Decorating Shenanigans!

My history with decorating is a sordid one…mostly because I’ve never been that into decorating at all! In college I had black curtains and scarves hung up on my windows. The curtains were a cut up sheet! In my college days I didn’t have money. And over the years I lived in squalor a lot of the time, so decorating was the furthest thing from my mind.

My Mom had always decorated in the house I grew up in. But that decor felt like it wasn’t meant to really be used or “lived in”, with adult spaces off limits to me and my sisters. After I got married, my husband and I had wealthy friends who lived in suburbia, and their home was immaculately decorated. I hated walking in to be overwhelmed by all the chemical perfume aromas and knick knacks that seemed trivial and meaningless.

Our wall of photography, all shot by my husband! We used to do adventures around our city and neighboring countryside. This wall commemorates our adventures. We were together when he took each of these photos!

Decorating used to seem like it was something only for the women with picture perfect lives and lots of money! And I didn’t have either. When I started sewing, I started making my own soft furnishings like pillows and blankets. And that started to give my space something of a cozy warm vibe. I collected knick knacks slowly over the years, usually gifted to me. And I developed a love of collecting stuffed animals and Eighties dolls like Cabbage Patch Dolls and Care Bears…nostalgia from my youth.

My living room soon after my husband and I moved into our current home. The desk in the far corner is where I do all my art and spend much of my time! This room has changed some since we initially moved in.

I moved from rural Iowa to downtown Des Moines about eleven years ago. Before that all my furniture was hand me downs from my husband’s and my parents. When we moved we decided to just not have furniture, so we could start fresh. We dreamed of being able to buy our own pieces. And in time we bought our first couch! It was exciting, I still remember when we got it!

I displayed these tapestries in the sewing room right after I moved in. The elephant symbolizes family to me! I have since changed the decor in that space nearly a dozen times over the course of a few years.

I decorate the sewing room, because I have free reign in there. My husband likes to approve of things that go in the main areas of the house, and we have a different sensibility about what belongs in our spaces. I love color and art everywhere, and he loves more of a minimalist vibe. He bought me a bunch of picture frames to frame some of my artwork for the living room. Yet we still can’t agree on which of my thousand works to frame.

My home is a work in progress, and I love moving stuff around to see how I can shift the energy in the space.

I’ve decked out my art table with some Halloween things that I got on a 70% off sale at Michaels right before Halloween, and I have a vision board on my art table. Somehow I’ve become really partial to Halloween because it is a low pressure holiday that is just meant for fun. I’m also creating some little spaces of joy here and there in nooks and crannies.

What does decorating mean to you? Are your spaces comfortable for you, or inviting to the people you share your spaces with at all? What could you do to make your space more functional or more of a soft place to land?