So out comes my trusty binder with the clear inserts. Tossing out the old plans from 6 years ago (I am astounded how design/decorating can change that much in 6 years)...I start fresh. Our current home is one of a kind. Custom designed and decorated with our own flair befitting a seaside home; we are comfortable and still loving it even though we are both resigned to the fact we will not be here forever. Nomads we are. This is house #8 and it looks like it will definitely not be the last. What's that saying 'never say never'? But who really needs 3780 sq ft...when it is just the two of us? When we built it, we had pretty much a clean slate (and a blank cheque)...but times have changed. This time 'round we are on a budget. We don't need space to park three cars (we only own two...the other space has a boat in it for pete's sake). Speaking of garages, I am not even considering one for our next move. Why? Because we are not 'garage' users. It fills up with a menagerie of other 'stuff'. Cars never see the light of day in one. Maybe for a little while...then summer comes and it is just easier to park in the driveway. Then over the summer it is like some nasty gremlins get to work filling up the garage with who knows what.
I would rather use the $$ and the square footage for living space.
I love to recycle. Recycle 'stuff' though (not garbage). It is always such a joy to see something completely horrible recyled into something useful. 'A' always shudderes when I bring home a piece of 'junk' but somehow I make it 'fit' into our decor. He just can't see what I see in my mind. So when we start to purge our belongings....it is not the stuff that cost a lot that I will necessarily keep...it is the stuff that makes me feel like I am in a comfy space that will come with us.
Like the driftwood...lugged home from various shores...and dried...and used in many corners of my home. Rocks share a similar honor amongst our belongings. I need to see nature in every room. Even the branches and twigs out of the ditches pay homage to the great outdoors. Of course the antique ship's wheels, seashells and the nautical elements will always be present...because that is who we are. Books will always be there...because a house without books is a house without soul. Magazines litter the tables, sofas, bathrooms and benches...they are my sources of inspiration. (I am struggling with the boxes and boxes of magazines that I will have to throw out - purging sucks). 'A' always laughs when I show him a current magazine that just happens to have a 'look' that I already adopted months before the magazine hit the shelves...he says I should be sending in my creations. But that is not why I like to create. It is for me/us. If I 'had' to do it...it wouldn't be half as much fun. Although I have succumbed to decorating for some friends that were floundering with their 'spaces'.
This brings me to the 'Repurpose' part...some things have multiple uses...it just takes some ingenuity and some bravery to take something and use it for a purpose for which it was never intended. It is just up to your imagination to make this work. In case you struggle with the concept...imagine an old stool used as a plant stand....or an old telephone wire spool repurposed as a rustic patio table...or a vintage crock as a kitchen utensil holder or a small neck crock as a vase...the list goes on.
What I Refuse is mediocrity. You don't need a lot of money to be interesting. In fact it is the simple things in life that I find most interesting and compelling. (It's amazing what a coat of paint can do!) After all these years it is really easy to find the things that make me/us happy. We are collectors. I collect the most obscure/obscene things...things of which now I need to purge myself from...but alas at the time...I loved these things (my tin can collection comes to mind). The Santa colletions (maybe I will keep those for grandchildren to play with)...but I am not alone in this. 'A' has a basement full of 'Sandford and Son' stuff...that I have no hope of purging...if I just knew what the darn things were I could possibly sort/store them! Brings to mind the days of trying to sort/purge my brother's stuff...having no clue what the 'gibbles' were...I will someday be blamed for sure for throwing out some gismo that had some use for the 'thingamjig'.
For the most part I look forward to the next chapter (whether it be moving or building yet again). Funny how my life seems to come in chapters...much like a book. God I could possibly write a book!! Life is like that. I think of all the alternatives and I am so grateful/thankful that I have so much to think/do in my life. What I know for sure is; home is where 'I' am.
Salute!
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