The other night before going to bed, I was doing my nightly tidying of the kitchen and living room. As I looked around at a few of the new pieces of furniture and the space left from a few adjustments of older items, I was able to see how our little home is finally coming together. We’ve been in this place for just over a year, and although we’re still renting, I always want our house to feel like a home.
When we first moved in, I unpacked and (semi) decorated the kitchen and living room within the first few weeks — mainly because we hosted Thanksgiving that year, which was less than two weeks after we moved in. I thought I knew how I wanted things to look, and while some elements of that original decor session are still intact, I’ve made a lot of adjustments in the last 16 months, especially in the last 2.
I’m the type of person that doesn’t always wait for things to happen naturally (I’m the girl who asked my husband when he was going to take me on a date, picked out a wedding date before we were engaged, and am currently picking out the home builder I want to use even though we are still at least 2 or more years away from seriously considering purchasing a home), so waiting to have certain elements of my interior dreams come to fruition has been difficult. For the most part, it has been finances that has been my biggest setback. Since most of what I want is expensive (Chris thinks that I purposely look for things that are more expensive, but I’m just naturally drawn to them), I’ve had to put some things on hold. In that time, I’ve had more time to consider what my style actually is and what makes the most sense for us and this space. As I considered the changes that I want to make in the future, I’ve realized that if I hadn’t been forced to step back and wait to move forward, we would have a completely different home (by the way, that can apply to nearly every aspect of my life — it’s much different when I take the time to stop and breathe). I’m actually really grateful that I’ve been forced to wait on purchasing some items and giving our home a chance to breathe so that it can be a true reflection of our personalities and our relationship as well as the calm and comforting place that we need it to be.
I’m curious to know how you approach decorating your home. Do you do everything when you move in, work one room at a time, or work little by little until you find the design that you want?
