I watched four BBC America shows tonight, two shows, but two epeisodes each actually, and I realized that people seem really different in England, or Scotland, or wherever the shows happened to be taped in. In three of the shows, people referred to spirituality not having to do with Christianity, something almost unheard of on the regular shows I watch on TV. I know this seems rather silly to notice, but to me it's a big deal. Two women in one room of a house the one girl was looking at to buy were both creeped out because they felt a presence, and both had to get out of the room fast! I was amazed. Or maybe just amazed because I actually saw this candid video of them both getting creeped out by what they felt was a spirit....
Anyway, I just got a kick out of watching the shows, now I'm going to have to watch BBC America all the time.
Oh, I also noticed that the people on the shows tended to value their "things" more than we do. Like, this girl wanted to have her bedroom updated and she had really old furniture - a dresser and a nightstand - and they weren't nice at all - so they painted them with a couple coats of paint and then antiqued them, and added a few more touches and voila - the same furniture but a different look. I think, at least where I live - people would be like, "I'm like, just - SO sick of this nightstand - let's run to IKEA!"
I miss the connection I had with furniture before I left my "old life." I had a few pieces that I'd carried around with me for the 12 years I'd been living on my own and now the only thing I have left out of all of that is my hope-chest, my high school graduation present, handmade for me, the design picked out by both of my parents - my dad even wrote a congratulations and sentiment inside with a pencil. I can't imagine not having that cedar chest.
I have another trunk, but it is (I HOPE) still stored at my ex-mother-in-law's house. It's an old steamer trunk with brass bands around it, I have all kinds of special things in it - all kinds of drawings from when my kids first started school, things I'd made in high school (some pottery), pictures, journals - God I'd love to get that back.
I think that things like that anchor you down, it makes your house feel like a home. YOUR home. And I'd like to start gathering things that I LOVE, not things that I picked up at a yard sale or out of someone's trash after they'd moved out of their house - things I didn't want in particular, but had a need for - a chair, some shelves, all kinds of stuff I needed, but it wasn't what I REALLY wanted. Even my dinnerware isn't what I WANTED, it was just that it was $25 and a good name. Can't beat a set of 8 place settings of Mikasa dinnerware for that price anywhere. (Gotta love www.craigslist.org ) !
My sisters house is full of stuff that's been handed down to her and so it means alot to her, I feel really jealous about that. When my father died she took almost all of his furniture and decorations, things he'd spent a lifetime gathering - and when my mother remarried and then moved out of her house, my sister also got a ton of things from her - beautiful antique occasional tables, rugs, lamps, pictures, little pieces of art, benches, the list goes on and on - my sister never feels like she's living in someone else's house - it's hers. I want some of that for myself. Well, actually - the house my sister lives in IS my mothers house - it's the house I grew up in. All kinds of jealousy there and "Hey, whattabout me!!!????" feelings there.
I also got some really awesome decorating ideas for my own house from watching the BBC shows - and man have I made progress on my desire to get a mellow, warm, earthy yet up to date feel to the decoration of my own home.
Tonight we painted two opposing walls in our living room THE perfect shade of brown. I cannot describe it past brown very well - it's a medium warm - and yet I'd also say "spicy" brown, and I absolutely LOVE it!!! We pulled an old desk into the living room and are now using that for a TV stand, which worked out really great - we got the desk for three dollars at a yard sale, and then we blocked the fireplace off with our giant club chair - the chair was always in the way and took up a whole wall which seemed pointless and cluttered, plus the fireplace was such an enormous hazard for the baby (it's a gas fireplace and has all these little loose rocks in it that I'm not sure can be taken out?) - so we just blocked it off with the chair and painted the wall - a huge black framed mirror hangs above the mantle, which we kept white, and I'll be honest, it's an absolutely perfect arrangement! This also got my television away from blocking the window, so now I have my window back - which just thrills me! :) Now I'll be able to see my bird feeder more easily and flowers - if I manage to get any to grow this summer.
But my favorite is the corner on the tv wall - the one corner is where the tv is, and then across the room on the other end of the wall we put a small bookcase that used to have NO purpose whatsoever. On that is a lamp (also IKEA) - one of those 12" tall papery shade ones, plus a pottery bowl which we filled with sand and stuck incense sticks into it - and also a small terracotta candle holder, as well as a small black framed picture of my father with my oldest sons taken four nights before he passed away. It is like a little alter, sort of - I just love it and it works with the color of the wall so well. Oh, I also put an orchid on the shelf - it's an artificial one, but really nice - I'd certainly do away with any orchid if it were real, it wouldn't last long in this house, trust me!
So, I'm well on my way to getting my house decorated serenely - add to that my starting to do some basic yoga poses and meditation, and I think I'm headed in the right direction. I actually sat in the living room tonight and didn't even want to be on the computer because I actually ENJOYED being in that room! Imagine that! Unbelievable. I swear, it's the first time in years I've actually wanted to BE in a living room - I'm not a big TV fan so living rooms were never a priority for decorating - I usually attacked the kitchen and dining room first.
I MUST say that my dining room is looking absolutely wonderful as well - the walls are still white but that's okay - it's clean, the shelves of the wall unit aren't cluttered, and on the table sits a small brass bowl with my sandlewood candle sitting inside of it - and if anyone read my blog before - that sandlewood candle is the inspirational item that started me thinking about getting my house to look as warming and mellow as that candle smelled.
Next things on the list are to get rid of the YELLOW kitchen and make it a warmer color and a BIG one - window coverings .... can't block too much light or it will be like a cave in here, but it also has to be just THE right color and texture so that it looks good with the sun coming through. Plus, I'd kind of like them to all be the same - I have four windows to deal with - actually, one single window, one bay window (set of three windows,) a window over the door (what the hell is the point of that?!) and the hardest one to deal with - the sliding glass door. Ugh. This could get expensive. Isnt' there something I can do with muslin? I mean, I DO own a sewing machine now. I'll have to think about it - roman shades come to mind. Or are they called Roman Blinds? Anyway...back to color...(and mood)...
My paint chip stealing from the store is pointing me towards a color called "Harvest Spice" for the kitchen - which is a peachy/tan color, much like the color of that sandlewood candle. There isn't a WHOLE lot of wall space in the kitchen so I think this color will work really well in there, plus it will go SO much better with the browns in the living room. I'm leaving the ceilings white everywhere and also I think that all the white walls on this level of the house will be a very, very pale variation of the color of the kitchen, so I think that (combined with the white cabinets and floor in the kitchen) will keep it bright enough to avoid being drab - yet at night especially, with some candles and incense lit - it will be like a haven in here. Mellow - not depressing.
That is IF I can keep the television off! Maybe I'll make "the ex" get the kids each one of their own tv's for their bedrooms and make him pay for the extra satellite receivers, too. He doesn't do any-fucking-thing else for the kids anyway. Ahhh...a great gift for the kids and an even better gift for ME!!! :) (Yes, it's late and I'm tired and of course there's no way their father would spend a dime on them that he didn't have to, so the tv thing is a pipe dream.)
But a person must keep dreaming, right?
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