Cape Karen
I've spent the last two weeks trying to create 'a sanctuary.' What in the world does that mean, you might wonder? Well, it means that Karen is dragging out the paint, rollers, brushes, drop cloths, and ladder and doing her 'redecorating thing' again. It means I'm trying to accept the things I cannot change (where I'm living) and change the things I can (what I'm living with.) This time, it means new paint colors on the walls and furniture. It means a lot of fun and a lot of hard work.
I think growing up in a house where no one cared about such things left its mark on me. My parents had the same stinky old couch for 40 years, and I never saw either of them lift a finger to improve their lives or the house. If my father hadn't burnt-up the chairs he sat in (by dropping lit cigarettes into the cushions) he would never have bought new ones. The mattress on my bed had a really big dent in it that I used to stuff with a towel. To this day I'm super-fussy about mattresses! Nope. . . the house I grew up in was never really a home; it was just a place to land... and none too softly.
Therefore, from the day I moved out of the family hell-hole and into my own place, where I could express my creativity, there's been no stopping me. I'm very sensitive to my surroundings, and that can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because I truly enjoy taking a plain room and transforming it with color, fabrics and furnishings. A curse, because I tire of things easily and therefore I frequently want to make changes. Being a thrifty New Englander, of the "waste not, want not" era, I mostly make those changes with paints and fabrics, instead of buying all new stuff.
Yesterday, I decided that having both a bureau and a bookcase was taking up too much space, so I upended the bookcase and put it on top of the bureau- then I just repainted the whole thing; and "tra-la" ~ I have a 'new hutch' that takes up only half the space! (How cool is that?)
I truly enjoyed creating my little 'sanctuary.' Now that it's almost finished, I'll have to look around and see what else needs "tweaking." (Another great thing about redecorating... it forces me to dig into my clutter ~ sort, toss, give away ~ and it helps me get more organized. )
Goodwill, here I come, again!