Instead of Sheep

Since we are only one week away from Thanksgiving, and I have been humming the tune....I just have to ask, do you remember the old Bing Crosby/Rosemary Clooney song "Count Your Blessings" from the movie White Christmas?

No? I'll sing a bar for you....

when I'm worried, and I can't sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

and I fall asleep

counting my blessings. 

(by the way, I really did sing that as I typed it. Couldn't help myself.....)

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude lately, and how the practice of it can change your perceptions, and therefore change your life.

As far as our homes go, we all spend a lot of time dwelling on the things we wish were different about them. You know the drill:

"Oh, how I wish my house just had....______"(fill in the blank with whatever you have been longing for lately).

But if we choose to shift our focus, we can instead notice all of the things that our homes do well for us day in and day out--even such basic things as keeping us warm and dry on a cold and rainy night.  We can choose to count our blessings.

I am sure that you have heard how important it is to practice gratitude, but the thing is that the message that we need more, better, bigger, & newer gets a lot more airtime. That message drowns out the smaller voice inside of each of us that reminds us that we are enough, and that our houses, while imperfect, have amazing beauty, purpose, and function just as they are.

SO, what are the simple yet wonderful things that your house does for you?  What are its charms, possibilities, and positive characteristics that you don't often recognize?

What are you thankful for?

Focus on these things, and you may just feel that you & your house have gone through a complete renovation.

I hope you will take a minute to share a few things that you are thankful for....would love to hear your comments! Gratitude is such a blessing--especially when shared with friends!

Cool and Cozy

So, since the world outside has been looking like this.... do you find yourself wanting to curl up in places that look like this?.....

My daughter and I had a fun day out shopping on Saturday, and I just had to snap a shot of this neat-o display that Anthropologie had in the center of their store.  I am always impressed with the atmosphere they can create in a big boxy retail space....

with just a little corrugated cardboard, and creativity!

Can You See What Is Missing Here?

Can you see what isn't in this lovely room? 

Like the glue that holds something together, or the icing on top of a birthday cake....

things just don't stick together or taste as sweet when that certain something is missing. In our homes that is what I like to call the "top layer"--the finishing touches such as the right lighting, art, and other decorative elements--the stuff that pulls things together and makes a room come alive.

In this cozy den, my client knew she didn't want to change much, but she knew something was missing. The furniture was working well, the paint color was just as she liked it, and she did not want anything different or fussy on the windows. So what are we to do?

There is a lot to be done! Here we go:

The before again....

and the after... Can you spot the changes?

We started by bringing in a new rug. I wanted something that would add a softness to the sepia-toned palette...

and we added a larger ottoman for extra comfort and more table space. You may also notice that there are new tables with matching lamps flanking the chairs, giving more presence to the symmetry that is already there.

With such a lovely muted palette, texture becomes even more important. The smooth metal tables, rustic wood tray, the louvered screen in the corner all add interest...

The sparkle and style added by the new lighting can't be ignored, the artwork is placed to best show it off, a new armless chair gives a place to sit and  purpose to a corner.....and the beautiful grandmother clock moved from an adjacent room brings a stately bit of height and history to the space. A cozy room has become even more welcoming!

And to think many would believe the room is finished once the furniture is in place! There is a whole other layer to be added to bring cohesion and beauty into our homes. (If you would like to see another post I wrote about this topic a while back, you can see that here.)

A Year Ago...

I have to admit that this morning I found myself feeling a little more than melancholy. Hmmmm.  Unconsciously, I tried to go on about my business and blame it all on PMS.....seemed like a good strategy at the time.  

BUT, when I stopped for just a second to let myself feel what I was feeling, I realized that there was more to it than that.

Anniversaries are hard sometimes.

Out of difficult times, some really beautiful things can result.

Last year on Halloween, I wrote a post that still feels to me to be one of the best things I have ever written.  You can read it here -- an appropriate topic for today, All Soul's Day.

Many blessings to all of you--especially those of you struggling with loss and hardship, as many are after this week's storm.

Looking Through Some Old Pictures...Thinking About Why I Do What I Do

I was recently looking through some old pictures, and found some client "before" shots from the earliest days of Revealing Redesign.... It reminded me of why I do what I do...not that I had forgotten, but pictures really are worth a thousand words.

There are a lot of people out there that are living in houses that just frustrate them. Their homes make them uncomfortable, their rooms are filled with belongings that don't belong anywhere in particular, and they certainly don't feel proud of or nurtured by the place in which they live.

Sadly, they don't have any idea why it just isn't working, so they can only throw up their hands in disgust. How do you fix something when you don't even know exactly what is broken?? Is it clutter? Is it poor layout? Poor design? Is it all of the above?

And that is why I do what I do--because I feel passionately that you deserve to live in a place that is beautiful to you, a space that speaks to your soul and makes you feel at home.

When you have such a place to go to at the end of the day--a place that helps you to relax and restore--you have more to give to the people you love, and more to give to the world at large.

This important place (your home)  is created one little step at a time (not overnight),  it is created through keeping things simple (not necessarily by being fussy and spending a lot of money), and it is created by being honest with yourself about what things really make you feel good and therefore have a place in your space. 

The room in these pictures here started out lacking a specific purpose and vision, and as a result it had become a catch-all. Working with my clients, we together created a plan that would make for a room that they would use and love, we removed all of the stuff that was in the way, and a beautiful, functional space was created. 

I hope that your home gives you a place to rest and restore! As we on the East Coast are all hunkered down with Hurricane Sandy.....it surely makes things easier to bear.  Hope you are warm and dry wherever you are!