::un decorated::

Picture I sent to my mother with the message -

"I need new art for this wall - what do have that might work?"

My little farm house is well loved.  At first sight you might say it is a no character 1960’s ranch.  But doesn’t the classic brick ranch have it’s very own character?  Maybe not good character, but it has its own kind of work horse kind of attitude.  When I tell people about my place they always say “Well, you can add on right?”  Yes.  We can.  If we had about $150K+ we could pimp this place out.  But after the corner of the property (not the house)  got put in a flood plain we lost all the value that we had built up over these last few years.  By the time we have the money to add on to that house we will no longer need to.  So, we make due with it the way it is.  And love it like we love each other – in spite of the faults.

 

Next message - 

"I can't afford to buy any new art because of this art I bought last year."

When we first moved in I was determined to make it nice till we did a “massive remodel”.  (Ten+ years latter – no remodel in site.)  I decorated and painted and hung things up and had china cabinets and fragile things.  Four babies latter – its all gone.  If it was fragile it ended up in the attic or at my mothers.  If it was pretty it got put up high, taken down, or destroyed.  Every now and then I get a bee in my bonnet and say that I am going to redo this or that.  All I need is 100, 200, 400 dollars and it would be perfect.  Then the kids need gym shoes and I am grumpy to blow MY fun money on them.  But it was never MY fun money in the first place.  Obviously the crew needs shoes over curtains.  I just have to pick my battles and in the battle of having a pretty house I surrender.  I can’t let it frustrate me or make me feel like I am failing.

Official Ruling:  From this day till after grad school is over I am not going to take on any new decorating projects.  I am going to try to keep things functional (like have Josh replace the broken kitchen faucet), or at least semi function, till I graduate.  After that I will see how I feel about some kind of kitchen update and house wide beauty makeover.  I can dream and study, but NO big house projects till I am a practitioner.

Needing a functional update:

                Dishwasher broken and leaking

                Kitchen faucet drips  - DONE :)

                Bathroom that is 1/4 done

                Lily – a real bed, not on an old trundle

                        Take this on together as a project with Lily