House Happy

John painted again this weekend, dipping once more into the five gallon bucket of "Heavy Cream." The family room was settled back into order, so it was time to tear the living room apart. :) We emptied the books from the seven foot bookcase you cannot see in this picture so it could migrate across the room, we pulled out all the china from the dark red cabinet in the corner, because when we started, it was in the breakfast room. It traded places with my desk. We spun the sofa around, moved mirrors and the candle chandelier. Because, why JUST paint when you can redecorate?

I feel a little silly about how happy I am with the room now. I go in there just to look at it. As we put things back in place, or rather in their new places, we deep cleaned and polished and washed and dusted. I am much more of a fall cleaning person than spring. I may be sharing more pictures of this serene and shiny space. (Rather, than say, the top of my craft desk, which has not been seen in months. :)

Moving my desk to the breakfast room and putting the dark red china cupboard in our living/dining room was equal parts form and function. The desk I am talking about is not the computer desk, which is in the family room, but my writing one, where I pen cards and the occasional letter, and where I plan menus and manage coupons. So it made sense that it would be closer to the kitchen, where the food and cookbooks live. But I also wanted that symbol of busyness and planning out of the living and dining space, with its piles of paper and scribbled on calendar and clippings. Now this room is all about reading and listening to music and family dinners and board games and the moment we are in.

The breakfast room is about eat your cereal, don't be late, what do you have for homework, are granola bars on sale, do we have more toothpaste, and how much chicken broth do I need for that recipe?

Cross from tile to hardwood, and I wanted even the furnishings to say, take your time, have another helping, whose turn is it, okay, one more chapter. Or, because I don't live in a dreamworld people, one more light saber fight, one more round of hide and seek, one more game of tag. You're it!

We've always been in the position of furnishing our spaces mainly in hand me downs and thrift store finds and kind gifts, and have have long made peace with making peace with what we have, rather than envisioning the wonder of choosing every fabric and silhouette and detail. I don't mind a slipcover, or painting a piece or two. And with this comes a freedom I have come to appreciate. Without the pressure of having spent a lot on choosing things for a specific room or use, there is no guilt or worry in making our chairs and desks and tables migrate to serve the family. No sacred cows, no untouchable surfaces, and only things that are beloved because of the life that is being lived on and around them. I love to decorate, but if it doesn't work for busy boys and a husband a foot taller than I am and our modest budget, it doesn't work. And in this way, we are making a home I am falling more in love with all the time, mostly because I am crazy about these people with whom I share it.

Sweet indeed.