I had a great touch with decorating when I was a student. Everything was exactly where I wanted it and now I don't know what I want.
But it only seem to really bother me when friends come over for the first time.
I'm pretty minimalist myself. I don't really care about decor except for brief 5-minute stretches usually occurring when we're about to have guests. Then the feeling fades and I get back to what I really love to do - cook. I have great, great cooking supplies, but not so much with the decor. Most of our furniture is second-hand, so I suppose it's a bit collegey that way. I do feel guilty when I go to my sister-in-law's fabulous house (decorated tastefully and to the nines)... but then I'm honest with myself: I am not a dcorating maven and I never will be. And that's ok!
Also - your comeback below caused me to snort coffee through my nose. Ha!
Just buy one thing that you love, whether it's a chair or a picture or whatever, and start from there. It might also be helpful to read a magazine like House & Garden or go to a bookstore or library and look at decorating books, just to see what appeals to you.
My own taste is rather eclectic, although I especially love antiques, especially Asian ones, while some people are only comfortable with modern furnishings. I have always believed that things I love will go together, no matter what their origins.
Once you know what you like, you will be able to start acquiring things as you can afford them, and your personal space will express who lives there.
I have an idea that a home that expressed you would be very warm and charming, but not cutesy.
Try not to cut off any ears, though. Yours or his.
That's exactly what I want-warm and charming but cutesy keeps following me around-tell cutesy to leave me alone!
I love antiques too. I need to start hitting those stores and thrift shops again.
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