Home, Sweet Home

When I was little, I had my fair share of Barbie dolls and Polly Pockets and I spent many play times coming up with elaborate story lines for them to act out, but there are so many fashion shows, date nights and house parties a 6 year old can envision. Once I grew tired of my dolls, I wound up playing with a laminated poster depicting empty rooms throughout a castle. There was a ballroom, a library, a kitchen, a dining room, bathrooms, bedrooms, the tower, and even a terrace overlooking a garden. The poster came with reusable rubbery stickers in the shapes of various furniture and decor pieces, as well as characters and pets. I would spend hours rearranging the furniture in the different rooms, looking for the perfect mix and then starting all over with a different vision. The possibilities were endless and the choices were mine. Sure, a toilet doesn’t belong in the kitchen, but what if you’re making a cake and have to relieve yourself? It’s not like you can’t wash your hands afterwards… Plus, the bathroom would make for a pretty sweet music room, what with the amazing acoustics and all.

Fast forward a few years…

I thought it was high time for me to redo my bedroom. I was bored of my pink and yellow captain’s bed and I was tired of having to use a ladder to get to and from my bed. Being the frugal people my parents were though, they weren’t going to just go out and buy a new bed. No. They decided to disassemble my brother’s bunk bed, leaving me with a rather tall single bed frame that I had to take a running jump to get on top of. But unlike my captain’s bed that took up half my room, this one was small, meaning I could rearrange my room however I wanted (with the help of my parents, of course). I became their dictator.

“Over there. No! Not facing that way! This way. I don’t like it there. Let’s try it this way. It doesn’t look good there either.”

I finally settled on the placement, but realized that the walls needed to be painted. Again, I recruited my dad and his amazing talents. I went with him to pick out the color and although he wouldn’t allow me my first choice (brown, because I wanted my room to feel like a horse stable), we agreed on a lovely color of sky blue.

My room was newly painted. My bed was freshly adorned with a comforter set with ponies running across the prairie. My toys were gotten rid of and I finally felt like I had a room suitable for a preteen.

Then my brother moved out…

Out of all the bedrooms in the house, mine was the smallest and my brother’s was the largest. Not only did I want an upgrade, I wanted to redecorate. I had outgrown the horse decor and was ready for something a little more edgy, like a Moroccan oasis with lanterns and beaded pillows and colors everywhere.

Since it was a bigger room, I had my heart set on a bigger bed, but not just any bed; I wanted a futon (a couch and bed in one!). My parent’s gave in to my wishes and bought me my first ever brand new bed- a full sized, fold out futon, and I couldn’t have been happier.

Next on the list (like before) was painting. My brother’s room was a hideous shade of green. Think of the color used in slime that extrudes from any alien in any flick from the past 10 years. It was such a boy’s room color. Instead, I opted for deep purple with a fuchsia pink accent wall and glossy white trim. I did all the painting myself on this one and the results were amazing!

Then the day came that I had to leave the nest. I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend I knew from high school. I was working at a home decor store and was excited to spend my paychecks furnishing our new place, but the roommate had other ideas. Without consulting me, she and her mom went shopping and bought everything from IKEA. Not my first choice, but I didn’t have to pay for it, so it didn’t bother me. What did bother me was any time I tried to decorate with things I bought from work, they would somehow all end up in my room. Apparently since the furniture was hers, she decided that she could dictate how/if there was any decor. I decided to pick my battles. Instead of fighting her over candles and place mats, I decided to throw down over late rent payments.

---

Over the next few years, I moved around a lot. I lived in my aunt’s basement for a year, then moved to another apartment with a friend for 3 months, then to my own apartment for 1.5 years, to where I am now- a rented townhouse. With this nomadic lifestyle, it was hard for me to want to decorate; to make my dwelling my home. Sure, I still used my employee discount at work to furnish my places, but I was always hesitant to hang things on the walls or paint. But that’s all going to change.

Fella and I are buying a house! And not just any house… the coolest house ever! I can paint the walls whatever color I want! I can arrange the furniture however I want! I can throw candles on every surface of every room without them growing legs and disappearing! I feel like my lifetime of interior designing will finally be able to have it’s moment. No restrictions. No one to tell me no or having to ask permission. Of course it will be Fella’s house too, but he knows how long I’ve wanted this, and is on board for most, if not all of my crazy ideas.

I’m going to paint the walls. Paint the kitchen cabinets. Paint the deck and screened-in porch. Paint Fella’s desk. Paint the liquor cabinet. Convert a dresser into a tv cabinet and paint that too. I will finally have a garage I can do all my DIY projects in and I’m super excited!

I have so many plans for our house and I can’t wait to get started. Give it 2 months or so, and I’m afraid you all will be seeing lots of posts about my house. DIYs, updates, decorating. Nothing will be off limits. As I’ve said before, my blog is for me and when the time comes, I will use it to document my journey. I hope you’re ready for it. I know I am!